A method for navigating a bronchoscope associated with a tracking instrument in a bronchial tree, the bronchial tree associated with a main carina, a right lung, and a left lung, the right lung comprising a right main bronchus, an intermediate bronchus, a right upper lobar bronchus, a right middle lobar bronchus, and a right lower lobar bronchus, the left lung comprising a left main bronchus, a left upper lobar bronchus, a left lingular bronchus, and a left lower lobar bronchus, the bronchial tree comprising a plurality of landmarks, the method comprising:
- selecting a target in the bronchial tree;
- selecting a first landmark from the plurality of landmarks, the first landmark associated with the target;
- acquiring a virtual model by reconstructing a three-dimensional model of the bronchial tree from a plurality of computed tomography (CT) images of the bronchial tree;
- extracting a first virtual image of the first landmark from the virtual model;
- acquiring a first live image of the first landmark by the bronchoscope;
- selecting a second landmark from the plurality of landmarks, the second landmark associated with the target;
- extracting a second virtual image of the second landmark from the virtual model;
- acquiring a second live image of the second landmark by the bronchoscope;
- calculating a registration transform by using a live position of the second landmark acquired from the second live image, a virtual position of the second landmark acquired from the second virtual image and camera specifications of the bronchoscope;
- selecting a landmarks subset from the plurality of landmarks, comprising:
- responsive to determining that the target being located in a right upper lobe of the right lung, selecting a first bifurcation of the main carina into the left main bronchus and the right main bronchus, a second bifurcation of the right upper lobar bronchus into an apical segment and a posterior segment, a third bifurcation of the right upper lobar bronchus into the apical segment and a right anterior segment, and a fourth bifurcation of the right upper lobar bronchus into the posterior segment and the right anterior segment;
- responsive to determining that the target being located in a middle lobe of the right lung, selecting the first bifurcation, a fifth bifurcation of the right middle lobar bronchus into a lateral segment and a medial segment, a sixth bifurcation of the right lower lobar bronchus into a right anterior basal segment and a right medial basal segment, and a seventh bifurcation of the right lower lobar bronchus into a right lateral basal segment and a right posterior basal segment;
- responsive to determining that the target being located in a right lower lobe of the right lung, selecting the fifth bifurcation, the seventh bifurcation, an eighth bifurcation of the intermediate bronchus into the right middle lobar bronchus and the right lower lobar bronchus, and a ninth bifurcation of the right lower lobar bronchus into the right anterior basal segment and the right lateral basal segment;
- responsive to determining that the target being located in a left upper lobe of the left lung, selecting the first bifurcation, a tenth bifurcation of the left main bronchus into the left upper lobar bronchus and the left lower lobar bronchus, an eleventh bifurcation of the left upper lobar bronchus into an apicoposterior segment and a left anterior segment, and a twelfth bifurcation of the left lingular bronchus into a superior lingular segment and an inferior lingular segment;
- and
- responsive to determining that the target being located in a left lower lobe of the left lung, selecting the tenth bifurcation, a thirteenth bifurcation of the left lower lobar bronchus into a left medial basal segment and a left posterior basal segment, a fourteenth bifurcation of the left lower lobar bronchus into a left anterior basal segment and the left medial basal segment, and a fifteenth bifurcation of the left lower lobar bronchus into a left lateral basal segment and the left posterior basal segment;
- extracting a plurality of virtual images of landmarks in the landmarks subset from the virtual model by deriving an image of each of the landmarks in the landmarks subset from the virtual model;
- acquiring a plurality of live images via imaging each of the landmarks in the landmarks subset by the bronchoscope;
- acquiring a plurality of live positions by extracting positions of at least three landmarks in the landmarks subset from the plurality of live images, acquiring the plurality of live positions comprising:
- moving a tip of the of the bronchoscope to a position of a landmark in the landmarks subset by using a corresponding live image of the plurality of live images, and
- extracting the tip's position by using the tracking instrument;
- acquiring a plurality of virtual positions by extracting positions of the three landmarks in the landmarks subset from the plurality of virtual images;
- and
- updating the registration transform by using the plurality of live positions and the plurality of virtual positions.