Patent attributes
An endoscopic inspection method includes staining step and super magnified observation step. In the staining step, a distal end surface of a distal end portion of an endoscope which includes a distal end opening of a channel and a first lens that forms a super high-power observation optical system is held in contact with the tissue surface of the observation subject region such that the staining fluid supplied via the channel penetrates to the gap between the distal end surface and the tissue surface to eliminate the mucus on the tissue surface. The tissue surface having the mucus eliminated is stained with the staining fluid. In the super magnified observation step, the first lens which forms the super high-power observation optical system provided at the distal end portion is brought into contact with the tissue surface that has been stained with the staining fluid such that the observation at the cellular level is performed.