# Enhancing Uncertainty Estimation in Semantic Segmentation via Monte-Carlo Frequency Dropout

Source: [Enhancing Uncertainty Estimation in Semantic Segmentation via Monte-Carlo Frequency Dropout](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa76b01e209131cea6e7c0>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-26T04:00:18.171Z

Authors: Tal Zeevi, Lawrence H. Staib, John A. Onofrey

Published: 2025-01-20T03:54:30.000Z

## Abstract

Monte-Carlo (MC) Dropout provides a practical solution for estimating predictive distributions in deterministic neural networks. Traditional dropout, applied within the signal space, may fail to account for frequency-related noise common in medical imaging, leading to biased predictive estimates. A novel approach extends Dropout to the frequency domain, allowing stochastic attenuation of signal frequencies during inference. This creates diverse global textural variations in feature maps while preserving structural integrity -- a factor we hypothesize and empirically show is contributing to accurately estimating uncertainties in semantic segmentation. We evaluated traditional MC-Dropout and the MC-frequency Dropout in three segmentation tasks involving different imaging modalities: (i) prostate zones in biparametric MRI, (ii) liver tumors in contrast-enhanced CT, and (iii) lungs in chest X-ray scans. Our results show that MC-Frequency Dropout improves calibration, convergence, and semantic uncertainty, thereby improving prediction scrutiny, boundary delineation, and has the potential to enhance medical decision-making.

## Recorded benchmark results

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## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.11258>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.11258.pdf>)
