at the very beginning of the development of arthroscopy, and Schmieding’s
“better mousetrap” surgical instruments gave his empire firm footing.
As a surgeon, I’ve implanted literally thousands and thousands of
Arthrex sutures, suture anchors, screws, and various other devices, and I
am well aware of how Arthrex has changed the face of sports medicine
around the world. But I am here to learn more about its founder and how
he has achieved so much in one lifetime.
I have come to Naples armed with a few observations, and I am eager to
learn how Reinhold persevered and has landed himself on the Forbes 400,
poised to become one of the richest one hundred people in America.^1
My first question: is this the selfsame drafting table? Yes, he confirms
with a warm smile. (As I have gotten to know him better, it’s not a surprise
he still has the table. He’s an interesting mix of thriftiness and
extravagance, measured analysis and gut instinct.) I think the table is a
talisman of sorts that memorializes simple origins and the power of self-
invention.
Just as the light-powered arthroscope was becoming practical after
years of development by Masaki Watanabe in Japan, surgeons in North
America and Europe turned from merely peering into a joint to performing
work in a joint. Watanabe’s mentor in Tokyo had initiated the development
of a tool, a pencil-slim metal gadget with an ocular opening that allowed
surgeons to squint into the eyepiece while bent over, face close to the
operative joint. The first model was created in 1931, and subsequent
models were sequentially numbered. On the twenty-first attempt, in 1958,
Watanabe delivered the model upon which all subsequent arthroscopic
lenses were designed. The “Watanabe No. 21” was still powered by a tiny
incandescent light and had to be held to the surgeon’s face, but it led the
revolution in minimally invasive surgery around the globe. Over the next
two decades, arthroscopy turned from a novelty to a powerful tool,
particularly with the application of a flexible, fiber optic light source and
the attachment of a small video camera to the lens. No longer was the
surgeon consigned to bending over and banging (and contaminating) the
lens against his eyeball.
By 1981, surgeons were relieved to be standing up, manipulating the
camera with their hands, and miraculously investigating the miniature
world of any joint in the body. The quandary was the lack of tools to
reliably accomplish anything while looking.