Vessel target location estimation during the TIPS procedure.

Creation of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) requires passage of a needle toward a moving target that is only seen transiently by X-ray prior to needle passage. Intraoperative, 3D target localization would facilitate target access and improve the safety of the procedure. The clinical assumption is that patients undergoing the TIPS procedure possess rigid, cirrhotic livers that undergo only intraoperative translation without significant deformation or rotation.