Active-DiNTS: Active Differentiable Network Topology Search
This study addresses the prohibitive annotation costs and computational demands of neural architecture search (NAS) for 3D medical image segmentation by pioneering the integration of active learning into a bilevel differentiable network topology search framework. Employing a U-Net backbone, the proposed method achieves joint optimization of architecture discovery and high-value sample selection through pool-based active learning coupled with uncertainty ranking strategies. Evaluated on the Medical Segmentation Decathlon (MSD) benchmark, the model consistently surpasses baseline performance in Dice coefficient, yielding an approximate 10% accuracy improvement in edema segmentation. Furthermore, the search efficiency is enhanced 27-fold compared to DiNTS, enabling highly accurate 3D medical image segmentation using only a single GPU.