Heater for surgical viewing instruments

An article for warming an endoscope, laparoscope, or other elongated instrument to minimize fogging, consisting of:

• a flexible pad configured to wrap around the instrument, the pad having a length, a width and a periphery;
• wherein the pad is formed by heat-sealing or otherwise bonding together two plastic sheets of substantially equal size, including a peripheral bond providing a seal around the two sheets, a lengthwise bond dividing the pad into two separate chambers, and one or more partial bonds within each chamber with gaps that facilitate fluid transfer of the mixture within each respective chamber but not between the chambers;
• wherein the lengthwise bond is shared by the two separate chambers and further provides a lengthwise fold line to facilitate the wrapping of the pad around an instrument;
• each of the separate chambers including an activation disc and a mixture of water and sodium acetate to generate heat through an exothermic reaction initiated through manual manipulation of the disc for that chamber;
• and
• one or more pieces of tape or other fasteners to secure one edge of the pad to another once wrapped around an instrument to be warmed.