Patent ID: 8126241

Claim:
A method for automatic registration of an at least one captured image of a device located inside a tubular organ of a subject with a reference image of a body area of the subject containing the tubular organ, the method comprising the steps of: generating a first enhanced background image from the captured image and a second enhanced background image from the reference image, said first and second enhanced background images comprise background elements present in both captured and reference images; generating an enhanced tubular organ image from the reference image; generating an enhanced device image from the captured image; calculating a first correlation surface between said first and second enhanced background images; calculating a second correlation surface between said enhanced tubular organ image and said enhanced device image; calculating a combined correlation surface as a function of said first and second correlation surfaces; and performing registration between the currently captured image and the reference image in accordance with said combined correlation surface, thereby obtaining current location of the device in the tubular organ.