Locating the distal end of a medical instrument

A system comprising:

• a medical instrument;
• a memory facility configured to provide a data set that describes a course of a main duct, of a first branch from the main duct, and of a second branch from the main duct;
• an imaging modality configured to detect a course of the medical instrument in the main duct and in one of the first branch or the second branch;
• and
• a data processing facility configured for:
• bringing the course of the main duct and of the first branch and second branch into register with the course of the medical instrument;
• calculating a first similarity measure of a portion of the course of the medical instrument in the first branch or the second branch with a first portion of the course of the first branch and a second similarity measure of the portion of the course of the medical instrument in the first branch or the second branch with a second portion of the course of the second branch;
• and
• determining an item of location information about the portion of the course of the medical instrument from the first similarity measure and the second similarity measure.

A non-transitory computer implemented storage medium that stores machine-readable instructions for locating a distal end of a medical instrument executable by at least one processor, the machine-readable instructions comprising:

• providing a data set that describes a course of a main duct, of a first branch from the main duct, and of a second branch from the main duct;
• detecting a course of the medical instrument in the main duct and in one of the first branch or the second branch;
• bringing the course of the main duct and of the first branch and the second branch into register with the course of the medical instrument;
• calculating a first similarity measure of a portion of the course of the medical instrument in the first branch or the second branch with a first portion of the course of the first branch and a second similarity measure of the portion of the course of the medical instrument in the first branch or the second branch with a second portion of the course of the second branch;
• and
• determining an item of location information about the portion of the course of the medical instrument from the first similarity measure and second similarity measure.