An endoscopy is the general term used to describe a medical procedure involving a tool called an endoscope. An endoscope is best described as a thin cable that can be inserted into the body via existing or created openings. This could include anything from the mouth, the nose or a cut created in the skin. The cable sent in has a camera attached to the end of it, which transmits pictures and videos live to the doctors. An endoscopy may be used to view body parts such as the bladder, the windpipe and the joints. Different kinds of endoscopies and endoscopes are separated by names, such as a laryngoscope, the kind of endoscope used in the evaluation of the voice box.
An endoscope and it’s cable
To see a list of different kinds of endoscopies, check out this website: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/understandingyourdiagnosis/examsandtestdescriptions/endoscopy/endoscopy-what-is-endoscopy
When was the Endoscope Invented?
The very first endoscope to ever be created was in the year 1806. It consisted of a plastic tube, a mirror and a container containing a candle. This process provided very little visualization and was very painful for the patient. Few years after its discovery, a second model was made by a German Urologist named Max Nitze. (Urology is the study of the functions and disorders of the urinary system & an Urologist is someone who specializes in urology.) He improved the endoscope by placing several lenses in the tube for improved visualization. He also though using an internal light would be better than using an external light.
After Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, further improvements were made to the endoscope. In 1960 Harold Hopkins, the inventor of the zoom lens, improved the endoscope by placing neutral gas between the lenses in the endoscope instead of air. This provided greater light transmission, a wider view, better image quality and a smaller diameter for the system. Years after these, many other improvements were made to the endoscope, but the most important was the charge-coupled camera, which were introduced in 1969.
There were not many ethical issues that inventors came across while creating the endoscope. However, the Vienna Medical Society thought examinations of the canals and cavities in the human body were absurd and disapproved of such curiosity.
Types of Endoscopes
As improvements were made to the endoscope, several different types of endoscopes were made to adjust to the body part being examined.
There are several different types of Endoscopes including :
- Bronchoscopes – Used for examining air passages & lungs.
- Colonoscopes – Used to examine the colon.
- Gastroscopes – Used to examine small intestines, stomach and the esophagus.
- Arthoroscopes – Used to examine joints.
Quite often endoscopies are used for a biopsy. A biopsy is a process where tissue is removed from the body to examine it for diseases. Due to endoscopes we are able to avoid major surgeries and we can use modified endoscopes to do more complex surgeries.
A short walkthrough of a procedure can be found on 4. The Process of an Endoscopy
Endoscopy & Camera Pills 