Methods for planning and guiding endoscopic procedures that incorporate image-to-body divergence reduction

A method of planning and guiding an endoscopic procedure, the method comprising:

• obtaining a first scan of an organ cavity at a first state;
• obtaining a second scan of the organ cavity at a second state, wherein the first state is different than the second state;
• generating a virtual organ cavity based at least in part on the first scan and the second scan;
• defining one or more regions of interest (ROI) in the virtual organ cavity;
• determining a route to the one or more ROIs based on the virtual organ cavity;
• directing endoscope hardware along a pathway to the one or more ROIs along the predetermined route;
• monitoring a real-time position of the endoscope hardware relative to an expected position along the predetermined route;
• and
• performing an examination of the one or more ROIs when the real-time position of the endoscope hardware corresponds to an expected ROI location.

A method of planning and guiding an endoscopic procedure, the method comprising:

• obtaining a first scan of an organ cavity at a first state;
• obtaining a second scan of the organ cavity at a second state, wherein the first state is different than the second state;
• computing an anatomical model for each of the first scan and the second scan;
• defining one or more regions of interest (ROI) in the organ cavity;
• deriving a 3D transformation that maps each point in the first scan to each corresponding point in the second scan;
• deriving a procedure plan including a primary route to the one or more ROIs;
• directing endoscope hardware along a pathway to the one or more ROIs, wherein the pathway extends along the primary route;
• monitoring, by a processor, a real-time position of the endoscope hardware relative to an expected position along the primary route;
• and
• performing a desired examination of the one or more ROIs when the real-time position of the endoscope hardware corresponds to an expected ROI location.

A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising one or more programming instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a processing device to:

• generate a virtual organ cavity based at least in part on a first scan of an organ cavity at a first state and a second scan of the organ cavity at a second state, wherein the first state is different than the second state;
• define one or more regions of interest (ROI) in the virtual organ cavity;
• determine a route to the one or more ROIs based on the virtual organ cavity;
• and
• monitor a real-time position of endoscope hardware relative to an expected position along the predetermined route.

A system for planning and guiding an endoscopic procedure, the system comprising:

• a processing device;
• and
• a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising one or more programming instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the processing device to:
• generate a virtual organ cavity based at least in part on a first scan of an organ cavity at a first state and a second scan of the organ cavity at a second state, wherein the first state is different than the second state;
• define one or more regions of interest (ROI) in the virtual organ cavity;
• determine a route to the one or more ROIs based on the virtual organ cavity;
• and
• monitor a real-time position of endoscope hardware relative to an expected position along the predetermined route.