VOA慢速英语2016--“智能”绷带有助更快治愈伤口

Smart Bandages to Heal Wounds More Quickly “智能”绷带有助更快治愈伤口

Scientists say new made-made materials equipped with sensors² could turn bandages into a valuable tool for health care workers.

Simple bandages are usually seen as the first line of attack in healing small to moderate wounds and burns. They are easy to use, covering up the damaged skin and giving it time to heal.

Scientists are now developing bandages with technology currently used in popular wearable devices, such as smart watches and fitness trackers. They have begun adding small sensors of all kinds to bandages and making them more sensitive.

Scientists are also making new materials called hydrogels. Hydrogels are similar to human skin.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to combine these two technologies. They created a stretchy polymer with firmness similar to human soft tissue.

The new, combination product has titanium wires that lie in a zig-zag, or “z”- shaped, design. The wires, connected to electronic sensors, stretch easily without breaking contact with the sensors.

The MIT researchers also created strong links between the electronic sensors and the hydrogels.

Xuanhe Zhao is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering. He said the researchers put electronic devices, such as sensors, into the new material. They used a different device to put medicine in the damaged skin.

The resulting product becomes a kind of “smart-wound dressing” – one that can react to changes in the skin around it.

For example, Zhao said, if there is a sudden increase in temperature, the wound will send out a command. That is when “the controlled drug delivery system can deliver a specific drug to that specific location.”

LED lights in the bandage could warn patients and doctors about changes in different areas. Medication quickly spreads across the bandage, through tiny passageways.

Researchers say the new material can be used both on the skin, and inside the body.

Zhao told VOA that he and his team are “working hard” and hope to get to clinical tests soon. But it will be some time before these “smart bandages” reach the hospital or drug stores.

Zhao said he “hopes eventually it (the bandage) will have a broad application.”  In the future, such products might even contain a computer chip, which would give it more power to analyze³ what is needed.

Words in This Story

sensor¹ – n. a device that detects or senses heat, light, sound or motion, and reacts to it

polymer – n. a chemical product that is made of small molecules⁴ ordered in a simple repeating structure to form a larger molecule⁵

titanium – n. a very strong and light silvery metal

analyze – v. to study something closely and carefully

delivery - n. the act of taking something to a person or a place

specific - adj. special; clearly and exactly presented

1 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

2 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

3 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

4 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

5 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。