First Self-contained Heart Implanted
A patient on the brink of death1 has received the world’s first self-contained artificial heart — a battery-powered device about the size of a softball that runs without the need for wires, tubes or hoses sticking out of the chest.
Two surgeons from the University of Louisville implanted the titanium and plastic pump during a seven-hour operation at Jewish Hospital Monday. The hospital said the patient was “awake and responsive” Tuesday and resting comfortably. It refused to release personal details.
The patient had been expected to die within a month without the operation, and doctors said they expected the artificial heart to extend the person’s life by only a month. But the device is considered a major step toward improving the patient’s quality of life.
The new pump, called AbioCor, is also a technological leap from the mechanical hearts used in the 1980s, which were attached by wires and tubes to bulky machinery outside the body. The most famous of those, the Jarvic–7, used air as a pumping device and was attached to an apparatus about the size of a washing machine.
“I think it’s potentially a major step forward in the artificial heart development,” said Dr. David Faxon, president of the American Heart Association. However, he said the dream of an implantable, permanent artificial heart is not yet a reality:“This is obviously an experimental device whose long-term success has to be demonstrated.” Only about half of the 4,200 Americans on a waiting list for donor hearts received them last year, and most of the rest died.
Some doctors, including Robert Higgins, chairman of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, said artificial hearts are unlikely to replace donor hearts.
“A donor heart in a good transplant can last 15 to 30 years,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to replace that with a machine.”
The AbioCor has a 2–pound pumping unit, and electronic controls that adjust the pumping speed based on the body’s needs. It is powered by a small battery pack worn outside the body that transmits current through the skin.2
詞匯:
self-contained 整套裝在一起(并帶有動力設備)的
battery-powered 以電池作為動力的
hose (= hosepipe)(膠皮、帆布等)軟管
softball .壘球 implant 植入;n.植物人
titanium .鈦 responsive 反應靈敏的
bulky 龐大的,笨重的 implantable 可植入的
注釋:
1.on the brink of death (war, ruin...):處于死亡(戰爭、毀滅……)的邊緣 brink n.邊緣
2.It is powered... through the skin.它(指AbioCor)以佩戴在體外的一組小電池作為動力,通過皮膚來傳遞電流。
worn是wear的過去分詞,作pack的定語;that引起的從句也是pack的定語。
練習:
1.The pump of the first implanted self-contained heart was made of titanium and plastic.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
2.The patient’s life was expected to last several years longer by implanting the artificial heart.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
3.There is no difference in structure between the self-contained heart and the mechanical heart.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
4.The American Heart Association recommended widely using the self-contained heart.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
5.Dr. David Faxon believed that the implantable, permanent artificial, heart will certainly be developed in the future.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
6.Approximately two thousand one hundred patients received heart implantation in America last year.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
7.Some doctors doubt the possibility of donor hearts being replaced by artificial ones.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
答案與題解:
1.A 第二段第一句就說到植入了鈦和塑料的泵,故是正確的。
2.B 第三段第一句說到醫生只指望人工心臟能延長病人的生命大約一個月,而不是幾年,故是錯誤的。
3.B 第一段、第四段和第八段對二者的構造作了介紹,從中可以看到所用的動力、是否要電線及軟管與體外連接以及體積大小都不相同,故此題應是錯誤的。
4.B 在第五段,該協會主席Faxon說“這可能是人工心臟發展中的一次重大飛躍”,還說“很顯然,這只是一個實驗裝置,其能否長期成功還有待證實”,并沒有提到要“推薦廣泛使用”,故此題應是錯誤的。
5.B 第五段中,該協會主席Faxon說“可植入的永久性人工心臟這一夢想還不現實”,并沒有說到他“相信將來一定會制造出來”的話或類似的意思。
6.A 第五段說“等待別人捐獻心臟的4,200個美國人中去年只有大約一半人接受到捐獻”,也就是大約2,100人,故此題是正確的。
7.A 第六段說“有些醫生說人工心臟不太可能代替捐獻的心臟”,第七段說“移植得好,一個捐獻的心臟可存活15~30年,而這一點機器是很難代替的”,可見他們對人工心臟是持懷疑態度的,故此題應是正確的。
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