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多萬次的內(nèi)窺鏡檢查,通過從喉部或直腸處插入的纖維視覺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,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是一種可吞咽的無線影像膠囊。在不影響你正常活動(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. 纖維視覺的
6. rectum [5rektEm] n. 直腸
7. sedation [si5deiFEn] n. 鎮(zhèn)靜
8. diagnostic [7daiE^5nCstik] adj. 診斷的