Before any kind of treatment can take place, an illness must be diagnosed. For urologists, this is just as true. Diagnosis can take place through looking into the body, looking at urine, or, thanks to technological advancement, imaging.

In 1761, the anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni of Padua described the occurrence of changes in organs as the source of illness. “Ubi est morbus” was the question by the end of the 18th century. However, only the pathologist could answer this question. Access to the source of illness was not possible in living human beings.

At the beginning of the 19th century the physician Philipp Bozzini (1773-1809) from Frankfurt  proposed an instrument that could help physicians peer into the deep regions of the body. His “Lichtleiter” was the key influence for Maximilian Nitze’s direct-vision cystoscope and changed the face of medicine forever.