VOA标准英语2009年-Doctors Use Smart Phones to Make Good

Rose Hoban | Durham, North Carolina 16 December 2009

Mobile phones have revolutionized communications in many countries making it possible for people in distant and rural places to connect.  Now high-tech¹ smart mobile phones may be on the verge² of revolutionizing medicine, too. 

Smart phones can send and receive data and images

In many countries, community health workers in rural areas have begun using smart phones to communicate with doctors at clinics and hospitals far away.  But this communication goes beyond just talking.  The newest smart phones have the ability to transmit data and images, as well. 

One doctor from Johns Hopkins University wanted to see how well Apple's iPhone could transmit X-ray data.  Radiologist Asim Choudhri was hoping doctors could use the popular touch-screen phone to help diagnose one of the world's most common problems – appendicitis³.

"We thought that there are a lot of times where a physician having access to medical imaging data as soon as possible could benefit patients. But, then we wanted to see, well, if it's possible to get people the medical imaging data right away [and] is it going to be accurate for them to look at it, can they get valid⁴ medical information out of it looking at it on a smart phone," Choudhri says.

Digital appendicitis X-ray scans used for test

In many places X-rays and other scans are now recorded digitally, rather than to film, as they once were.  As a test, the radiologist took digital radiological scans, called CAT scans, of patients who had appendicitis and some who did not.  He asked five different radiologists to look at the scans using their iPhones.

"And we compared the accuracy of these radiologists looking at it on the iPhone with the accuracy using conventional means, which is a large, expensive computer workstation in the hospital. And we showed that the evaluation⁵ of the images on the iPhone pretty much matched the accuracy and the diagnostic ability when performed on a dedicated⁶ computer workstation," Choudhri says.

High degree of accuracy surprises the radiologist

The radiologists made an incorrect assessment⁷ less than 1 percent of the time using their smart phones. Choudhri says that's the same rate of error as doctors make in the hospital.

"A part of me strongly was wondering whether it would be this accurate and we were actually all surprised by the degree of accuracy," he says. 

Though doctors have already tested this idea in many countries, Choudhri believes more rigorous study is needed to determine whether smart phones enable doctors to accurately⁸ diagnose patients.  He says he'll continue to research this and other creative ways to use smart phone technology.

Choudhri presented his findings at the recent annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
 

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

3 appendicitis   

n.阑尾炎，盲肠炎

参考例句：

• He came down with appendicitis.他得了阑尾炎。
• Acute appendicitis usually develops without relation to the ingestion of food.急性阑尾炎的发生通常与饮食无关。

4 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

5 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

8 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。