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Direct comparison
Endoscope vs Borescope: Medical vs Industrial Use
Endoscope vs borescope: the endoscope is defined in FDA's 21 CFR 876.1500; borescope is trade usage. Compare use, form, classification and inspection.
Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
How do Endoscope and Borescope compare side by side?
The table below compares Endoscope and Borescope across 9 dimensions, from how the term is defined to which term fits.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Endoscope | Borescope |
|---|---|---|
| How the term is defined | 21 CFR 876.1500 defines "endoscope and accessories" as a device used to provide access, illumination, and allow observation or manipulation of body cavities, hollow organs, and canals. | The word does not appear in 21 CFR 876.1500. A vendor (Teslong) describes borescopes as tools for industrial and mechanical inspection and says endoscopes are "a kind of borescope". |
| Who sets the category | A regulator-defined medical device type under FDA device regulations (21 CFR Part 876, gastroenterology-urology devices). | Trade usage. The section that defines endoscopes does not use the term, so the meaning comes from how vendors describe their products. |
| Where it is used | Inside body cavities, hollow organs and canals (21 CFR 876.1500). | Industrial and mechanical inspection; Teslong gives HVAC and car engine inspections as examples. |
| Rigid or flexible | The regulation covers "various rigid or flexible instruments"; it lists flexible or rigid choledochoscopes and rigid esophagoscopes among the examples. | Teslong says the choice depends on how flexible the tool needs to be, the lighting required, and whether articulation or digital video capture is a must. |
| Optical system | The device "may include an optical system for conveying an image to the user's eye" (21 CFR 876.1500). | Teslong describes borescope cameras that connect to smartphones, PCs or dedicated monitors. |
| Named examples | Colonoscopes, diagnostic cystoscopes, ureteroscopes, sigmoidoscopes, proctoscopes, nephroscopes and others listed in 21 CFR 876.1500. | No device types are listed in the regulation; vendor examples are inspection cameras for equipment such as engines and HVAC systems. |
| Accessories and classification | Section 876.1500 lists accessories by class, for example Class I for cleaning brush for endoscope and bite block for endoscope, and Class II items such as an LED light source exempt from premarket notification subject to the limitations in 876.9. | No classification entry under this name in 21 CFR 876.1500. |
| Inspection of the instrument after cleaning | CDC HICPAC: after manual cleaning, visually inspect the endoscope and accessories; complex devices such as flexible endoscopes "may require the use of lighted magnification or additional methods to assist with the inspection process." | The CDC HICPAC reprocessing document does not name borescopes, so this page makes no claim that any reprocessing guidance requires one. |
| Which term fits | The instrument is meant to examine a patient's body cavities, hollow organs or canals, which is the intended use in the 876.1500 definition. | The instrument is meant to look inside machinery, pipes or other equipment, which is how vendors use the word. |
Sources
- FDA, 21 CFR 876.1500 via eCFR (read 2026-11-01)
- CDC HICPAC, Essential Elements of a Reprocessing Program for Flexible Endoscopes (read 2026-11-01)
- Teslong, "Endoscope vs Borescope" blog post (vendor, read 2026-11-01)
- absence of the term checked in the two documents at left
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