Patent ID: 7720520
Filing Date: 2010-05-18
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method of processing a medical image of an anatomical body containing image data arranged in an image coordinate system, the method comprising: placing at least one of a plurality of reference elements into contact with an anatomical structure; transmitting signals between the reference elements to establish a navigational coordinate system internal to the anatomical body and to determine locations of the at least one reference element within the navigation coordinate system; determining the location of an anatomical structure within the navigational coordinate system based on the determined locations of the at least one reference element within the navigation coordinate system; determining the location of an image reference corresponding to the anatomical structure within the image coordinate system; and registering the navigational and image coordinate systems based on the determined location of the anatomical structure within the navigational coordinate system and the determined location of the image reference within the image coordinate system.