Swiss-designed Technology Helps Parkinson's Patient Walk Again

Swiss-designed Technology Helps Parkinson's Patient Walk Again

瑞士设计的技术帮助帕金森病人再次行走

【原文听力】

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　　By Gregory Stachel

　　10 November 2023

　　Marc Gauthier has Parkinson's disease.

　　The disease affects his nervous system, weakens his muscles and causes his arms and legs to shake.

　　The 63-year-old Gauthier had not been able to leave his home for some time. But that was until he became the first person to receive a new Swiss-designed medical device that greatly improved his ability to walk.

　　Gauthier received a medical device called a neuroprosthetic at Switzerland's Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). Part of the device, called an electrode field, is placed against part of the nervous system which runs in the back called the spinal cord. Another part of the device, found under his skin below the stomach, uses electricity to stimulate the spinal cord to start up his leg muscles. It is called an electrical impulse generator.

　　"It changed my life because I'm now independent," said Gauthier, a native of the French city of Bordeaux, as he sat with his doctors at CHUV. "I can leave my home, run errands. I even go on foot."

　　The number of people affected by Parkinson's disease has doubled over the past 25 years, the World Health Organization found. Worldwide estimates showed that more than 8.5 million people suffered from the disease in 2019.

　　Grégoire Courtine is one of the doctors leading the project. He said the electrical pulses delivered to Gauthier's spinal cord has permitted him to walk the way he would have without the disease.

　　"We strongly believe that many individuals could benefit from this therapy," said Courtine. He is a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Lausanne and CHUV.

　　The study was published in Nature Medicine recently. The findings by Courtine's team at the NeuroRestore research center suggest the technology could be used more widely in patients with more progressed Parkinson's. Many of those with more progressed, or advanced, Parkinson's have severe problems with being able to move.

　　Dave Marver is chief executive officer of Onward Medical, which designed the medical device. He said that the device was similar to another device called an implantable defibrillator and those used to deal with pain. But he added the device is special in the way that it targets the spinal cord.

　　"For the health care system, it will look and feel familiar, but it will offer therapy that doesn't exist today," he said.

　　Courtine's team plans to carry out continuing researching and test the device on six new patients next year.

　　Jocelyne Bloch is the doctor who performed the operation on Gauthier and co-director of NeuroRestore. She said with this therapy, if people can gain belief in themselves and can go out, socialize and do more things, it is a big plus "... in their daily activities and quality of life."

　　I'm Gregory Stachel.

　　Cecile Mantovani and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted the story for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者:格雷戈里·斯塔切尔

　　2023年11月10日

　　马克·高蒂尔患有帕金森氏症。

　　这种疾病会影响他的神经系统，削弱他的肌肉，导致他的胳膊和腿发抖。

　　63岁的Gauthier已经有一段时间不能离开他的家了。但那是在他成为第一个接受瑞士设计的新医疗设备的人之前，该设备极大地改善了他的行走能力。

　　Gauthier在瑞士洛桑大学医院(CHUV)接受了一种叫做神经假体的医疗设备。设备的一部分，称为电极场，被放置在神经系统位于背部的脊髓。该装置的另一部分位于他胃部下方的皮肤下，利用电流来刺激脊髓来启动他的腿部肌肉。它被称为电脉冲发生器。

　　“这改变了我的生活，因为我现在独立了，”法国波尔多人Gauthier在CHUV和他的医生坐在一起时说。“我可以离开我的家，跑了差使。我甚至步行去。"

　　世界卫生组织发现，受帕金森病影响的人数在过去25年中翻了一番。全球估计显示，2019年有超过850万人患有这种疾病。

　　格雷瓜尔·库廷是领导该项目的医生之一。他说电气脉冲输送到Gauthier的脊髓使他能够像没有疾病时一样行走。

　　“我们坚信，许多人可以从中受益疗法”，Courtine说。他是瑞士洛桑联邦理工学院(EPFL)、洛桑大学和CHUV大学的教授。

　　这项研究最近发表在《自然医学》上。神经恢复研究中心的Courtine团队的发现表明，这项技术可以更广泛地用于更严重的帕金森病患者。许多进展期或晚期帕金森氏症患者在行动能力方面存在严重问题。

　　戴夫·马弗是设计这种医疗设备的前进医疗公司的首席执行官。他说，该设备类似于另一种被称为可植入除颤器的设备和那些用于处理疼痛的设备。但他补充说，该设备的特殊之处在于它针对脊髓。

　　“对于医疗保健系统来说，它的外观和感觉熟悉的，但它将提供今天不存在的疗法，”他说。

　　Courtine的团队计划继续研究，并于明年在六名新患者身上测试该设备。

　　Jocelyne Bloch是为Gauthier实施手术的医生，也是NeuroRestore的联合主管。她说，通过这种疗法，如果人们可以获得对自己的信心，可以出去，社交和做更多的事情，这是一个很大的优势...他们的日常活动和生活质量。”

　　我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。

　　Cecile Mantovani和Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber为路透社报道了这个故事。Gregory Stachel为VOA英语学习改编了这个故事。

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　　这个故事中的词语

　　nervous system – n. 你身体中的神经系统，在大脑和身体其他部分之间发送控制运动和感觉的信息

　　stimulate – v. 使(某物)更活跃

　　errand – n. 为了做某事或得到某物而进行的短途旅行

　　pulses – n. 电、光或声音数量的短暂增加

　　therapy – n.对身体或精神疾病的治疗

　　familiar – adj. 经常看到、听到或经历的