VOA健康报道2023 神经假体助帕金森病患者正常行走（在线收听）

神经假体助帕金森病患者正常行走

Marc Gauthier has Parkinson's disease.

马克·高蒂尔患有帕金森病。

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

这种疾病影响他的神经系统，削弱他的肌肉功能，并导致他的胳膊和腿发抖。

The 63-year-old Gauthier had not been able to leave his home for some time.

现年63岁的高蒂尔已经有一段时间无法离开家了。

But that was until he became the first person to receive a new Swiss-designed medical device that greatly improved his ability to walk.

但那是在他成为第一个安装瑞士设计的新医疗设备的人之前，这种设备极大地改善了他的行走能力。

Gauthier received a medical device called a neuroprosthetic at Switzerland's Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).

高蒂尔在瑞士洛桑大学医院安装了一种名为神经假体的医疗设备。

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.

这种设备的一部分被称为电极场，它被放置在神经系统的某一部分上，神经系统作用于背部脊髓。

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.

该设备的另一部分位于他腹部以下的皮肤下，其利用电流刺激脊髓来启动他的腿部肌肉。

It is called an electrical impulse generator.

它被称为电脉冲发生器。

"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.

法国波尔多人高蒂尔和他的医生们坐在洛桑大学医院说：“这改变了我的生活，因为我现在独立了”。

"I can leave my home, run errands. I even go on foot."

“我可以离开家，去跑腿。我甚至可以步行去。”

The number of people affected by Parkinson's disease has doubled over the past 25 years, the World Health Organization found.

世界卫生组织发现，在过去的25年里，患帕金森病的人数翻了一番。

Worldwide estimates showed that more than 8.5 million people suffered from the disease in 2019.

2019年，全球估计有超过850万人患有这种疾病。

Gregoire Courtine is one of the doctors leading the project.

格雷瓜尔·库尔蒂纳是领导该项目的医生之一。

He said the electrical pulses delivered to Gauthier's spinal cord has permitted him to walk the way he would have without the disease.

他说，传输到高蒂尔脊髓的电脉冲使他能够像没患病时那样走路。

"We strongly believe that many individuals could benefit from this therapy," said Courtine.

库尔蒂纳说：“我们坚信，许多人都能从这种疗法中受益”。

He is a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Lausanne and CHUV.

他是瑞士洛桑联邦理工学院、洛桑大学和洛桑大学医院的教授。

The study was published in Nature Medicine recently.

这篇研究论文最近发表在《自然医学》杂志上。

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.

神经恢复研究中心的库尔蒂纳团队的研究结果表明，这项技术可以更广泛地应用于病情更严重的帕金森病患者身上。

Many of those with more progressed, or advanced, Parkinson's have severe problems with being able to move.

许多帕金森病晚期的患者在行动能力方面存在严重问题。

Dave Marver is chief executive officer of Onward Medical, which designed the medical device.

戴夫·马弗是设计这种医疗设备的Onward Medical公司的首席执行官。

He said that the device was similar to another device called an implantable defibrillator and those used to deal with pain.

他说，这种设备类似于另一种名为植入式除颤器的设备，以及用于治疗疼痛的设备。

But he added the device is special in the way that it targets the spinal cord.

但他补充说，这种设备的特殊之处在于它可以瞄准脊髓。

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

他说：“对于医疗保健系统来说，感觉它很熟悉，但它将提供目前不存在的治疗方法”。

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

库尔蒂纳的团队计划继续进行研究，并于明年在6名新患者身上测试该设备。

Jocelyne Bloch is the doctor who performed the operation on Gauthier and co-director of NeuroRestore.

乔斯林·布洛赫是为高蒂尔做手术的医生，也是神经恢复中心的联席主任。

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."

她说，通过这种疗法，如果人们能够获得对自己的信心，能够走出去，参加更多社交活动，做更多的事情，这对他们的日常活动和生活质量都是一个巨大的优势。