The History Of A Rigid Borescope
It was in 1960 that the rigid borescope was born. Also known as fiber optic scopes or boroscope, they were invented by Narinder Kapany and Brian O’Brien. At that time, Narinder Kapany was working with a couple of colleagues at London’s Imperial College of Science and Technology. On the other hand, Brian O’Brien was already working for an optical group called American Optical Company. Their aim was to be able to see through tight spaces. And with their intensive knowledge of fiber optics, they took advantage of the booming technology. Thus, the rigid borescope was born.
The fiber optic wires were bundled up together in one wire that can fit about a quarter of an inch. One end has an eyepiece where you’ll look through as if you were using a microscope. On the other end was the object lens that created the image and passed on to the eyepiece. Both Kapany and O’Brien knew much about fiber optic scopes and so it was only time that they come up with such a device such as the rigid borescope as well as a flexible type. The flexible types can be easily manipulated. This helps the user or viewer to not only to be able to insert it in a hole but be able to bend it lightly to adapt to the space being viewed. The rigid ones are used more for machines and engines. A rigid tool such as the borescope will be very helpful for these heavy duty items that needed inspection. Aside from the rigid material, there’s also a semi rigid one if you are looking in between rigid and flexible. Note however that when these scopes were invented, it was only used for inspecting and working on jet engines as well as nuclear reactors. The scopes for human bodies were invented later on.
When the scopes were first created, the fiber optics were wrapped individually such that no light will leak. Today most of them are no longer coated individually but are usually bound with some strip of metal. This will allow them to stay together. Then all those fiber strands are put inside a rubber protection or cover that will keep away light from entering. This helps produce a better image when viewing something from the eyepiece.
The type of borescope used on humans was invented by Dr. Basil Hirschowitz. It was shortly after the fiber scopes were invented. Back in 1960, the doctor made use of the same technology to come up with a variation to be used for examining human’s internal organs. And his invention was a success. He created the endoscope, a type of borescope intended for the human body. He presented to the hospital with his first test on himself. He had showed how the fiberscopes can be used and slid onto the throat to view the internal organs inside.
Today, the rigid borescope has a lot of uses and it has become an important tool used in various industries. If you are in a field that is in need of one, you can check out your market for a borescope of your own or if the budget doesn’t permit, then rental can also be an option.
