This article is an overview of the development of modern endoscopes, beginning with the introduction of fiber-optic endoscopes in the 1960s. Starting in the early 1990s, fiberoptic imaging was rendered largely redundant by "video chip" endoscopes with charge coupled device (CCD) sensors. Videoendoscopy freed the endoscopist from the slavery of the eyepiece and the teaching he'ad, an attachment screwed onto the instrument to allow others (one at a time) to share the experience. The image quality of CCD-based instruments has undergone progressive refinement that parallels the development of digital cameras. The modern digital cameras, available everywhere for prices starting at a few hundred dollars, have amazing resolution, thanks to the progressive miniaturization of the light-sensing "chip."
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