Medical system providing dynamic registration of a model of an anatomical structure for image-guided surgery

A method for registering a flexible medical device disposed within a passage in an anatomical structure of a patient to a four-dimensional computer model of the anatomical structure, wherein the flexible medical device has a plurality of sensors distributed along the length of the flexible medical device, wherein the four-dimensional computer model includes information of a plurality of three-dimensional computer models of the anatomical structure, wherein each of the plurality of three-dimensional computer models is for a different point in time than others of the plurality of three-dimensional computer models so that the fourth dimension is time, wherein the plurality of three-dimensional computer models indicate movement of the anatomical structure, wherein each of the plurality of three-dimensional computer models defines a plurality of passages, and wherein each of the plurality of passages has a shape, the method comprising:

• determining a current pose and shape of the flexible medical device using information provided by the plurality of sensors at the same point in time;
• registering the flexible medical device to the four-dimensional computer model of the anatomical structure by matching at least the determined shape of the flexible medical device to a best fitting one of the shapes of potential passages in the four-dimensional computer model.

A method for registering a computer model of anatomical structure to a medical device, the method comprising:

• periodically performing a global registration of the computer model to the medical device by determining the pose and shape of the medical device while disposed in a passage of the anatomical structure and by matching at least the determined shape of the medical device to a best fitting one of the shapes of one or more potential passages in the computer model of the anatomical structure, followed by performing a local registration of the computer model to the medical device by comparing an image captured by the image capturing device with a plurality of virtual views of the computer model of the anatomical structure, wherein the plurality of virtual views is generated from the perspective of a virtual camera whose pose is initially set at the pose of the distal end of the medical device and then perturbed about the initial pose.