2018医学考博英语阅读理解文章精析：用思想控制的仿生假肢

2018-03-01 17:30:09来源：网络

2018医学考博英语阅读理解文章精析：用思想控制的仿生假肢

　　2018医学考博英语第四部分阅读理解，此类题目是测试考生通过阅读英文书刊获取信息的能力(包括阅读速度和理解程度)，下面新东方在线考博频道从网络搜集整理了一系列医学考博英语阅读理解文章进行精析，希望对大家提高医学考博英语阅读能力有所帮助。

　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　A mind to walk again

　　一个让残疾人重新站起来的伟大想法

　　A trial of thought-controlled robotic legs is taking its first steps

　　用思想控制的机器人腿已经开始研制

　　ANYONE who saw Claire Lomas complete this year's London marathon on May 7th cannot fail to have been impressed by her grit and determination. Ms Lomas, once a show jumper, was paralysed from the chest down by a riding accident in 2007, so finishing a marathon, albeit at walking pace, was a dramatic feat.

　　任何一个目睹 Claire Lomas 今年 5 月 7 日完成伦敦马拉松比赛的人，都无法不被她的勇气和决心所打动。Lomas 女士之前是一名障碍赛马运动员，在 2007 年的一次比赛事故造成胸部以下瘫痪，现在她能完成马拉松比赛，即便是走路那样慢，也是一次惊人壮举。

　　Some of the adulation, however, should be reserved for the technology that helped her do so: a pair of bionic legs.

　　部分荣耀也得归功于一项高科技：两条仿生假腿。

　　Ms Lomas's legs were designed by Amit Goffer, an Israeli engineer who is himself paralysed. They have various modes and are controlled by a keypad worn on the wrist. Walking also requires the assistance of a pair of crutches.

　　Lomas 女士的假肢是由以色列工程师 Amit Goffer 设计的，他本人也患有残疾。这两条仿生假腿有几种不同的模式，由手腕上的键盘控制。走路需要一对拐杖。

　　But Dr Goffer's legs allowed Ms Lomas to travel the 42.195km of the marathon course in stages, over a period of 16 days. That record may not last long, however. Another engineer, José Contreras-Vidal of the University of Houston, in Texas, has what may prove an even better design: a pair of bionic legs that respond directly to signals from the brain.

　　但 Goffer 博士设计的假腿让 Lomas 女士行走 42.195 公里，分时段完成马拉松比赛，行程耗时 16 天。但这个记录可能不会持续太久。另一名工程师，德克萨斯州休斯顿大学的 José Contreras-Vidal 已被证实设计出了更好的假肢：由大脑信号直接控制的仿生假肢。

　　The idea of controlling machines by thought is not new. Research both on people and on monkeys has shown it is possible for them to move mechanical limbs with great precision, using software which interprets signals collected by electrodes implanted in their brains.

　　由大脑控制机器并不是最新的想法。在对人类与猴子的研究显示，运用软件从植入到人脑的电极采集信号，精确度极高，能够带动机器假肢。

　　The problem with this approach is that implanting electrodes into a brain is a dangerous procedure—and, even if it succeeds and does no damage, the wires leading out of the skull to the computer open a passage into the body which can lead to infection.

　　但这种想法的问题是，将电极植入人脑是一个危险的程序，而且，即便试验成功，并未造成损害，那些连接头盖骨与电脑的电线在身体上的创口也会导致感染。

　　Dr Contreras-Vidal's approach gets round these difficulties by employing electroencephalography, which measures those electrical signals from the brain that reach the scalp.

　　Contreras-Vidal 博士运用脑电图学，测试从脑部到达头皮的各种电子信号，解决了诸多难题。

　　The recording electrodes can be carried by a skull cap, and nothing has to penetrate the skin. Such second-hand signals are not as precise as ones collected directly from the brain itself, and probably could not control the complex movements required of an arm and a hand.

　　这些记录下来的电极存储在一个头盖帽里，并不会渗透到皮肤里。这种二手信号并没有直接从脑部收集的信号准确，可能也无法控制胳膊与手的复杂动作。

　　But experiments using EEG have allowed people to do simple things like pressing buttons on a computer screen by moving a cursor and clicking it, and operating the flippers on a pinball machine.

　　但用脑电图学所做的实验能让人们做一些简单的事情，比如移动光标按动电脑屏幕的按钮，点击它，开启弹珠机器上的弹珠游戏。

　　That got Dr Contreras-Vidal thinking. Despite appearances, walking is harder than playing pinball. But it is easier than picking something up.

　　这让 Contreras-Vidal 博士陷入深深地思考。除了外观，走路比玩弹珠游戏更难。但比捡东西容易。

　　He therefore wondered if he could use EEG-based control to operate a set of mechanical legs. And, to cut a long story short, he probably can. Moreover, in the process he has reduced the number of electrodes in an EEG cap from the 30 required for pinball to a mere dozen. This means it will eventually be lighter, and easier to wear.

　　他思考如果能运用脑电图学控制一套假肢。他或许真能做到。而且，在研发过程中，他将玩弹珠球游戏所需要的头盖帽电极数从 30 个减少到了仅仅 12 个。

　　He and a group of colleagues at the University of Maryland were able to do this by analysing what goes on in the brain when someone moves his limbs.

　　他和他马里兰大学的同事通过分析人在移动肢体时脑中思考的情况做到这一点。

　　They used a system of cameras to record the movement patterns of a set of able-bodied volunteers who were walking on a treadmill, and then correlated the result with the electrical signals detected simultaneously at their scalps.

　　他们用一套摄像系统记录志愿者们在跑步机上的动作类型，并且把结果和从头皮测试的电子信号连接。

　　Even a simple task, like wiggling a toe, engages many parts of the brain. These include the frontal cortex, the motor cortex, the somatosensory cortex and the part of the parietal cortex that regulates kinaesthesia. By choosing sites carefully, the researchers were able to cover all these areas with as few as 12 electrodes.

　　即便是一个简单的任务，像摆动脚趾，也涉及到人脑好几个部分。包括额叶皮层、运动皮层、体感皮层和支配运动感觉的部分顶叶皮层。通过仔细选择测试部位，研究人员能够用仅 12 个电极覆盖到所有区域。

　　The next step, which they are now working on, is to turn the result into reliable instructions that can operate a set of legs.

　　下一步，也是他们现在正在研究的，就是把结果转变成为可靠媒介，开发一套假肢。

　　These are made by Rex Bionics, a firm based in New Zealand. They are a partial exoskeleton that allows a user to stand and walk independently, without crutches, and are normally operated by hand controls.

　　这个研究是新西兰的 Rex 生物公司在做。这对假肢是一部分外骨骼，能让患者摆脱拐杖独自站立与行走，之前是用手控制的。

　　To adapt them to thought control, a group of able-bodied people will first don the cap and perambulate in the legs around a laboratory, to refine the process. Then—with luck, some time this summer—a full-scale trial in collaboration with a group of paralysed volunteers will start.

　　为了能通过思想控制，研究人员让一组健全的志愿者带着头盖帽，在实验室走动，不断更新过程。幸运的是，这个夏天将开始对瘫痪志愿者实施。

　　For someone who has been crippled in an accident of the sort suffered by Ms Lomas, Dr Contreras-Vidal thinks it will simply be a matter of remembering how you used to walk, and then doing it. The legs will respond appropriately. For those paralysed from birth that is not possible, of course.

　　对那些在事故中变成残废的人，像 Lomas 女士，Contreras-Vidal 博士认为它只是简单的让人记起之前是如何走路的，然后去尝试走路。假肢的反应非常好。

　　But even these unfortunates, he hopes, may be able to benefit. They will understand what walking means and, with a bit of practice, that might be enough to provide the necessary brain activity.

　　但对那些一出生便是残疾的人，肯定是不可能的。虽然也很遗憾，他希望也能有所帮助。他们能明白走路是什么，通过练习，能够激起必要的脑部活动。

　　Nor is mere locomotion the only benefit. To be able to stand and walk restores a person's independence and dignity, and also helps improve his health.

　　这项研究并不光是运动受益。站立与行走能重新给予一个人独立与尊严，让他更健康。

　　Which is why, during the trials, a group of doctors led by Robert Grossman of the Methodist Hospital, Houston, will monitor such things as the participants' bone density, respiratory function and cardiovascular systems, all of which are expected to improve when someone is no longer stuck in a wheelchair.

　　这也是为什么在实验中，由休斯顿 Methodist 医院的 Robert Grossman 带领的医生们会监视诸如骨密度、呼吸功能和心血管系统等，这些都能让患者不再一辈子坐轮椅。

　　If the trial works, Dr Contreras-Vidal and his colleagues believe their technique will transform the lives of those with spinal injuries. It might also act as a form of physiotherapy, to help victims of strokes restore the use of their legs.

　　如果实验成功，Contreras-Vidal 博士和他的同事们将用之于脊椎受伤的人。可能通过物理疗法，帮助中风患者重新站起来。

　　And it will certainly save a lot of money. A set of bionic legs can cost as much as $150,000. But the lifetime cost of caring for a 25-year-old with severe spinal injury is around $3m.

　　也能省很多钱。一对仿生假肢花费大约 15 万美元，然而治疗一位25岁的严重脊椎损伤患者的花费大约为 300 万美元。

　　If he can get up, go shopping and even go to work wearing one of Dr Contreras-Vidal's caps, then both he and the taxpayers will be hugely better off.

　　如果他能重新站起来，戴着 Contreras-Vidal 研制的头盖帽去购物，甚至是去工作，无论是他本人，还是纳税人，都会皆大欢喜的。