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Endoscope

Biomedical Engineering

An endoscope is an inspection instrument built from an image sensor, an optical lens, a light source and a mechanical body, used to examine internal body structures through natural openings or small incisions with minimal invasiveness. The physician Philipp Bozzini built the first endoscope, a device he called the Lichtleiter or light conductor, in 1806, though the Vienna College of Physicians rejected his invention; the physician Antonin Jean Desormeaux later built the first genuinely effective open-tube endoscope and performed the first successful operation with one. Endoscopy advanced through electric internal lighting by 1908, and in 1957 Basil Hirschowitz, Larry Curtiss and Wilbur Peters built the first fiber-optic endoscope, building on Harold Hopkins's earlier fibroscope work and his rigid rod-lens design, which Karl Storz then manufactured, together transforming endoscopy from an experimental curiosity into a standard medical tool.

Facts
Year
1855 1
Significance
The self-illuminated endoscope, developed at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1894 or 1895 by John Macintyre, solved the earlier reliance on candles and oil lamps for internal illumination, a critical step toward practical medical use. 1
FAQs

How did endoscopes get their light inside the body?

Early electric lights were external; smaller bulbs made internal light possible by 1908.

The first electric lights used with endoscopes were external, yet they were bright enough to allow cystoscopy, hysteroscopy and sigmoidoscopy, and the examination of the nasal cavities. The invention of the lightbulb was a major step in the improvement of the endoscope. Later, smaller bulbs became available, which made internal light possible, for instance in a hysteroscope built by Charles David in 1908.
Connections

In Field

Source Endoscopy (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Endoscopy (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
  • History section, naming of the device
    The term endoscope was first used on February 7, 1855, by engineer-optician Charles Chevalier
  • History section, self-illumination
    The self-illuminated endoscope was developed at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland in 1894/1895 by John Macintyre
  • In Field: Biomedical Engineering, Categories
    Diagnostic gastroenterology
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Endoscope (Wikipedia)
In Group: Surgical and Interventional Instruments, Lead
Quote, In Group: Surgical and Interventional Instruments, Lead
An endoscope is an inspection instrument composed of an image sensor, optical lens, a light source and a mechanical device, which is used to look deep into the body by openings such as the mouth or anus.
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