Historical Review of Endoscopic Spinal Decompression

Abstract

Improvements in imaging techniques, along with advancements in optomechanical devices such as 2-mm-thin endoscope, electronic scope, and CCD cameras, and development of new devices such as the high speed drill greatly affected the techniques of minimally invasive endoscopic surgery. In behind the birth of these groundbreaking medical techniques there were engineers who have supported from the beginning. Thus, it is also the history of medical- and-engineering ties between doctors and optical engineers, and past experience becomes a beam of light that shed upon the future. Primum nil nocere (minimize the invasion) was a concept since the days of Hippocrates, and it has been an everlasting theme for surgeons. Then, a paradigm shift occurred, from the times of microscopes to the times of video endoscope where operators can share the live image with others. With these advancements, surgeons were able to understand the anatomical structures and relative positional relationship of each organs through the endoscope and developed their depth perception through two-dimensional video images. Endoscopic spinal decompression that uses high-definition endoscopic images and can treat a wide range of the spinal column enabled to decrease numbers of complications and faster rehabilitation.