Diffusion Models for Image Restoration

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Overview

This field studies how to recover useful images from noise, blur, low resolution, missing regions, and other degradations, including in medical and scientific imaging. Methods range from conditional diffusion and diffusion bridges to plug-and-play posterior sampling, which combines a learned image prior with consistency to the observed measurements. Recent work adapts pretrained models and uses physical, structural, or semantic guidance, while faster latent-space and one-step methods aim to make restoration practical. A central challenge is balancing fidelity to the input against realistic detail generation: strong generative priors can improve perceptual quality but may invent content, and inference cost and clinical validation remain concerns.

Latest papers

CardsList

189 papers17 papers in the last four weeks, up 42% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. The Noise Plane: A Diffusion Bridge Across Exponent and Dispersion

    Oct 27, 2026Xuran Hu, Yuru Jia, Tengxi Wang +3Diffusion-Based DenoisingDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511453, China · KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden · University of Montenegro, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro

  2. Physics Guided Diffusion Model Based Exposure Interpolation for High Dynamic Range Imaging

    Oct 27, 2026Zhengguo Li, Chaobing ZhengHDR ImagingPhysics-Informed Diffusion Models

    Institute of Advanced Intelligence and Computing, A*STAR, Singapore, 138632 · the school of Information Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China

  3. Support-guided OOD Removal with Diffusion

    Oct 23, 2026Alireza Kheirandish, Sara Fridovich-KeilDiffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion Models

    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

  4. CompMVR: Compression-Aware Multi-View Restoration Using Diffusion Models for Geometrically Consistent 3D Reconstruction

    Oct 23, 2026Dong-hwi Kim, Chaewon Moon, Hojun Song +13Multi-View ConsistencyMulti-View 3D Reconstruction

    Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea · Adobe Research, USA

  5. Rethinking Underwater Image Enhancement: Learning through Text-Guided Degradation Curriculum

    Oct 21, 2026Hongri Tian, Wenxue Li, Tian Ye +7Underwater Image EnhancementImage Restoration

    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China. · China Geological Survey, Beijing, China. · Director of Applied Science, Amazon.com, Inc., U.S.. +1

  6. Seeing through Denoising: Frequency-guided One-step Denoising for Infrared Small Target Detection

    Oct 21, 2026Xuelin Qian, Zixuan Wang, Chang Xu +2Infrared Small Target DetectionDiffusion Models

  7. Hihaze: One-Step Diffusion for High-Resolution Real-World Image Dehazing

    Oct 19, 2026Zheng Chen, Yuchen Huang, Xiaoyang Liu +3Image DehazingDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  8. Severity-Channel Conditioning: An Injection-Level Study for Consumer-Device Deblurring

    Oct 17, 2026Abdullah Al Shafi, Kazi Saeed Alam, Sumaiya Rahim Suma +1Image DeblurringImage Restoration

    Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna 9203, Bangladesh

  9. Generative Text Modelling and Language-Guided Visual Attention for Deciphering Palimpsests

    Oct 16, 2026Robin Hollifeldt, Tianru Zhang, Jessica Ström +1Historical Document ProcessingDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

  10. FlashReFocus: Interactive Image Refocusing in Seconds

    Oct 16, 2026Ching-Heng Cheng, Chia-Ming Lee, Ming-Ching Chang +3Neural RenderingDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    National Cheng Kung University · State University of New York at Albany · National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

  11. VascuSR: Iterative Anatomy-Aware Diffusion for CT Super-Resolution

    Oct 14, 2026Hairong Ni, Jiahe Huang, Minghao Guo +2Medical Image Super-Resolution3D Medical Imaging

    University of Michigan · University of California, San Diego · MIT CSAIL

  12. DeBoneDiT: Depth-Driven Conditional Bridge Diffusion Transformers for Bone Suppression in Chest X-Ray Images

    Oct 14, 2026Yifei Sun, Fenglei Fan, Junhao Jia +4Medical ImagingDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Zhejiang University · Hangzhou Dianzi University · City University of Hong Kong +2

  13. TGSR: Text-Grounded Diffusion for Faithful Image Super-Resolution

    Oct 9, 2026Zhiming Hu, Ran Zhang, Angela Ye +7Image Super-ResolutionDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    AIC-Toronto, Samsung Electronics · AMD · University of Toronto +2

  14. Iris-3B: Going Beyond the Latent with Pixel-Space Diffusion Training, Conversion and Fine-Tuning

    Oct 7, 2026Hanqiu Li Cai, Chema GarabitoT2I Diffusion ModelsPixel-Space Diffusion Models

    SperidLabs

  15. DISRQAD: Diffusion Image Super-Resolution Quality Assessment Dataset and Benchmark

    Oct 6, 2026Nikita Kukuzei, Artem Borisov, Evgeney Bogatyrev +3Image Quality AssessmentImage Super-Resolution

    Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow, Russia · MSU Institute for AI, Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow, Russia

  16. DriftSR: One-Step Real-World Image Super-Resolution via Distribution Drifting

    Oct 3, 2026Wei Zhu, Kai Zhang, Yu Zheng +4Image Super-ResolutionDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Nanjing University of Science and Technology · Huawei · Nanjing University +1

  17. Dynamic Time Step Prediction in Inverse Heat Dissipation for Blur-Like Image Restoration Tasks

    Oct 2, 2026Cap Dang Xuan Kiet, Tat-Jen ChamDiffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion Model Inversion

    Nanyang Technological University Singapore

  18. ODDR: One-Step Deshadow Diffusion via Reward Guidance

    Oct 1, 2026Junseong Shin, Kijun Kim, Minseong Kim +2Synthetic-to-Real Domain AdaptationDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Department of Artificial Intelligence, Hanyang University · AX Future Technology Institute, KT · Department of Computer Science, Hanyang University

  19. LensBridge: Frequency-Guided Compound Degradation Adaptation for Lens Aberration Correction and Veiling Glare Removal

    Sep 29, 2026Xiaolong Qian, Zhonghua Yi, Qi Jiang +4Image RestorationDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Zhejiang University · Hunan University

  20. CLIMB-flow: Coupled Linear Inverse posterior sampling via Multiscale-Based flow

    Sep 27, 2026Zeqiu Yu, Ruizhi Yuan, Mathews JacobDiffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion Sampling

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA · Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

  21. Fill2SR: Repurposing Inpainting Diffusion Transformers for Real-World Super-Resolution

    Sep 27, 2026Xingfu Yi, Xiaoxue YuDiffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion Transformer

    Independent Researcher, Hangzhou, China · Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

  22. Residual Diffusion Implicit Models

    Sep 26, 2026João Guerreiro, Pedro Tomás, Helena Aidos +1Diffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion-Based Inverse Problems

    INESC-ID, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal · ISR-Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal · LASIGE, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

  23. TOLA: Text-aware One-Step Latent Adaptation for Diffusion-based Text Image Super-Resolution

    Sep 24, 2026Yike Xu, Yue Shi, Yong Guo +1Diffusion Models for Image RestorationImage Super-Resolution

    Shanghai Jiao Tong University · University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · Shanghai AI Laboratory

  24. Uncertainty-Aware 3D Residual Wavelet Diffusion for Ultra Low-Field MRI Super-Resolution

    Sep 21, 2026Rui W. Yeow, Millie Beament, Fred Dick +6Medical Image Super-ResolutionMagnetic Resonance Imaging

    University College London, London, UK

  25. Patch-to-Global: Random Patch Diffusion for Globally Consistent Megapixel Artifact Inpainting in Whole Slide Images

    Sep 21, 2026Hyeseong Lee, Eunsu Kim, D M Bappy +6Computational PathologyDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Department of Biomedical Informatics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea · Department of Pathology, Korea University Anam Hospital, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea · Seegene Medical Foundation, Seoul, Korea +3

  26. SpaceDiffusion: Over-the-Orbit Diffusion for Space Generate-and-Forward Communications

    Sep 17, 2026Jianhao Huang, Zhanwei Wang, Khaled B. Letaief +1Wireless CommunicationsDiffusion Models for Image Restoration

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong SAR, China · Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong SAR, China

  27. DNF-SR: Dual-Input and Negative-Aware Feature Fine-Tuning for Real-World Image Super-Resolution

    Sep 14, 2026Shuhao Han, Wenjie Liao, Hayden Vance +4Diffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion Model Fine-Tuning

    VCIP, CS, Nankai University · Independent Researcher

  28. AstraMoE-SR: Trajectory-Guided Diffusion for Blind Satellite Jitter Deblurring and Super-Resolution

    Sep 7, 2026Yi-Chung Lai, Chin-Tien Wu, Yu-Chih ChenImage DeblurringRemote Sensing Image Super-Resolution

    Institute of Mathematical Modeling and Scientific Computing National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University · Department of Computer Science National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

  29. SPARK: Input-Conditioned Sparse Activation Modulation for Frozen DiT-based Super-Resolution

    Sep 3, 2026Federico Putamorsi, Leonardo Zini, Marcella Cornia +1Diffusion Models for Image RestorationDiffusion Transformer

    University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy

  30. Perceptually Regularized Diffusion Model for Image Super-Resolution

    Sep 2, 2026Chuxiangbo Wang, Pavithra Venkatachalapathy, Ying Liang +4Diffusion Models for Image RestorationPerceptual Loss

    Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. · Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. · Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. +3