Designing single-use endoscopes: Smaller, cleaner, cheap enough?

Endoscopes are essential visualisation tools in modern medicine. Due to cleanliness concerns with flexible devices, single-use endoscopes are beginning to play an increasing role in this space. Endoscopes are essential visualisation tools in modern medicine. Due to cleanliness concerns with flexible devices, single-use endoscopes are beginning to play an increasing role in this space. However, several hurdles to further market penetration remain, such as product cost and wastage. Furthermore, there is an increasing push in endoscope design towards miniaturisation as a means to improve ease of use and reduce patient trauma following interventional procedures and surgery which requires cost/size/performance tradeoffs to be considered.