Angioscopy in femoral popliteal bypass graft.

Angioscopy is part of a new armoury of minimally invasive 'keyhole' surgery. Like other 'scopes' it enables the surgeon to have a direct view of the interior of the body with greatly reduced surgical intervention. An angioscope is an ultra thin multi-bundle fibre scope which has manual flexibility. Its tiny diameter (1.4mm at smallest) enables the scope to be introduced into the distal vessels of the lower leg. As with other scopes the view is seen on a video screen monitor. So, angioscopy enables surgeons to access the interior of body vessels for the first time, providing vital information on vessel condition during operative procedures.