Dr. David Fischer

And what fiber optics allowed us to do was to both shine light through it as well as see through it.

So we could not only put a light inside a joint, but we could actually see through the same small bore implement.

And that changed the whole thing.

And then when we could begin to see what was going on inside the knee or the hip or the shoulder or just about any area of the body now, in orthopedics, we could figure out how to treat it if we could see it.

And, you know, that's an element of any kind of surgery, whether it's orthopedics or general surgery or heart surgery, is that

the first thing you have to be able to do is you have to be able to see what's wrong.

If you can see what's wrong, you can figure out a way to treat it.

And the arthroscope had a great application in orthopedics, but my goodness, it's probably had a broader application in other areas of medicine, you know, gallbladders and appendixes and all these things now are

for the most part, handled the same way with a few little incisions and small tools.

It's been a remarkable invention because it's basically allowed us to see what's going on inside a joint.

Very good recovery.

I mean, you know, a gallbladder is a good example of general surgery where that used to be, that used to be a tough operation.

You were in the hospital for days.

You had this big incision in your abdomen.

Well, that's another one.

That's an outpatient procedure.

It's just like a lot of other things.

Well, not everybody does, Clarence.

No, that might have something to do with you.

You might put up with these things longer than a lot of people do.