[Expectations and demands of function preserving neurosurgery on imaging]

Modern neurosurgery applies diagnostic imaging, surgical planning and image-guidance with the aim of preservation of neurological function. Thereby, high precision and comprehensive presentation of the acquired multimodal data sets are mandatory for accurate localisation and registration. Morphological and functional information on cortical und subcortical structures should define target and anti-targets and provide the surgeon with an intuitive orientation within the operative field and, thereby, increase the safety of the procedure. Preoperative surgical planning and simulation, as well as intraoperative image-update of the surgical field are expected to further improve the operative result. The functional and specific structural imaging findings for image-guidance need to be validated intraoperatively, e.g. by electrophysiological stimulation, in terms of their sensitivity and specifity. Finally, image-guidance has to prove its impact on overall neurosurgical outcome and patients' quality of live on follow up exams.