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 mea ...

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 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

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 An endoscope is an inspection instrument composed of image sensor, optical lens, light source and mechanical device, which is used to look deep into the body by way of openings such as the mouth or anus. A typical endoscope applies several modern t ...

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 centra ...

– 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 Total internal reflection (TIR) is the optical phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface (boundary) from one medium to another (e.g., from water to air) are not refracted into the second ("external") medium, but completely reflect ...

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 Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

. 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 ...

– 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 – 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 microscop ...

– Bladder * Enteroscopy – Small Intestine *

Hysteroscopy Hysteroscopy is the inspection of the uterine cavity by endoscopy with access through the cervix. It allows for the diagnosis of intrauterine pathology and serves as a method for surgical intervention (operative hysteroscopy). Hysteroscope A hyst ...

– Uterus *

Laparoscopy Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medlin ...

– 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 during ...

– Larynx (voice box) *

Mediastinoscopy Mediastinoscopy is a procedure that enables visualization of the contents of the mediastinum, usually for the purpose of obtaining a biopsy. Mediastinoscopy is often used for staging of lymph nodes of lung cancer or for diagnosing other conditio ...

– Area between lungs * Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy – 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 inse ...

has a very low risk of causing infection and blood loss.

Other applications

Locksmiths use fiberscopes to check the position of pins. 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 A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

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 (skirmisher ...

In popular media

* The 1982 film '' Who Dares Wins'', about the Special Air Service, depicted the use of fiberscopes in counterterrorism. * Fiberscopes are an important tool in tactical shooters 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, the ...

'', ''

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'', ''Ready or Not'', and '' Door Kickers'', where they are used to check under doors or around corners without revealing the player's position or exposing them to enemy attack.

References

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