endoscope

en·do·scope | \ ˈen-də-ˌskōp

Definition of endoscope

: an illuminated usually fiber-optic flexible or rigid tubular instrument for visualizing the interior of a hollow organ or part (such as the bladder or esophagus) for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes that typically has one or more channels to enable passage of instruments (such as forceps or scissors)

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Did You Know?

The Greek prefix endo- means "within, inside", so around 1860 an early crude instrument for looking deep inside the body was named the endoscope. But modern endoscopy required the invention of the electric lightbulb and then fiber-optic cable, so the first modern endoscopes date only to 1967. An endoscope may be inserted through a natural passageway (for example, through the nose or down the esophagus) or through a tiny cut in the skin. A tiny camera with a light at the end of the cable sends back images onto a screen, and the surgeon uses special instruments that work through a tube alongside the cable. There are now specialized types of endoscopes for every part of the body, where they can take tissue samples, cut out small growths, or remove foreign objects.

Examples of endoscope in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web To fabricate the tiny endoscope, the team 3D-printed the lenses, which are too small to see with the naked eye. — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "The World's Tiniest Endoscope Could Fight Heart Disease," 30 July 2020 But thanks to an endoscope, excavation tools, and patient research, Atsushi Ishimatsu of Japan’s Nagasaki University and his team have pieced together a vision of how mudskippers reproduce. — National Geographic, "To understand how mudskippers reproduce, scientists need to get dirty," 6 Feb. 2020 Scholars, surgeons and chemists have examined him in the centuries since, probing the mummy by microscope, endoscope and X-ray. — Ben Guarino, Anchorage Daily News, "A 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy speaks again, with high-tech help," 24 Jan. 2020 By the time the shot retracts, the camera has reimagined itself as the clinical eye of an endoscope. — Jamie Lauren Keiles, New York Times, "Adam Sandler’s Everlasting Shtick," 27 Nov. 2019 An endoscope has been fed down his throat to examine his small intestine. — Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post, "As a panda era closes, Bei Bei gets a checkup and ‘signs’ some keepsakes," 4 Sep. 2019 The center’s hospital is one of the leading facilities in the state, with a surgical suite, x-ray room, blood work lab, endoscope and ultrasound. — Catie Wegman, sun-sentinel.com, "SummerTimeOut: Turtle tours at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach," 26 June 2019 The company is a global market leader in endoscopes, but its overall margins have been dragged down by its unprofitable camera segment. — Jacky Wong, WSJ, "Olympus Shares Should Come Down From the Mountain," 16 Jan. 2019 The paper, published last month in the American Journal of Infection Control, underscores the infection risk posed by a wide range of endoscopes commonly used to peer deep into the body. — Chad Terhune, latimes.com, "Hospitals and device makers still struggle to rid medical scopes of infectious bacteria," 23 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'endoscope.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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“Endoscope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endoscope. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.

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endoscope

noun

en·do·scope | \ ˈen-də-ˌskōp

Medical Definition of endoscope

: an illuminated usually fiber-optic flexible or rigid tubular instrument for visualizing the interior of a hollow organ or part (as the bladder or esophagus) for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes that typically has one or more channels to enable passage of instruments (as forceps or scissors)