The Colposcope and Colposcopy (1925?1980)

Colposcopy is a technique used to examine the vagina [2] and cervix [3] to identify abnormalities or earlier stages of cervical cancer. During an exam, a physician uses an instrument, called a colposcope, that illuminates and magnifies the tissues. Hans Hinselmann developed the colposcope in December of 1924 in Hamburg, Germany. Hinselmann's colposcope enabled doctors to detect cervical tumors when they were relatively small. By the twenty-first century, doctors used colposcopy as a follow-up procedure to an abnormal Pap test result to confirm or disconfirm the existence of any precancerous cells in the cervix [3].