Image-guided neurosurgery - State of the art and outlook

The surgical possibilities of image guided neurosurgery are presented and c ritically reviewed. Image guided neurosurgery may enable neurosurgeons to w ork more precisely than before, and thus reduce mortality and morbidity. Ho wever, before the technology achieves widespread acceptance, technical stan dards must be developed, the intraoperative localisation technology improve d, and clinical indications and the cost/benefit ratio clarified. Neverthel ess, image guided neurosurgery appears to herald an exciting future in whic h virtual reality and robotic surgery will emerge as modern techniques.