VOA慢速英语：研究人员开发出诊断糖尿病引发溃疡的设备

Scientists Developing Machine to Identify Diabetes-related Ulcers

研究人员开发出诊断糖尿病引发溃疡的设备

Diabetes mellitus is the name for several disorders with one thing in common: there is too much glucose, or sugar, in the blood.

糖尿病是几种疾病的总称，它们有着一个共同点：血液中含有过多的葡萄糖。

The body uses a natural hormone, called insulin, to change sugar and other food into energy.

人体利用胰岛素这种天然激素将葡萄糖和其它食物转化为能量。

Diabetes develops when the body does not produce enough insulin or produces none at all. Or it develops when the body cannot use insulin.

当身体无法产生足够多或完全不产生胰岛素时，或者当身体无法利用胰岛素时就会患上糖尿病。

People living with diabetes often suffer from other health problems. One complication can be damage to tissue on the feet. These foot ulcers can worsen if left untreated. Doctors may decide to remove the damaged area in an operation called an amputation. In some cases, the patient could die.

糖尿病患者常常患有其它健康问题。其中一种并发症会损害脚部组织。如果不治疗，这些足溃疡就会恶化。医生可能会决定采取截肢手术切除受损部位。在某些情况下，这些病人可能会死亡。

But a device being developed in Britain could help doctors recognize when ulcers are about to form.

但是英国正在开发的一种装置可以帮助医生在溃疡即将形成时做出诊断。

Using a relatively simple temperature sensing device, doctors scan a patient's feet for signs of an ulcer. The information may help them prevent ulcers from forming, as well as improve the condition of the patient.

医生使用一种相对简单的温度感测装置扫描患者脚部是否有溃疡迹象。这些信息可以帮助他们预防溃疡形成以及改善病人症状。

The scanning device is called the DFirst. It works by looking for hot spots, or places of higher than normal temperature, on the feet of people with diabetes.

这种扫描装置被称之为DFirst。它的工作原理是寻找糖尿病患者脚部的热点，即高于常温的部位。

Doctors believe that hot spots help identify areas of inflammation, which could lead to foot ulcers.

医生认为，热点有助于找到可能会导致足溃疡的炎症部位。

Untreated ulcers are a leading cause of diabetes-related amputations.

未经治疗的溃疡是糖尿病相关截肢的主要原因。

Robert Simpson is a researcher with the National Physical Laboratory near London. He notes that studies have shown a link between amputations and patient survival rates.

罗伯特·辛普森(Robert Simpson)是位于伦敦附近的英国国家物理实验室的一名研究人员。他指出，相关研究已经表明了截肢和患者生存率之间的联系。

"If you have an amputation, then unfortunately the outlook is up to 50 percent of those who have an amputation are dead within two years, and up to 80 percent are dead within five years."

他说：“如果患者被截肢，那么不幸的是，截肢患者在两年内死亡的可能性高达50%，在5年内死亡的可能性高达80%。”

How ulcers lead to problems

溃疡如何导致这些问题

Diabetes can cause damage to the nerves of the patient. Nerve damage can limit the patient's ability to feel pain. People living with diabetes may not feel an ulcer developing in its early stages.

糖尿病会对患者的神经造成损害。神经损伤会限制患者感受疼痛的能力。糖尿病患者可能无法感受到早期溃疡的形成。

Using the new scanner, Simpson said, doctors can clearly see areas of inflammation in what he likens to a temperature map.

辛普森表示，使用这种新型扫描仪，医生可以清楚地看到被他比作温度图的炎症部位。

"So what we have here is a thermal imaging camera core. This is sensitive to the infrared which has a strong relationship with temperature; so this provides you with a temperature map."

他说：“这里面的核心是一个红外线热像仪，它对跟温度高度相关的红外线很敏感，所以能够提供一个温度图。”

The problem of foot ulcers could be bigger than health experts have recognized.

足溃疡问题比健康专家意识到的还要大。

A 2014 study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 400 million people live with diabetes. Some estimates say that 25 percent of patients will develop foot ulcers.

世卫组织2014年的一项研究发现，有4亿人患有糖尿病。有人估计其中25%的患者会出现足溃疡。

Simpson said, in Britain, the problem has led to an increase in the number of amputations.

辛普森表示，这个问题已经导致了英国截肢人数的增长。

"There are 140 amputations every single week, so that is nearly one every hour," he noted. He added that 80 percent of these were "driven by foot problems."

他指出：“每周都有140例截肢，几乎每小时都有一例截肢。”他补充说，其中80%是因为脚部问题造成的。

Researchers say that until recently doctors looked for hot spots with scanners that could not observe the whole foot. Because of this, problem areas could easily be missed.

研究人员表示，到现在医生还在使用无法观测整个脚部的扫描仪来寻找热点。因为这个原因，问题区域很容易被忽略。

Simpson said about 100,000 people in Britain have a foot ulcer. He said these people also are likely to develop another ulcer. He said it is important to help them better manage their health problems.

辛普森表示，英国大约有10万人患有足溃疡。他说，这些人还可能患上另一种溃疡。他说，帮助他们更好地管理自己的健康问题非常重要。

The current version of the DFirst is held with two hands. Researchers have been testing the scanner for two years. Designers hope that later versions of the DFirst will be as small as a smartphone.

当前版本的Dfirst设备是用两手操作的。研究人员对这种扫描仪进行了为其两年的测试。设计人员希望Dfirst的后续版本能够像智能手机一样小巧。

I'm Mario Ritter.

马里奥·里特报道。