VOA慢速英语2014 3D技术拯救生命

 

3-D Technology Saves Lives 3D技术拯救生命

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report. 

Three-dimensional technology -- known as three-D -- gives depth to objects that would otherwise appear two-dimensional, or flat.  Three-D makes movies and video games look more realistic.  And now it could help save lives.

For years, mammograms have played an important role in finding breast cancer.  But these X-ray pictures of the human breast often miss dangerous lumps or tumors. 

And they also produce false positives.  A false positive wrongly appears to show suspicious tissue.  And that causes painful, unnecessary biopsies to examine that tissue.

A new study shows that three-D technology could change the way doctors look for breast cancer.

When Zulima Palacio discovered she had breast cancer, it already had reached stage three.  That means that the cancer was very dangerous. 

"Even a month before it was detected, I went for a sonogram and they told me, 'You're fine, go home.'"

Ms. Palacio is now cancer free.  But the standard two-dimensional mammogram missed all three of her tumors. 

Many doctors - including cancer surgeon Negar Golesorkhi - say standard mammography does not find enough cancerous tumors.  She says looking for cancer in dense², thick breast tissue is like looking for a polar bear in a snow storm.  In other words, it is very difficult.

"When we look for cancer on a mammogram in dense breast tissue, we're looking for a polar bear in a snow storm, so it would be very difficult to find."

A few years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of three-D mammography.  And three-D technology found Jennifer Hoeft's tumor¹.

“It was a very small tumor. It was only an 8 millimeter tumor that couldn’t be felt.”

Sarah Friedewald is a doctor at Lutheran General Hospital in the U.S. state of Illinois.  She led a study to compare the results of three-D and two-D mammography from nearly a half million patients. 

Dr.  Friedewald says they found more cancers using three-D mammograms versus³, or compared to, two-D mammograms.  And they found more cancers that kill.

“We found invasive cancers or the cancers that we worry about, the ones that could potentially kill people more frequently in women who had the 3-D mammogram versus the women who just had the 2-D mammogram.  At the same time, fewer people had to come back for unnecessary testing which creates unnecessary anxiety.”

Dr. Friedewald says tumors that are difficult to see on a standard mammogram are easy to find in 3 dimensions.

Jennifer Hoeft is grateful that she had three-D mammography.

“I truly, truly believe that the 3-D mammography is what caught my cancer early and is allowing me to pretty much live my life the way I want to.”

Dr. Friedewald told VOA that she expects three-D to replace the usual two-D mammograms in time.  Her study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

And from VOA Learning English, that’s the Health Report. 

1 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。