A method for guiding stent deployment during an endovascular procedure
includes providing a virtual stent model of a real stent that specifies a
length, diameter, shape, and placement of the real stent. The method
further includes projecting the virtual stent model onto a 2-dimensional
(2D) DSA image of a target lesion, manipulating a stent deployment
mechanism to navigate the stent to the target lesion while simultaneously
acquiring real-time 2D fluoroscopic images of the stent navigation, and
overlaying each fluoroscopic image on the 2D DSA image having the
projected virtual stent model image, where the 2D fluoroscopic images are
acquired from a C-arm mounted X-ray apparatus, and updating the
projection of the virtual stent model onto the fluoroscopic images
whenever a new fluoroscopic image is acquired or whenever the C-arm is
moved, where the stent is aligned with the virtual stent model by
aligning stent end markers with virtual end markers.