William I. Wolff, MD, the co-developer of colonoscopy, has died at age 94, according to a New York Times report.
Working in the 1960s with Hiromi Shinya, MD, at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, Dr. Wolff developed a way to probe the full length of the colon using a tube with electronic sensors.
Then, working with the Olympus Optical Company, he and Dr. Shinya developed a wire loop snare to cauterize a polyp as soon as it is found, making a second procedure unnecessary.
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