HISTORY OF THE OPERATING MICROSCOPE - FROM MAGNIFYING GLASS TO MICRONEUROSURGERY

THE ADVENT OF the microscope in the operating room revolutionized neur osurgery. We traced the origin and evolution of this important inventi on from the first magnifying lens to its practical application in neur osurgery. The concept of magnification evolved from unexplained observ ations in ancient times to the invention of the microscope by the late 16th century. In the subsequent 3 centuries, scientists made technica l advances that greatly improved the power and utility of the microsco pe. By the early 20th century, otolaryngologists became the first surg eons to use the microscope in clinical surgery. After World War II, op hthalmologists and vascular and plastic surgeons began using the micro scope in the operating room, making further technical improvements. It was a relatively small group of pioneering neurosurgeons in the late 1950s and 1960s who transformed microneurosurgery from a revolutionary and unorthodox ''experiment'' into the standard of care in much of mo dern neurosurgery.