Patent ID: 7697972

Claim:
An image guided navigation system for guiding an instrument through a region of a patient, said image guided navigation system comprising: an anatomical gating device that senses a physiological event; an imaging device that captures image data of the region of the patient in response to said physiological event; a tracking device that tracks the position of the instrument in the region of the patient; a controller in communication with said anatomical gating device, said imaging device and said tracking device to register said image data with the region of the patient in response to said physiological event, said controller further configured to register a 3-D model image to the image data and provide navigation and information of a possible path to direct the instrument through the region of the patient to an estimated optimized target site, wherein the estimated optimized target site is identified on the 3-D model image along with a real time view of an icon representing the instrument moving toward the estimated optimized target site, wherein the estimated optimized target site is based at least in part on a statistical map that suggests where instrument placement should take place depending on the pathology of the patient; and a display that displays the image data of the region of the patient with the superimposed icon of the instrument and the superimposed icon of the estimated optimized target site, such that a user knows where the estimated optimized target site is on the 3-D model image or display and can simply navigate the instrument toward this estimated optimized target site.