Registration of real and virtual endoscopy--a model and image based approach.

This paper describes work in progress to integrate real and virtual endoscopy and to apply virtual endoscopy to the intra-operative guidance of endoscopic procedures. We propose a method for real-time tracking of the endoscope's shape and position. Our approach makes use of a simple and small external device, a computer model of a flexible endoscope and an image-based registration technique.