Looking into the eye piece, you can see random bubbles flowing across a wall of glistening, ridge - marked flesh of a water melon - reddish hue.
Your are looking inside the stomach of a living man.
And the man, wide-awake, is looking at you.
This sight-seeing tour through the gastro-intestinal tract was made possible by a new instrument recently placed into service at Charity hospital. Visual Inspection
It is the "gastro - duodenal fibroscope," a long tube bearing a light and a set of lenses on one end and an eyepiece on the other. The scope permits visual inspection of the stomach without surgery.
Unlike earlier instruments designed to do the same job, it can probe beyond the stomach into the lower digestive tract. And unlike the older instruments, it can be used on the patient while he or she is fullly conscious.
The scope bends easily and readily adapts to the curves and convolutions of the esophagus, the stomach and intestines. Older models of similar type devices were semi-rigid and could not explore as easily as the new scope. Few in Use
The scope has been used in connection with the treatment of three patients at Charity, said Dr. G Gor^oj3j\Tc_HardyJ a gas-
Linked to the scope is an air i bladder and tube. With this, the examining physicians pump small amounts of air into the stomach in order to distend it and get a clearer picture of its walls through the scope, Dr. McHardy said. Relayed Through Tube
Reflections from the tip of the scope are relayed through the tube to the eye through a series of bundles of "optic fibers."
It is this arrangement of optic fibers which permits the scope to bend around curves and allows physician to peer around the corners of the digestive tract.
Variations on the same type of device are in great demand by industry, Dr. McHardy said. Fibroscopes are being used to inspect, for example, the interiors of tub turbines in jet air craft, space explorative devices and oil well drilling tubes, he said.
A similar device is currently being designed to permit physicians to inspect kidney tubes, he said. photo: DR. G. GORDON M'HARDY
