Portable endoscope with side-mountable disposable portion

An endoscope with a side-mountable single-use portion and a multiple-use portion, wherein:

• the single-use portion includes:
• a housing that has a distal end and a proximal end and has a proximal port at said proximal end and an intermediate port distal to the proximal port;
• a cannula that extends distally from the distal end of the housing in an axial direction and has a distal port at a distal portion of the cannula;
• a single lumen extending from said proximal port at the proximal end of the housing to the distal port at the distal portion of the cannula;
• an imaging and illumination module at said distal portion of the cannula;
• an electrical connector that is affixed to said housing and is operatively coupled with said imaging and illumination module;
• and
• the multiple-use portion includes:
• a handle with a top, lateral side, and an open outwardly facing slot at the lateral side, which slot is elongated in the axial direction;
• and
• a display module mounted to the handle;
• wherein
• wherein one of said housing and said multiple-use portion includes at least one ridge and the other includes at least on slot, each of said at least one ridge and at least one slot are elongated in the axial direction, and said at least one ridge is configured to snap snugly but releasably into said at least one slot in a relative motion of the single-use portion and the reusable portion in a direction across the axial direction to thereby secure the single-use portion and the multiple-use portion to each other and thereby form said endoscope;
• wherein the electrical connectors of the housing and the reusable portion are configured to mate and establish an electrical contact between the single-use portion and the reusable portion in relative motion of the single-use portion and the reusable portion along the axial direction following the motion across the axial direction;
• wherein said electrical connectors when mated transmit power to said imaging and illumination module and transmit images therefrom to said display;
• and
• wherein said display nodule has a touch-sensitive screen that is above the single-use portion;
• and
• each of the proximal port, the intermediate port and the distal port connect to said single lumen.