Patent 4077 was the 139th overall episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, also the 17th episode of Season 6 of the series. Written by Ken Levine and David Isaacs, and directed by Harry Morgan, it originally aired on January 10, 1978. The surgeons of the 4077th need a special kind of instrument to perform a difficult operation on a casualty, and soon produce the new vascular clamp; meanwhile ....