听力文摘：微针疗法（在线收听）

Microneedles

微针疗法

Female: From fluvaccines to tetanus boosters, injections are a must in modern medicine. But do they always have to make you say Ouch?

从流感疫苗到破伤风针，注射（的方式）在现代医学中是不可或缺的。但是它们是否就一定会让你尖叫呢？

Male: Eh,no?

嗯，不会吗？

F: No,indeed.If new microneedle technology is successful, we may soon have needles that inject medicine without your even knowing it. How does this work, you ask?

真的不会！如果新的显微针技术成功了的话，我们将很快享受甚至你都不能意识到的药物注射。你快问（我）它是如何办到的？

M: How does it work?

它是如何办到的？

F: You feel things because of the nerves that are embedded in your skin. However, the entire surface of your skin is not covered. From a microscopic viewpoint, there is plenty of space between nerves where a super-tiny needle wouldn't be felt.

你有感觉是因为你皮肤里镶嵌的有神经。然而，它却没有完全覆盖你的皮肤。在显微镜下可以看到，神经之间有很多空间，而在这里人们便感受不到微型针。

M: No way!

不可能！

F: Way! Researcher Mark Prausnitz and his coworkers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta have already built micro-injection devices. Imagine a platform the size of your thumbnail, made of silicon, metal or glass. The surface is covered with a thousand needles, each no bigger than a period at the end of a typewritten sentence.

可能！亚特兰大乔治亚理工学院的研究人员Mark Prausnitz和他的同伴们已经研制出了微型注射器具。试想它就如拇指指甲盖大小，材料是硅、金属或是玻璃。表面被一千个微型针所覆盖，每一个都还没一个句子中的句号那么大。

When this chip is placed on your skin its like rolling in a briar patch—you are pierced again and again. But so small are the briars, you feel nothing. Because they cause no discomfort, microneedles may soon allow doctors to administer controlled amounts of medication over long periods of time. That would be a big step toward the precision medicine of tomorrow—and away from the big Ouch of yesterday.

当这个芯片被植入到你的皮肤就仿佛是卷入到了荆棘区一样，它会一次又一次的刺你。但它是如此的小，以至于你什么都感觉不到。因为它们不会带来不适感。微型针很快就能让医生在很长时间内掌管在量上有控制的药物治疗。这对于告别以前的疼痛时代、对于将来药物治疗的精准性来说都是迈出了一大步。