flexible bronchoscope

A flexible bronchoscope is the bendable instrument that makes most bronchoscopy possible. Roughly the diameter of a pencil and a metre or so long, its tip steers in different directions under the operator's thumb, letting it snake through the curving, branching airways the way a slim flexible torch would explore a tree of narrowing tunnels. Light is carried down fibres or fed by a tiny chip camera at the tip.

Inside the soft shaft run several channels: one or more carry light and the camera signal, while a hollow working channel runs the whole length so instruments can be passed to the far end. Through that channel the operator can suction secretions, instil and recover fluid, push a brush or fine forceps to take samples, or pass a needle — all under direct vision.

Its flexibility is the whole point. Because it follows the airway's natural curves, it reaches far smaller branches than a rigid tube could and is gentle enough to use with only sedation and local anaesthetic in an awake patient. The trade-off is its narrow channel: it suctions and grips less forcefully than a rigid scope, so massive bleeding or large foreign bodies may still call for the rigid instrument.