Picture Snapping1) Pill
Physicians perform more than two million endoscopies2) a year on the small intestine3),looking for cancers and other ailments4) by inserting fiber-optic5) tubes via the throat or rectum6).This often requires sedation7),can be uncomfortable,and some areas remain inaccessible.But now doctors have a tool that can see more of the small intestine.The M2A ――recently approved for use along with traditional endoscopes ――is a wireless video capsule that’s swallowed.It maps the intestine as you go about your business.The M2Asanps two pictures a second for eight hours as it passes through a patient’s system,beaming images to a small recorder worn at the waist.These images are then downloaded to a computer for doctors to analyze.The capsules won’t banish the endoscope,however doctors believe that the M2A is an important diagnostic8) advance.
可在體內(nèi)拍照的藥丸
每年內(nèi)科醫(yī)生要在狹窄的小腸上做200多萬(wàn)次的內(nèi)窺鏡檢查,通過(guò)從喉部或直腸處插入的纖維視覺(jué)管尋找各種癌變和其他疾病的跡象。這種方法經(jīng)常需要對(duì)病人施以鎮(zhèn)定劑,可能會(huì)有不舒適的感覺(jué),而且有些地方還探察不到。但是現(xiàn)在醫(yī)生們有一個(gè)可以大范圍地監(jiān)察小腸的器具。最近批準(zhǔn)的可與傳統(tǒng)的內(nèi)窺鏡共同使用的M2A是一種可吞咽的無(wú)線影像膠囊。在不影響你正?;顒?dòng)的情況下就可以對(duì)腸道進(jìn)行拍攝取照。M2A在人體系統(tǒng)內(nèi)運(yùn)行時(shí),每秒可拍兩幅照片,可在病人體內(nèi)連續(xù)工作8小時(shí)。所拍圖像被戴在腰間的一個(gè)小記錄器接收、保存。然后這些圖像將被下載到電腦里供醫(yī)生們進(jìn)行分析和研究。這種膠囊不會(huì)取代內(nèi)窺鏡檢查的方法,但醫(yī)生們認(rèn)為M2A是醫(yī)學(xué)診斷上的一個(gè)重大進(jìn)展。
NOTE 注釋:
1. snap [snAp] v. 拍照,拍…的快照
2. endoscopy [en5dCskEpi] n. 內(nèi)窺鏡檢查法
3. intestine [in5testin] n. [解, 動(dòng)]腸
4. ailment [5eilmEnt] n. 疾病
5. fiber-optic [5faibE 5Cptik] adj. 纖維視覺(jué)的
6. rectum [5rektEm] n. 直腸
7. sedation [si5deiFEn] n. 鎮(zhèn)靜
8. diagnostic [7daiE^5nCstik] adj. 診斷的