[Technical innovations and future perspectives]

Digital systems have increasingly become integrated into the modern operating room in the last few decades. This has brought about a massive change, especially in minimally invasive surgery.

The article provides an overview of the current technical innovations and the perspectives of digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) in surgery.

The article is based on a literature search via PubMed and research work by the participating coauthors.

Current research is increasingly looking at machine learning techniques that take advantage of the complex data in surgery; however, the integration of artificial intelligence systems into the operating room and clinical practice has only just begun.

Translational research of artificial intelligence in surgery is still in its infancy but has great potential to improve patient care; however, to accelerate the incorporation of intelligent systems into the clinical practice, the creation of interdisciplinary research groups led by surgeons is necessary.