Patent ID: 8885897

Claim:
An image registration apparatus comprising: a first scanner configured to, a first amount of time prior to a procedure, generate and store at least one diagnostic image of a target area in 3D and higher dimensions; a second scanner configured to, a second amount of time prior to the procedure, generate and store at least one ultrasound image of the target area in 3D and higher dimensions, and during the procedure, generate real-time images in 2D, the second amount of time being shorter than the first amount of time; a localizer configured to determine a baseline transform to iteratively register the respective diagnostic and ultrasound images of the target area in 3D and higher dimensions, a motion correction transform to register the respective real-time and stored ultrasound images, and a similarity measure indicative of a degree of similarity between the registered real-time images and the ultrasound image; and an adjustment processor configured to adjust at least a selected portion of the diagnostic image in accordance with the baseline transform and the motion correction transform and to correct for motion within the target area using the similarity measure.