Uncertainty-Aware Retinal Vessel Segmentation via Ensemble Distillation

Abstract: Uncertainty estimation is critical for reliable medical image segmentation, particularly in retinal vessel analysis, where accurate predictions are essential for diagnostic applications. Deep Ensembles, where multiple networks are trained individually, are widely used to improve medical image segmentation performance. However, training and testing costs increase with the number of ensembles. In this work, we propose Ensemble Distillation as a robust alternative to commonly used uncertainty estimation techniques by distilling the knowledge of multiple ensemble models into a single model. Through extensive experiments on the DRIVE and FIVES datasets, we demonstrate that Ensemble Distillation achieves comparable performance via calibration and segmentation metrics, while significantly reducing computational complexity. These findings suggest that Ensemble distillation provides an efficient and reliable approach for uncertainty estimation in the segmentation of the retinal vessels, making it a promising tool for medical imaging applications.