Friday, August 01, 2008

Endoscopy means to look inside, and really refers to looking inside of the body for medical reasons using an instrument called an endoscope. Endoscopy is a minimally invasive medical procedure that is used to review the interior surface of an organ by inserting a tube into the body. The endoscope usually has a flexible tube that is rigid and not only provides an image for the doctor to study, but it also provides photographs as well as providing the doctor with an opportunity to take a biopsy and to retreive foreign objects. An endoscope has several components that make up the instrument, which include a rigid flexible tube, a light that illuminates the organ or object that will be studied, a lens that transmits the image to the viewer from the fiberscope, and and additional channel that allows entry of other medical instruments.