美国国家公共电台 NPR Like It Or Not, Personal Health Technology Is Getting Smarter

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There are many other digital devices on the market that claim they can improve your health. Wearable technology can track your fitness, your blood pressure, your heart rate. But can all this tracking actually lead to cheaper and better health care? Reporter Angus Chen tried to find out.

ANGUS CHEN, BYLINE²: Consumer electronics have gone way beyond Fitbits and activity trackers. Take, for example, the Smart Bed made by Sleep Number. The company's VP of science, Pete Bils, says it has sensors³ throughout the mattress⁴ that track your breathing, movements and heart activity while you sleep.

PETE BILS: We can actually see changes in sleep that might represent a signature of a bigger health issue - for instance, arrhythmias or a heart attack.

CHEN: The data gets sent to your smartphone, and if the bed notices something is off, Bils says you could alert your doctor to take a closer look. That could help people discover underlying⁵ conditions like sleep apnea. There aren't any studies yet showing this technology is impacting people's health, but companies are eager to start measuring everything. There's a pillow that collects data while you cuddle it, a fork that monitors how fast you're eating, an automatic blood pressure cuff⁶ that sends data to your phone.

JOSEPH KVEDAR: There's definitely an explosion of these things.

CHEN: Dr. Joseph Kvedar is the vice¹ president for connected health at Partners HealthCare and a professor at Harvard Medical School. He thinks that these personal health devices might be key to changing the way we get our health care.

KVEDAR: We're transitioning to a world where everything is preventative, everything is proactive and we measure everything and we react to it before you get sick.

CHEN: The idea is that with a range of devices, monitoring things like blood pressure, weight, activity and sleep, you'd get treated for health issues earlier and faster. Eventually, this data could go directly to your health care provider.

KVEDAR: The pharmacist could manage certain things. You might get a nurse practitioner⁷ that makes some prescribing decisions.

CHEN: Kvedar says that would save time and money. And with devices figuring out when you might have a health issue, this system might keep people healthier, too.

LUKASZ PIWEK: That's kind of the Holy Grail for the health care, right? But in practical sense, implementation⁸ of this is still quite problematic.

CHEN: Lukasz Piwek is a data scientist at the University of Bath in the U.K. He says a big problem with these devices is people don't use them consistently. And he says there's no quality control. Some devices can give accurate data, but some just aren't reliable. That makes doctors hesitant to use them.

PIWEK: Clinicians can get the wrong information from this device if they are going to use it for any diagnosis⁹ or prescription¹⁰.

CHEN: And with so many devices gathering¹¹ so much data, privacy is also an issue. Information collected by medical professionals and FDA-approved devices are protected under federal law, but data from consumer electronics aren't. Kvedar says that could be a problem for some consumers.

KVEDAR: We make decisions to trade privacy for things all the time. Is consumer health different? Is there this dark world where your insurer might hold something against you?

CHEN: He says these are the questions we now have to grapple with because the technology is here, and it's already in use. For NPR News, I'm Angus Chen.

(SOUNDBITE OF BRNFKD SONG, "SHINING")

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

4 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

5 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

6 cuff   

n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口

参考例句：

• She hoped they wouldn't cuff her hands behind her back.她希望他们不要把她反铐起来。
• Would you please draw together the snag in my cuff?请你把我袖口上的裂口缝上好吗？

7 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

8 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

9 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

10 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。