A method and apparatus are provided for registering pre-operative three dimensional (3-D) image data of a deformable organ comprising vessels with multiple intra-operative two-dimensional (2-D) ultrasound images of the deformable organ acquired by a laparoscopic ultrasound probe during a laparoscopic procedure. The apparatus is configured to: generate a 3-D vessel graph from the 3-D pre-operative image data; use the multiple 2-D ultrasound images to identify 3-D vessel locations in the deformable organ; determine a rigid registration between the 3-D vessel graph from the 3-D pre-operative image data and the identified 3-D vessel locations in the deformable organ; and apply said rigid registration to align the pre-operative three dimensional (3-D) image data with the two-dimensional (2-D) ultrasound images, wherein the rigid registration is locally valid in the region of the deformable organ of interest for the laparoscopic procedure.
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