METHOD FOR DISPLAYING TUMOR LOCATION WITHIN ENDOSCOPIC IMAGES

A method of displaying an area of interest within a surgical site includes modeling a patient's lungs and identifying a location of an area of interest within the model of the patient's lungs. The topography of the surface of the patient's lungs is determined using an endoscope having a first camera, a light source, and a structured light pattern source. Real-time images of the patient's lungs are displayed on a monitor and the real-time images are registered to the model of the patient's lungs using the determined topography of the patient's lungs. A marker indicative of the location of the area of interest is superimposed over the real-time images of the patient's lungs. If the marker falls outside of the field-of view of the endoscope, an arrow is superimposed over the real-time images to indicate the direction in which the marker is located relative to the field of view.