Admissibility of the referral (yes)，
Applicable provisions - Art. 112(1) EPC 1973 - Art. 53(c) EPC，
The Vienna Convention - principle of narrow interpretation of exclusions (no)，
One surgical step in a multi-step method - excluded from patentability (yes)，
Limited to surgery for a therapeutic purpose (no)，
Meaning of the wording of the exclusion - legal history - impact of jurisprudence and practice - ratio legis，
Nature of interventions - involvement of a practitioner (no)，
Medical skills and health risks - further criteria，
Claim left to encompass a surgical step (no)，
Disclaimer under Article 53(c) EPC (yes) subject to remaining requirements of EPC，
Omission - methods only concerning the internal operation of a device (yes) subject to remaining requirements of the EPC，
Possible use of non-surgical method in a surgical method - irrelevant, if non-surgical method complete teaching in itself