A method for bronchoscope tracking by combining a position sensor and image registration.
This paper describes a method for tracking a bronchoscope by combining a position sensor and image registration. A bronchoscopy guidance system is a tool for providing real-time navigation information acquired from pre-operative CT images to a physician during a bronchoscopic examination. In this system, one of the fundamental functions is tracking a bronchoscope's camera motion. Recently, a very small electromagnetic position sensor has become available. It is possible to insert this sensor into a bronchoscope's working channel to obtain the bronchoscope's camera motion. However, the accuracy of its output is inadequate for bronchoscope tracking. The proposed combination of the sensor and image registration between real and virtual bronchoscopic images derived from CT images is quite useful for improving tracking accuracy. Furthermore, this combination has enabled us to achieve a real-time bronchoscope guidance system. We performed evaluation experiments for the proposed method using a rubber phantom model. The experimental results showed that the proposed system allowed the bronchoscope's camera motion to be tracked at 2.5 frames per second.
Deguchi
Daisuke
D
Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, and Minami-sanjo Hospital, Sapporo, Japan. ddeguchi@suenaga.m.is.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Akiyama
Kenta
K
Mori
Kensaku
K
Kitasaka
Takayuki
T
Suenaga
Yasuhito
Y
Maurer
Calvin R
CR
Takabatake
Hirotsugu
H
Mori
Masaki
M
Natori
Hiroshi
H
D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D018511:Systems Integration