How can the 昀椀ndings from your research on endoscopic treatment be applied to healthcare systems globally, and what recommendations do you have in implementing this level of care on a broader, more global scale਀䤀 Europe and the States are already behind Asia. If you look at South Korea or Japan, endoscopic procedures had been performed for years before we started doing them. There, it’s already a standard procedure, and that’s why a lot of surgeons from all parts of the world visit professors in Korea to learn how they perform endoscopic procedures. Looking at Europe itself, endoscopic procedures are increasing in practice by surgeons in the UK, Germany, and neighboring countries. In the States, though it started as an uncommon practice, research groups are being formed to study endoscopic surgery and more and more courses are being organized, so it is now booming. ਀ꨀ A lot of your work discusses the costs associated with surgery and healthcare in general. In what ways could you see the healthcare industry take the right steps in making healthcare more affordable਀䤀 That's a quite dif昀椀cult question because it is very country-dependent. A lot of countries have their own healthcare systems and groups that look at when a procedure should be reimbursed. In the BMJ study, we speci昀椀cally looked at the Dutch healthcare system. We have a threshold, where we say a new intervention that has some merit should at most cost us some amount of money- that threshold could be different in varying countries. For the Netherlands, if you look at cost savings for endoscopic surgeries, the most cost savings are with shorter length of hospital stays and how quick patients resume to their jobs and daily activities; these factors are considered to be indirect costs. These are the biggest cost savings and are more social aspects of healthcare.਀ꨀ In the near future, what major research advancements in PTED are you excited about that would lower the recurrence and revision rates or the intraoperative radiation exposure rates਀䤀 I am excited about the further development of navigation systems for spine surgery. For instance, a few years to a decade ago, when we placed screws in the spine, we would take a lot of X-rays, and the radiation exposure would be huge. Operating involved wearing lead aprons and was extremely tiring. However, now we use the O-arm, where an intraoperative CT is performed before going inside to conduct the surgery. Navigating through the procedure becomes easier, and afterward, only one run is needed, reducing radiation exposure to the surgeon and making operating easier. These navigation systems can also be applied to endoscopic surgery, so one can more easily estimate where to place the broken channel and the endoscope. I am most excited about the availability of imaging techniques that make surgery easier and safer. These studies were mostly conducted for the lower back, but I am also eager to apply them to neck disc herniations, cervical disk herniations, and thoracic disk herniations, which involve more invasive surgeries than lumbar disk herniations. Furthermore, I am interested in reducing the invasiveness of these procedures by highlighting the merits of a simpler surgery.਀ꨀ 4