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A fiberscope is a flexible
optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...
bundle with an eyepiece on one end and a lens on the other that is used to examine and inspect small, difficult-to-reach places such as the insides of machines, locks, and the human body.


History

Guiding of light by refraction, the principle that makes fiber optics possible, was first demonstrated by Daniel Colladon and
Jacques Babinet Jacques Babinet (; 5 March 1794 – 21 October 1872) was a French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer who is best known for his contributions to optics. Biography His father was Jean Babinet and mother, Marie‐Anne Félicité Bonneau d ...
in Paris in the early 1840s. Then in 1930,
Heinrich Lamm Heinrich Lamm (January 19, 1908 – July 12, 1974), a Jewish German-American physician, was a pioneer in using optical fibers for image transmission, and was the first to make a fiber-optic endoscope. When Lamm was a medical student in 1930, he ...
, a German medical student, became the first person to put together a bundle of optical fibers to carry an image. These discoveries led to the invention of endoscopes and fiberscopes. In the 1960s the endoscope was upgraded with
glass fiber Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...
, a flexible material that allowed light to transmit, even when bent. While this provided users with the capability of real-time observation, it did not provide them with the ability to take photographs. In 1964 the fiberscope, the first gastro camera, was invented. It was the first time an endoscope had a camera that could take pictures. This innovation led to more careful observations, and more accurate diagnoses.


Optics

Fiberscopes work by utilizing the science of fiber-optic bundles, which consist of numerous fiber-optic cables. Fiber-optic cables are made of optically pure glass and are as thin as a human’s hair. The three main components of a fiber-optic cable are: *
core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the central ...
– the center made of high purity glass *
cladding Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: * Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...
– the outer material surrounding the core that prevents light from leaking * buffer coating – the protective plastic coating The following are the two different types of fiber-optic bundles in a fiberscope: *illumination bundle – designed to carry light to the area in front of the lens *imaging bundle – designed to carry an image from the lens to the eyepiece


Total internal reflection

Fiber-optic cables use total internal reflection to carry information. When light travels from one medium to another it is refracted. If the light is traveling from a less dense medium to a dense medium it is refracted away from the normal. The opposite applies if the light is traveling from a dense medium to a less dense medium. In optic cables, light travels through the dense glass core (high refractive index) by constantly reflecting from the less dense cladding (lower refractive index). This happens because the surface of the core acts like a perfect mirror and the angle of the light is always larger than the critical angle.


Components

*Eyepiece – Magnifies the image carried back by the imaging bundle so the human eye can view it. *Imaging bundle – Continuous strand of flexible glass fibers that transmit the image to the eyepiece. *Distal lens – The combination of micro lenses that take images and focus them into the small imaging bundle. *Illumination system- A Fiber optic light guide that relays light from the source to the target area *Articulation system- The ability of the user to control the movement of the bending section of the fiberscope that is directly attached to the distal lens. *Fiberscope body – The control section that is designed to help aide one hand operation. *Insertion tube – Most of the length of the fiberscope, made to be durable and flexible. This protects the optical fiber bundle and the articulation cables. *Bending section – The most flexible part of the fiberscope, it connects the insertion tube to the distal viewing section. *Distal section – Where the ending points of both the illumination and imaging fiber bundle are.


Medical applications

Fiberscopes are used in the medical field as a tool to help doctors and surgeons examine problems in a patient’s body without having to make large incisions. This procedure is called an endoscopy. Doctors use this when they suspect that a patient’s organ is infected, damaged, or cancerous. There are numerous types based on the area of the body being examined. They include: *
Arthroscopy Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the jo ...
– Joints *
Bronchoscopy Bronchoscopy is an endoscopic technique of visualizing the inside of the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. An instrument (bronchoscope) is inserted into the airways, usually through the nose or mouth, or occasionally through a trac ...
– Lungs *
Colonoscopy Colonoscopy () or coloscopy () is the endoscopic examination of the large bowel and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It can provide a visual diagnosis (''e ...
– Colon *
Cystoscopy Cystoscopy is endoscopy of the urinary bladder via the urethra. It is carried out with a cystoscope. The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. The cystoscope has lenses like a telescope or microscope ...
– Bladder * Enteroscopy – Small Intestine * Hysteroscopy – Uterus * Laparoscopy – Abdomen/Pelvis *
Laryngoscopy Laryngoscopy () is endoscopy of the larynx, a part of the throat. It is a medical procedure that is used to obtain a view, for example, of the vocal folds and the glottis. Laryngoscopy may be performed to facilitate tracheal intubation durin ...
– Larynx (voice box) * Mediastinoscopy – Area between lungs *
Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) or oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD), also called by various other names, is a diagnostic endoscopic procedure that visualizes the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract down to the duodenum. It is considered ...
– Esophagus and upper intestinal tract Although any medical technique has its potential risks, using a fiberscope for
endoscopy An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are insert ...
has a very low risk of causing infection and blood loss.


Other applications

Locksmiths use fiberscopes to check the position of
pins A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch de ...
. Technicians and inspectors use fiberscopes to look at the inside of machines without having to disassemble them. Fiberscopes can also be used in a military or police application to check beneath doors or around corners, or otherwise perform surveillance or
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmishers ...
.


In popular media

* The 1982 film ''
Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...
'', about the Special Air Service, depicted the use of fiberscopes in
counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
. * Fiberscopes are an important tool in
tactical shooters A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games aim to simulate realistic combat through slower-paced and punishing gameplay. This makes tactics, planning, ...
such as ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six'' (often shortened to ''Rainbow Six'') is a tactical first-person shooter video game franchise by Ubisoft, based on the novel '' Rainbow Six'' by American author Tom Clancy. Critically and commercially successful, th ...
'', ''
Splinter Cell ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell'' is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a ...
'', ''
SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
'', ''Ready or Not'', and ''
Door Kickers ''Door Kickers'' is a real-time tactics video game developed and published by Romanian indie studio KillHouse Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on October 20, 2014, and later for iOS and Android on June 24, 2015 and September ...
'', where they are used to check under doors or around corners without revealing the player's position or exposing them to enemy attack.


See also

*
Borescope A borescope (occasionally called a boroscope, though this spelling is nonstandard) is an optical instrument designed to assist visual inspection of narrow, difficult-to-reach cavities, consisting of a rigid or flexible tube with an eyepiece or d ...
* Endoscope *
Ulexite Ulexite (NaCaB5O6(OH)6·5H2O, hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide), sometimes known as TV rock or Television stone, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduc ...
or "TV rock", a naturally occurring fiber bundle *
Hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obj ...


References

{{Authority control Endoscopy Medical equipment Optical devices Fiber optics Danish inventions