BACKGROUND The medical technical innovations over the last decade have made operations in the highly sensitive regions of the brain much safer. OBJECTIVE Presentation of how far computer assistance and robotics have become incorporated into clinical neurosurgery. METHODS Evaluation of the scientific literature and analysis of the certification status of the corresponding medical devices. RESULTS The rapid development of computer technology and the switch to digital imaging has led to the widespread introduction of neurosurgical planning software and intraoperative neuronavigation. In the field of robotics, the penetration into clinical neurosurgery is currently still largely limited to the automatic setting of trajectories. CONCLUSIONS The digitalization of imaging has fundamentally transformed neurosurgery. In the field of cranial neurosurgery, computer-assisted procedures can now be distinguished from noncomputer-assisted procedures only in a handful of cases. In the coming years important innovations for the clinical implementation can be expected in the field of robotics.