A Registration Method for Real Bronchoscopy Image with Virtual Bronchoscope Images Using Similarity Measures.

Bronchoscopy is the procedure for inspecting, and retrieving diagnostic samples for lung-related surgeries. Based on similarity measures, this paper proposes a novel registration method for matching real bronchoscopy image with virtual CT-based bronchoscope images to obtain the current 3D position of the bronchoscope in the airways. Using this method, the 3D locations of the bronchoscope can be discovered and co-displayed with the real bronchoscopy 2D images to help the surgeon navigate the bronchial airways during surgery. Experimental results shows that our method performs better than other methods and can provide the clinicians the extra spatial information required for guiding the bronchoscope down the correct air passage.