VOA慢速英语:New Technology Helps Move Hearts(翻译)

Heart transplant surgery is a common medical treatment in the United States.
在美国，心脏移植是常见的医疗手段。

Some doctors are skilled at removing the heart from someone who has just died, and then preparing it for another person who needs a new heart.
有的医生非常擅长从死者身体上取出心脏，然后为需要新心脏的人做好准备。

Nationwide, about 4,000 new patients a year are listed for a heart transplant.But only about 2,500 are able to have the operation.
每年全球会有4000多名患者等待做心脏移植手术。但只有2500名患者可以做这个手术。

Jason Smith is a surgeon with the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.He notes that because of the difference in numbers, not all patients on the transplant list will live.
杰森·史密斯是西雅图华盛顿大学医学中心的外科医生。他表示，由于供求之间存在较大差异，并非等待做手术移植的人都能存活。

“Because of that disparity, we still have about 17 percent of patients who get listed for transplant, for heart transplant, who die on the waiting list.”
“由于供求之间的悬殊，等待做心脏移植手术的患者中仍然有17%在等待过程中丧生。”

There is a shortage of organ donors.Some people do not want to donate their organs or those of a loved one.But also, some donated organs do not make it to the surgeryroom in the right condition for transplant.
器官捐赠者数量很少。一些人并不想捐赠自己或者爱人的器官。同样地，捐赠器官的人有时并不能以正确的方式将用作移植的器官送至手术室。

Once the organ is removed from the donor, there is only a short time to get the organ to the person who needs it.The average length is four to six hours.After that, the organ begins to fail.This can be a problem if the donor died far away from the recipient.
一旦从捐赠者身上取出器官之后，在将其移植至需要器官的人体内之前，只有很短的时间。平均时间是4至6小时。这段时间过后，器官便开始衰竭。如果捐赠者去世的地点离接受器官移植手术的人较远，这就成了个问题。

Traditionally, the donated hearts are transported in an ice box.Keeping the organ on ice has been the best way to preserve it.Medical workers sometimes carry the box on a helicopter or airplane.
一般来说，用冰盒子运输捐赠的心脏。冰是保存器官最好的方式。医疗工作者有时候会坐飞机携带这个盒子。

Now, a new travel box contains equipment that keeps the heart beating during transport.The only time it stops beating is for a few minutes -- just before it is placed into the chest of the person receiving it.
目前有一种新的运输盒子，盒子里面有种设备可以保证心脏在运输过程中仍然跳动。心脏只有在移植至接受者体内前的几分钟停止跳动。

For more than a year, the Organ Care System has been tested in the United States.The system, also known as “heart in a box,” has an American manufacturer, a company called TransMedics. It is already available in Europe and Australia.
一年多以来，器官护理系统（Organ Care System）一直在美国进行测试。该系统被称作是“盒子中的心脏”，其生产商是美国公司TransMedics。目前欧洲和澳大利亚已经可以买到这个盒子。

Dr. Jason Smith is pleased about the addition of transport pumps on the boxes.
杰森·史密斯医生对盒子上添加的运输泵非常满意。

“So having a transport pump to preserve the heart function allows us to better match the hearts to the recipients so that more of the hearts that are being donated can actually be used and implanted into recipients.”
“用运输泵保护心脏的功能，能将心脏更好的匹配给需要进行移植手术的人，以便于将捐赠的更多心脏能够真正被使用并移植到接受者体内。”

Ted Daniels is also pleased with the “heart in a box.”He was the first patient to get a heart through the Organ Care System in the U.S. trials.Daniels, a truck driver from Washington State, received his new heart in September 2015.
泰德·丹尼尔对“盒子中的心脏”非常满意。他是在美国进行试验过程中首次通过该系统进行器官移植的人。丹尼尔是华盛顿州的卡车司机，在2015年9月份进行了器官移植。

A month later he spoke to the news media.Daniels said he was “excited” to be part of the new patient technology.He said, “It makes me happy to know that I’ll probably get to see my daughters (ages 16 and 7) graduate and get married.”
一个月之后他接受了媒体采访。丹尼尔表示，参与这项新的技术让他非常兴奋。他表示：“很高兴，我能看着十六岁和十七岁的女儿们毕业，然后结婚。”

The equipment has been tested on flights up to 11 hours long.The machine pumps donated blood through the organ, so it can work as it does inside a body.
该设备经过了长达11小时的飞行试验。运输泵通过心脏进行供血，这让器官能像在体内一样运作。

Those traveling with the heart watch it closely to make sure it is in the best possible condition for transplantation.
负责运输器官的人们要非常小心，确保心脏处于移植手术所需的最佳状态。

The development of this new heart travel machine is good news to Kevin O’Connor.He is the head of Lifecenter Northwest, a group that organizes organ and tissue donation in some Northwestern states.
开发这个心脏运输机器的新设备对于凯文·奥康纳来说是一个好消息。他是西北生命中心（Lifecenter Northwest）的负责人，该组织主要在西北部各州负责器官和组织的捐赠。

“I absolutely think it’s a great opportunity to improve the preservation technology for hearts and other organs, and will only stand to benefit patients in need of replacement organs in the future.”
“我绝对相信，对于提高心脏以及其他器官的保存技术，这是绝好的机会，并且未来那些需要进行器官移植的人也将受益匪浅。”

TransMedics is also testing the technology to help preserve donated lungs and liver organs.Similar to the way that hearts are kept beating in the box, the lungs “breathe”, and livers “produce bile,” according to the company’s website.
TransMedics还在测试利用此项技术来保存捐赠的肺器官和肝脏。心脏在该盒子里能够跳动，同样的，要保证肺可以“呼吸”，肝脏可以“分泌胆汁”，据该公司网站称。

It adds that if an organ is beginning to fail, the machine may be able to bring it back to a fully functioning condition.That would give doctors more organs for transplantation.
该公司补充道，一旦器官开始衰竭，该机器可以让其器官恢复完备的功能。这样便可以提供更多器官进行移植手术。

Doctors say the new technology alone will not end the need for more donated hearts.They are urging Americans to register to become an organ donor.
医生们表示，只有这项新技术并不足以解决需要捐赠更多心脏这个问题。他们鼓励美国人们进行注册，成为器官捐献者。

I’m Anne Ball.
安妮·贝尔为您报道。