The idea of stereotaxy toward minimally invasive neurosurgery.

The idea of stereotaxy in modern neurosurgery is reviewed. Stereotactic surgery has been one of the particular neurosurgical techniques mainly used for functional disorders. Nowadays, it is widely used in the field of general neurosurgery owing to the rapid development of computer-assisted 3D brain images. Functional neurosurgery itself is also changing in the sense that many alternative surgical procedures are now available due to the progress in neuroscience. The original premise of stereotaxy is exactly the same as that of minimally invasive neurosurgery today. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel