Optical Technologies, Digitally Assisted: Surgical Microscope - quo vadis?

Adequate magnification and proper illumination are crucial for success in microsurgical interventions. Thus, surgical microscopes have long been an integral part of modern eye surgery and are at the heart of modern operating theatres. This paper first briefly reviews the history microscopes in ophthalmic surgery - from the initial developments in the mid 19th century to the current state of the art systems with powerful coaxial illumination and fibre-guided xenon or LED light sources. The discussion then turns to current developments, particularly in the area of workflow support and integration of complementary technologies such as intraoperative OCT, "augmented reality", and visual data feeds useful to the surgeon. The last part presents an outlook on future developments, with a particular focus on the digital image chain and intelligent automated assistance.