Abstract
A sensor means is employed to sense a distance to the surface of a subject to be examined, so that a range image may be acquired. Intensity information may be acquired alongside the distance information. The distance information and intensity information may be evaluated to track the pose of the sensor means relative to the surface of the subject to be examined, so that anatomical data related to said subject may be displayed as seen from the position and/or orientation of the sensor means or display means. By moving the sensor means or display means along the surface of the subject to be examined, such as a patient in a hospital environment, the user hence gets the impression of being able to look directly into the human body.

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Description

This application is a continuation of co-pending Patent Cooperation Treaty PCT/EP2011/005735, filed Nov. 14, 2011, which in turn claims priority from European Patent Application 10191085.9, filed Nov. 12, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference. [...]

Image recognition techniques may be employed to identify and track image features in consecutive images provided by said optical camera to account for updates whenever the position and/or orientation of said sensor means relative to said surface is changed. Camera-based methods for 3D surface reconstruction and/or feature tracking, such as stereoscopy or structure for motion may be applied to generate information about said surface. This data may be combined with the data acquired from a time-of-flight camera to provide an improved estimate of the current camera position and/or orientation. [...]

Extract from Publication number US20130245461 A1
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