VOA慢速英语:Scientists Develop Smartphone App for Eye Exams

More than two hundred eighty million people around the world have vision problems or are blind. The World Health Organization says nine out of ten of them live in developing countries. And eighty percent of the problems can be prevented or cured.
世界上超过2.8亿人有视力问题或失明。世界卫生组织称其中9/10是发展中国家的人。而且有80%是可以预防或治疗的。

Uncorrected cases of near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism are the leading cause of vision problems. These are called refractive errors. They often go untreated in countries with limited health care systems.
未校正近视，远视和散光是形成视力问题的主要因素。这些都称为屈光不正。它们在医疗系统有限的国家中经常得不到治疗。

But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new way to identify eye disorders with a smartphone. They call it Netra, which means eye in Sanskrit but stands for Near Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment.
但是，麻省理工学院的研究人员已经发明了一种新的方法：用智能手机诊断眼科疾病。他们把它称为Netra，这在梵文是眼睛的意思，但在这是指近视屈光评估工具（Netra）。

A person downloads software to a phone and attaches a plastic eyepiece over the screen. The user looks into the eyepiece and uses the buttons on the phone to move two lines until they appear as one.
一个人将软件下载到手机上，并在屏幕上方附上塑料目镜。用户对着目镜，使用手机按钮移动两条线，直到它们变成一条。

The person's vision problem is identified by the number of clicks required to line up the images. The results can be sent to an eye doctor to make glasses.
此人的视力问题由所需排列图像的点击数辨别的。这些结果可以传送给眼科医生帮患者配眼镜。

The cost is two dollars and the researchers say the results are as good as a traditional eye exam. The phone app is still being tested and is not yet available.
花费只需2美元，而且研究人员称效果跟传统的眼睛检查一样好。这种手机应用程序还处于测试阶段，还没上市。

But last month the researchers from the MIT Media Lab won first prize in the Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation Project. They will receive three hundred thousand dollars over three years to continue their research.
不过上个月，麻省理工学院媒体实验室的研究人员的这项发明在沃达丰美国基金会无线创新项目中获得第一名。他们将在三年内获得30万美元继续进行研究。

June Sugiyama is director of the Vodaphone Americas Foundation. She says the competition involved nearly one hundred projects that could help solve important problems.
June Sugiyama是沃达丰美国基金会主任。她称竞争中包括接近100个帮助解决重要问题的项目。

JUNE SUGIYAMA: "These creative methods that people have come up with by using wireless technology will be able to be accessed by millions of people, whereas other technology using electricity and landlines would not have been that accessible."
June Sugiyama：“这些人们想出来使用无线技术的方法将被数百万人使用，然而，其他使用电子和有线技术的方法没那么方便。”

Second place went to Smart Diaphragm, a wireless system for women with high-risk pregnancies. It warns if there are signs that the baby could be born early unless doctors intervene.
第二名是智能薄膜，这是对怀孕风险高的女性设计的一种无线系统。除非医生介入，不然如果婴儿要提前出生，它就会发出警报。

And third place went to a solar-powered wireless system designed for tuberculosis treatment programs in developing countries. CoolComply measures the temperature of medicine and records the amount used. June Sugiyama says the information is sent to local health care workers supervising patient treatment.
第三名是一种为发展中国家设计的治疗肺结核的太阳能无线系统。CoolComply测量药品温度并记录使用的数量。June Sugiyama说这些信息被送到监控患者治疗过程的当地卫生保健工作者那里。

JUNE SUGIYAMA: "Especially TB medication needs to be kept in a certain temperature. And as you know in developing countries refrigerators aren’t that accessible. So this kind of technology is perfect for that kind of arena."
June Sugiyama：“尤其是肺结核药品，需要放置在特定的温度中。而如你所知，发展中国家冰箱没有那么普及。所以这种技术对那些地区的人来说是非常好的。”