(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness around the world. In the United States alone, more than two million people suffer from the disease.
Glaucoma results from an over-production of fluid in the eye. The buildup of fluid causes uncomfortable pressure in the eye socket, which can lead to blindness.
Glaucoma can be controlled with eye drops that either reduce the fluid, increase the flow of tears from the eye or both. But studies show only 56 percent of patients use the drops every day. If doctors need to inject medicine into the eye for other conditions, they generally use a hypodermic needle. But that can cause a painful or uneasy feeling in some patients.
Now, researchers are developing very small needles that may offer a more effective and painless treatment for glaucoma and other eye diseases. The needles are only about point-four to point-seven millimeters long. These instruments, called microneedles, can put medication into the front of the eye, exactly where it is needed. Its developers say injections of time-release drugs every three to six months could replace daily glaucoma eye drops.
Mark Prausnitz is director of the Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He helped develop the microneedles in a joint project with researchers at Emory University. He says the tiny needles are a better way to deliver medicine than an eye dropper.
"What the microneedle enables is a very targeted delivery, to put the drug just in the spot where it needs to be within the eye so that the drug is as effective and potent as possible where the drug needs to act. And the drug doesn't go to other places in the eye where it can cause side effects," Prausnitz said.
Being able to target the drug means that less medicine is needed. The microneedles are either hollow or empty, like a normal hypodermic needle, or covered with a drug which breaks down in the eye.
Researchers tested the treatment on mice. Mark Prausnitz says the microneedles were successful in treating both glaucoma and the growth of unwanted blood vessels around the cornea. The condition is called corneal neovascularization.
"One was a glaucoma drug where we were able to control the pressure inside of the eye. The other was a drug that stops blood vessel growth. And so when there was abnormal blood vessel growth going into the cornea due to an injury, we were able to administer that drug and suppress the blood vessel growth," Prausnitz said.
Dr. Prausnitz says some people may find the microneedles uncomfortable despite their size. But he says an anesthetic drug could be used so that a patient does not feel any pain.
The solid needle for treatment of glaucoma is still being tested.
A report on the needle technology was published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
词汇解释
1.glaucoma n. [眼科] 青光眼；绿内障
His eyes are going; he says he has glaucoma.
他的视力在下降，他说自己得了青光眼。
2.hypodermic n. 皮下注射；皮下注射器 adj. 皮下的
He held up a hypodermic to check the dosage.
他举起皮下注射器检查药剂量。
3.suppress vt. 抑制；镇压；废止
The reproduction and growth of the cancerous cells can be suppressed by bombarding them with radiation.
癌细胞的繁殖和生长可通过放射线辐射加以抑制。
4.anesthetic adj. 麻醉的；感觉缺失的 n. 麻醉剂，麻药
He was given a general anesthetic.
他被全身麻醉。
内容解析
1.The microneedles are either hollow or empty, like a normal hypodermic needle, or covered with a drug which breaks down in the eye.
break down 分解；发生故障；失败；毁掉；制服；破除 (障碍、偏见等) [表赞许]
Over time, the protein in the eggshell breaks down into its constituent amino acids.
随着时间的推移,蛋壳中的蛋白质分解成其构成成分氨基酸。
Women's sports are breaking down the barriers in previously male-dominated domains.
女子体育运动正在打破障碍进入一些先前由男子占主导地位的领域。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
青光眼是全世界导致失明的第二大疾病，单在美国就有200多万人患有该病。
青光眼是眼睛房水分泌过多所致，房水的集聚导致眼压过高，就会导致失明。
青光眼可通过减少房水或增加眼泪流动或两者具备的眼药水来控制，但研究表明只有56%的患者每天都使用这种眼药水。如果医生因其他原因需要对眼睛注册药物，一般采取皮下注射。但这会导致一些患者感觉疼痛或不安。
现在研究者在开发非常微小的针头，可能会成为治疗青光眼等眼疾的有效且无痛疗法。这种针只有大约0.4到0.7毫米长，称作微针头，可以把药物注射到眼睛的前面，正好是需要治疗的位置。其开发者称每三到六个月注射缓释药物可以替代日常的青光眼药水。
马克·普罗斯尼茨是乔治亚理工学院药物设计、开发与传输中心主任，他帮助埃默里大学的一个合作项目开发了这种微针头，他说这种微针头比滴眼管更好地注射药物。
“这种微针头能很好地进行靶向传输，将药物恰好注射到眼内所需位置，所以药物可尽可能地实现药效，药物不会进入眼睛其他部位并导致副作用。”
能够靶向药物意味着所需的药物更少，这种微针头像普通的皮下注射针头一样是中空的，或者覆盖了一层在眼睛里分解的药物。
研究者在小白鼠身上试验了这种疗法，马克·普罗斯尼茨说这种微针头对治疗青光眼和角膜新生血管都很成功。
“一种是能控制眼压的青光眼药物，另一种是能阻止血管生长的药物，所以当角膜由于受伤导致异常血管生长时，我们就能使用那种药物来抑制血管的生长。”
普罗斯尼茨博士说，尽管这种微针头很细，也会有人觉得不舒服。不过他说可以使用麻醉药来让病人感觉不到任何疼痛。
这种用于治疗青光眼的固体针仍在试验中。
有关这种针头技术的报告发表《眼科研究与视力学》期刊上。
我是乔纳森·伊万斯。
