IMAGE-GUIDED THORACIC THERAPY AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

摘要

A probe (20) such as an endoscope equipped with a biopsy needle is guided to a target in or adjacent to the respiratory system. The position of the probe is monitored and a representation (26') of the probe i s superposed on a previously acquired image of the respiratory system and adjacent tissues. Artifacts caused by motion due to respiration a re suppressed by monitoring the respiratory state of the patient and acquiring the probe position when the respiratory state of the patient i s equal to the respiratory state of the patient during image capture.