The ability to see inside the body—whether to perform surgery, make a diagnosis, or chart the process of growth and repair—is invaluable to almost all fields of medicine. To do this, doctors today use a technique called flexible endoscopy.

As far back as the Roman Empire, doctors sought ways to peer into the living body; the remains of primitive efforts by ancient doctors to build such a device have been found at archaeological digs in Italy. In Germany in 1805, Philip Bozzini (1773–1809) developed a tubular probe prototype—lit at one end by a candle—which he called a Lichtleiter (light-guided instrument). The term endoscope was first used in 1853, when the French physician Antoine Jean Desormeaux (1815–1894) used a similar device. In 1868, the German doctor Adolf Kussmaul (1822–1902) was the first to use one of the devices to see inside a human stomach by enlisting a sword swallower to ingest an 18-inch metal tube with mirrors attached throughout and light directed in from the top. Such rigid tubes caused injury and irritation, so a flexible version was developed in 1932.

The next step—the invention of an endoscopic camera—required extremely small lenses, tiny sources of bright light, and suitable film. The first prototype, unveiled in 1950 by the Olympus Corporation in Tokyo, required manual activation of the flashbulbs and winding of the film. Development progressed quickly, and the “gastrocamera” became widely used as a diagnostic tool for early stage stomach cancer. The development of glass fiber in the 1960s allowed the creation of new endoscopes that were thinner and more flexible. This made possible the first gastrocamera with an “eye,” meaning that doctors could actually watch while taking photos.

Physicians now use endoscopes to examine the bladder, esophagus, large intestine, and other parts of the body—often pairing the scopes with tiny surgical tools for minimally invasive, or laparoscopic, surgery. Some endoscopes today take live video footage, while others can perform ultrasound imaging of surrounding tissue.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. A high-definition television version of the endoscopic camera was released in 2002, radically improving the quality of images and the accuracy of diagnoses.
  2. Scientists hope to soon develop a capsule endoscope that can be swallowed by the patient and will relay pictures wirelessly as it moves through the body.
  3. When endoscopy is used on certain body parts, it may have specific names: arthroscopy for use in the joints, bronchoscopy for the lungs, colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy for the large intestine, cystoscopy or urethroscopy for the urinary system, and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for the esophagus and stomach.