Abstract
The introduction of a flexible endoscope to mainstream clinical practice has revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal, urologic, and pulmonary illnesses. The flexibility of these scopes has far surpassed the limitations of the traditional rigid endoscope, allowing the endoscopist to reach and treat anatomical areas never thought to be amenable to this kind of treatment. These scopes and their associated tools allow endoscopists to diagnose and treat disease processes that traditionally required invasive surgery. These procedures are now done in a truly minimally invasive fashion, often on an outpatient basis. Two types of endoscopes are commonly used: fiberoptic and videoendoscopes.