《中英對照讀新聞》Don’t recycle _ these gadgets dissolve inside you 不用回收—這些裝置將在你體內分解
◎魏國金
As consumers we want our electronic gadgets to be durable. But as patients, we might want them to dissolve _ inside our bodies.
做為消費者，我們希望我們的電子器材經久耐用 ，但做為病人，我們或許希望它們分解—在我們體內。
Scientists reported that they succeeded in creating tiny medical devices sealed in silk cocoons that did the work they were designed for, then dissolved in the bodies of lab mice.
科學家報告指出，他們成功研發出封存於絲質防護膜內的微小醫療裝置，該裝置依其設計進行任務，然後在實驗鼠的體內分解。
Doctors already use implants that dispense drugs or provide electrical stimulation, but they don’t dissolve. The new work is aimed at making devices that do their jobs as long as needed and then just dissolved, without need for surgical removal or risk of long-term side effects.
目前醫生已使用可釋出藥物或提供電子刺激的植入物，但它們不會分解。而前述新研發成果旨在讓相關裝置視需要執行任務，然後分解，無需手術取出或有長期副作用之虞。
In the experiment, the devices _ which look like tiny computer chips _ were designed to generate heat, a potential strategy for fighting infection after surgery by killing germs, said John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an author of the study.
在實驗中，這些看起來像電腦微晶片的裝置被設計成可發熱，這是藉由殺死病菌以抗術後感染的可能策略，該研究撰文者、伊利諾大學香檳分校的羅傑斯說。
The devices worked in the mice for more than a week, until their silk coatings dissolved enough for bodily fluids to erode key parts of the devices, he said. After three weeks, the tiny gadgets had basically disappeared.
該裝置在老鼠體內運作逾1週，直到絲質外膜分解到足以讓體液侵蝕裝置的關鍵部分，他說。3週後，這個微小裝置基本上消失無蹤。
Someday for people, similar devices might be programmed to monitor the body and release drugs accordingly, or produce electric current to accelerate bone healing, Rogers said. （AP）
對人們而言，有一天類似裝置或可程式化來監測身體，並依此釋放藥物，或產生電流，以加速骨質復原，羅傑斯指出。（美聯社）
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