经济学人下载:一个让残疾人重新站起来的伟大想法

Science and technology
科学技术

A mind to walk again
一个让残疾人重新站起来的伟大想法

A trial of thought-controlled robotic legs is taking its first steps
用思想控制的机器人腿已经开始研制

ANYONE who saw Claire Lomas complete this year's London marathon on May 7th cannot fail to have been impressed by her grit and determination.
任何一个目睹Claire Lomas今年5月7日完成伦敦马拉松比赛的人，都无法不被他的勇气和决心所打动。

Ms Lomas, once a show jumper, was paralysed from the chest down by a riding accident in 2007, so finishing a marathon, albeit at walking pace, was a dramatic feat.
Lomas女士之前是一名障碍赛马运动员，在2007年的一次比赛事故中，造成从胸部以下瘫痪，所以她能完成马拉松比赛，即便是走路那样慢，也是一次惊人壮举。

Some of the adulation, however, should be reserved for the technology that helped her do so: a pair of bionic legs.
部分荣耀也得归功于一项高科技：两条仿生假腿。

Ms Lomas's legs were designed by Amit Goffer, an Israeli engineer who is himself paralysed.
Lomas女士的假肢是由以色列工程师Amit Goffer设计的，他本人也患有残疾。

They have various modes and are controlled by a keypad worn on the wrist.
这两条仿生假腿有几种不同的模式，由手腕上的键盘控制。

Walking also requires the assistance of a pair of crutches.
走路需要一对拐杖。

But Dr Goffer's legs allowed Ms Lomas to travel the 42.195km of the marathon course in stages, over a period of 16 days.
但Goffer博士设计的假腿让Lomas女士行走42.195公里，分时段完成马拉松比赛，行程耗时16天。

That record may not last long, however.
但这个记录可能不会持续太久。

Another engineer, José Contreras-Vidal of the University of Houston, in Texas, has what may prove an even better design:
另一名工程师，德克萨斯州休斯顿大学的José Contreras-Vidal已被证实设计出了更好的假肢：

a pair of bionic legs that respond directly to signals from the brain.
由大脑信号直接控制的仿生假肢。

The idea of controlling machines by thought is not new.
由大脑控制机器并不是最新的想法。在对人类与猴子的研究显示，运用软件从植入到人脑的电极采集信号，精确度极高，能够带动机器假肢。

Research both on people and on monkeys has shown it is possible for them to move mechanical limbs with great precision, using software which interprets signals collected by electrodes implanted in their brains. The problem with this approach is that implanting electrodes into a brain is a dangerous procedure—and, even if it succeeds and does no damage, the wires leading out of the skull to the computer open a passage into the body which can lead to infection.
但这种想法的问题是，将电极植入人脑是一个危险的程序，而且，即便试验成功，并未造成损害，那些连接头盖骨与电脑的电线在身体上的创口也会导致感染。

Dr Contreras-Vidal's approach gets round these difficulties by employing electroencephalography, which measures those electrical signals from the brain that reach the scalp.
Contreras-Vidal博士运用脑电图学，测试从脑部到达头皮的各种电子信号，解决了诸多难题。

The recording electrodes can be carried by a skull cap, and nothing has to penetrate the skin.
这些记录下来的电极存储在一个头盖帽里，并不会渗透到皮肤里。

Such second-hand signals are not as precise as ones collected directly from the brain itself, and probably could not control the complex movements required of an arm and a hand.
这种二手信号并没有直接从脑部收集的信号准确，可能也无法控制胳膊与手的复杂动作。

But experiments using EEG have allowed people to do simple things like pressing buttons on a computer screen by moving a cursor and clicking it, and operating the flippers on a pinball machine.
但用脑电图学所做的实验能让人们做一些简单的事情，比如移动光标按动电脑屏幕的按钮，点击它，开启弹珠机器上的弹珠游戏。

That got Dr Contreras-Vidal thinking.
这让Contreras-Vidal博士陷入深深地思考。

Despite appearances, walking is harder than playing pinball.
除了外观，走路比玩弹珠游戏更难。

But it is easier than picking something up.
但比捡东西容易。

He therefore wondered if he could use EEG-based control to operate a set of mechanical legs.
他思考如果能运用脑电图学控制一套假肢。

And, to cut a long story short, he probably can.
他或许真能做到。

Moreover, in the process he has reduced the number of electrodes in an EEG cap from the 30 required for pinball to a mere dozen. This means it will eventually be lighter, and easier to wear.
而且，在研发过程中，他将玩弹珠球游戏所需要的头盖帽电极数从30个减少到了仅仅12个。

He and a group of colleagues at the University of Maryland were able to do this by analysing what goes on in the brain when someone moves his limbs.
他和他马里兰大学的同事通过分析人在移动肢体时脑中思考的情况做到这一点。

They used a system of cameras to record the movement patterns of a set of able-bodied volunteers who were walking on a treadmill, and then correlated the result with the electrical signals detected simultaneously at their scalps.
他们用一套摄像系统记录志愿者们在跑步机上的动作类型，并且把结果和从头皮测试的电子信号连接。

Even a simple task, like wiggling a toe, engages many parts of the brain.
即便是一个简单的任务，像摆动脚趾，也涉及到人脑好几个部分。

These include the frontal cortex, the motor cortex, the somatosensory cortex and the part of the parietal cortex that regulates kinaesthesia.
包括额叶皮层、运动皮层、体感皮层和支配运动感觉的部分顶叶皮层。

By choosing sites carefully, the researchers were able to cover all these areas with as few as 12 electrodes.
通过仔细选择测试部位，研究人员能够用仅12个电极覆盖到所有区域。

The next step, which they are now working on, is to turn the result into reliable instructions that can operate a set of legs.
下一步，也是他们现在正在研究的，就是把结果转变成为可靠媒介，开发一套假肢。

These are made by Rex Bionics, a firm based in New Zealand.
这个研究是新西兰的Rex生物公司在做。

They are a partial exoskeleton that allows a user to stand and walk independently, without crutches, and are normally operated by hand controls.
这对假肢是一部分外骨骼，能让患者摆脱拐杖独自站立与行走，之前是用手控制的。

To adapt them to thought control, a group of able-bodied people will first don the cap and perambulate in the legs around a laboratory, to refine the process.
为了能通过思想控制，研究人员让一组健全的志愿者带着头盖帽，在实验室走动，不断更新过程。

Then—with luck, some time this summer—a full-scale trial in collaboration with a group of paralysed volunteers will start.
幸运的是，这个夏天将开始对瘫痪志愿者实施。

For someone who has been crippled in an accident of the sort suffered by Ms Lomas, Dr Contreras-Vidal thinks it will simply be a matter of remembering how you used to walk, and then doing it. The legs will respond appropriately. For those paralysed from birth that is not possible, of course.
对那些在事故中变成残废的人，像Lomas女士，Contreras-Vidal博士认为它只是简单的让人记起之前是如何走路的，然后去尝试走路。假肢的反应非常好。

But even these unfortunates, he hopes, may be able to benefit.
但对那些一出生便是残疾的人，肯定是不可能的。

They will understand what walking means and, with a bit of practice, that might be enough to provide the necessary brain activity.
虽然也很遗憾，他希望也能有所帮助。他们能明白走路是什么，通过练习，能够激起必要的脑部活动。

Nor is mere locomotion the only benefit.
这项研究并不光是运动受益。

To be able to stand and walk restores a person's independence and dignity, and also helps improve his health.
站立与行走能重新给予一个人独立与尊严，让他更健康。

Which is why, during the trials, a group of doctors led by Robert Grossman of the Methodist Hospital, Houston, will monitor such things as the participants' bone density, respiratory function and cardiovascular systems, all of which are expected to improve when someone is no longer stuck in a wheelchair.
这也是为什么在实验中，由休斯顿Methodist 医院的Robert Grossman带领的医生们会监视诸如骨密度、呼吸功能和心血管系统等，这些都能让患者不再一辈子坐轮椅。

If the trial works, Dr Contreras-Vidal and his colleagues believe their technique will transform the lives of those with spinal injuries.
如果实验成功，Contreras-Vidal博士和他的同事们将用之于脊椎受伤的人。

It might also act as a form of physiotherapy, to help victims of strokes restore the use of their legs.
可能通过物理疗法，帮助中风患者重新站起来，

And it will certainly save a lot of money.
也能省很多钱。

A set of bionic legs can cost as much as $150,000. But the lifetime cost of caring for a 25-year-old with severe spinal injury is around $3m.
一对仿生假肢花费大约15万美元，然而治疗一位25岁的严重脊椎损伤患者的花费大约为300万美元。

If he can get up, go shopping and even go to work wearing one of Dr Contreras-Vidal's caps, then both he and the taxpayers will be hugely better off.
如果他能重新站起来，戴着Contreras-Vidal研制的头盖帽去购物，甚至是去工作，无论是他本人，还是纳税人，都会皆大欢喜的。