History of Surgery: A Timeline: Quick Facts

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Photos

Two surgeons in scrubs and masks perform laparoscopic surgery on a patient in a brightly lit operating room, with medical equipment and a monitor displaying the procedure.

Surgical instruments

Galen of Pergamum

Early experiments on blood circulation

The “father of scientific surgery”

Ether anesthesia

The discoverer of the principle of the aplanatic focus

Wilhelm Roentgen's 1896 X-ray image showing the bones of his wife's hand, with a ring visible on one finger and metal objects placed above the hand.

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