History of Endoscopy

Endoscopy is a field of medicine that deals with exploring, diagnosing, and treating medical conditions through medical devices used to see inside the human body. From the Latin "endo" meaning "inside," and "scopy" meaning "inside," visualization and imaging was the original key basis for this type of medical procedure.

While endoscopy directly refers to the use of a scope to see inside the human body, it can also refer to operations or procedures performed that are aided by these scopes. Most modern endoscopy equipment is made with an extra channel in the long tube-shaped scope, so that surgical instruments or other operating devices can be easily slid down the channel and can work right in front of the scope's view.

While modern advances have powered these devices into the future, and we now have instruments that can capture high-resolution images and even send images anywhere in the world, endoscopy devices started as very basic utensils that were little more than clamps or retractors that allowed for a wider "naked eye" view inside the body. Karl Storz, among others, was one of the first professionals to dedicate his life to refining surgical instruments and making them better and more efficient. Storz, seeing the early models of endoscopic tools, knew that this was the surgical technique of the future, and set out to refining the tools for less-invasive surgical procedures.

Karl Storz designs are still a staple in the medical industry today. Even though these tools have undergone newer and more technologically-advanced revisions, they are still founded in the principals that Storz realized would guide future endoscopy. Even viewing his original prototypes from the 1940s, you can still see the designs follow Storz' original specifications and standards. 70 years later, Storz' ideas and his medical prototypes are still being used and spoken about in hospitals and medical centers all around the world.