minimally invasive

or minimal invasive

adjective

1. (of medical treatments or procedures) requiring only a small incision or the insertion of an instrument into a body cavity; involving minimal damage of body tissue:

   minimally invasive endoscopy.

minimally invasive

adjective

1. (of surgery) involving as little incision into the body as possible, through the use of techniques such as keyhole surgery and laser treatment

Word History and Origins

Origin of minimally invasive¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

After his two previous episodes of atrial flutter, Harbaugh underwent ablations, which are minimally invasive procedures that treat irregular heartbeats by destroying heart tissue that causes abnormal electrical signals.

From Los Angeles Times

“A simple cheek swab would be sufficient, and it’s minimally invasive.”

From BBC

That’s a better outcome than what we even shared with the UC regents back a year and a half ago as far as what we were projecting some of the travel to be, and that was a credit to our team and working with the Big Ten and really pushing to make sure this was as minimally invasive as possible to our student-athletes and their academic pursuits.

From Los Angeles Times

The procedure is elective and minimally invasive, “is not related to his cancer diagnosis and has had no effect on his exrcellent cancer prognosis,” the press secretary said.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Austin will undergo “a scheduled, elective and minimally invasive follow-up” bladder procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the statement said.

From New York Times