新技術幫助截肢病人重新站立起來

The most impressive physical feat you are likely to witness today didn't happen on the field of play. It occured in an innovative medical facility, where a 26 year-old American paralyzed from the waist down became the first person with paraplegia to walk without relying on robotic limbs that are controlled manually:

當今最令人印象深刻的物理學裝具並沒有發生在競技領域，而是創新醫療設備領域。26歲的美國腰下截癱病人成爲了首名無人工機械腿控制下獨立行走的截癱患者。

As the photo shows, the man, who lost the use of his legs following a spinal injury 5 years ago, just completed a 3.5 meter course with the help of technology and some ambitious physicians.

就像展示的一樣，這位在五年前揭髓損傷以後失去雙腿的青年，在科技和雄心勃勃的物理學家的幫助下，剛剛走完了3.5米的路程。

That technology, as one might expect for a breakthrough like this, is quite sophisticated. But roughly speaking, the process begins when an electrode cap on the man's head is able to recognize the brain waves that tell the body what to do. A computer receives this information wirelessly and transmits the appropriate command (i.e. stand still or walk) to a microcontroller pack on the man's waist. Stemming from this microcontroller are electrodes connected to the man's knees, which stimulate the appropriate nerves to trigger the right muscle movement required for walking.

作爲一項取得重大突破的技術，這項技術十分複雜。但是粗略地說，這一過程始於頭部一個可以辨別身體該做些什麼的腦電波電極帽。一臺電腦可以無限接受信息並且傳達適當的向男子腰部的單機片包傳達指令（比如繼續站着或者走）。從這個微控制器中發出的電流和男子的膝蓋相連，可以刺激步行所需要的肌肉運動的神經。

Lest you think this breakthrough was simply the product of advanced technology, doctors leading the study at UC Irvine were sure to note the patient's intensive training required throughout the process. Not only did the patient need to rebuild a significant amount of muscle that he'd lost over 5 years while in a wheelchair, but he needed to learn how to produce the right brain signals -- a function of the central nervous system that is so easy to take for granted.

如果你認爲這一突破僅僅是先進技術的產物，那在UC Irvine領導該項研究的醫生卻強調，整個過程需要病患高強度的訓練。病患不僅需要重建他在五年輪椅生涯中丟失的大量肌肉，還需要學習怎麼發射正確的腦部信號---這是中樞神經系統必須承擔的一項功能。