Nancy Chase Assistant Editor D octors use the technology to examine patients. Gunsmiths use it to inspect the barrels of weapons.
Border guards use it to search for smuggled drugs.
And quality professionals use it to locate debris, chips, wear, stress, missing pieces, or incorrect assemblies inside anything from turbines to circuit boards to toys. It is the bedrock of visual inspection. Aerospace companies often use borescopes to check for turbine-blade defects. Typically you can get the job done somehow, but borescopes allow you to do it nondestructively. If you manufacture turbine blades or automobile intake manifolds, for example, even a slight casting defect or small amount of residual core material may cause an internal blockage that makes the part unusable.