VOA慢速英语2012 Health Report - New Medical Tape Reduces Pain for Newborns, Older Adults

Health Report - New Medical Tape Reduces Pain for Newborns, Older Adults

健康报道 - 新型医用胶布可以减少新生儿及老年患者的痛苦

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report in Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

Babies born with serious medical conditions often spend their first days in the intensive-care unit of a hospital. Medical workers put tape on the babies to hold down tubes and electronic devices. Experts say having to change the tape daily or remove it when those babies are well enough to go home can be painful and even dangerous.

出生时病情严重的婴儿往往会在医院重症监护病房度过最初的日子。医务工作者用胶布固定住各种管子和电子设备。专家表示，每日更换胶布，或者婴儿康复出院时撕掉胶布非常痛苦，甚至会有危险。

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says more than one million people suffer skin injuries from medical tape removal each year. But now there is a new kind of tape that is much softer.

麻省理工学院表示，每年有超过1百万人因为撕除医用胶布而遭受皮肤损伤。但现在有了一种柔软得多的新型胶布。

Jeff Karp helped create the new tape. Doctor Harp 1 works the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He says newborns moved to intensive-care Unit are usually very sick.

杰夫·卡普（Jeff Karp）协助发明了这种新胶带。卡普医生就职于马萨诸塞州波士顿市布莱根妇女医院再生疗法中心。他说，转移到重症监护病房的新生儿通常都很虚弱。

“Children in these units are, are really just wrapped in these tapes, [which are] constantly needing to be replaced. These are really important to secure devices to the skin for monitoring. So, for example, temperature probes, endotracheal tubes to maintain breathing, as well as EKG leads for monitoring a, a pulse.”

“这些病房的儿童真的是被需要经常更换的胶带包裹住了，这些胶带对确保设备贴住皮肤进行检测非常重要。像温度传感器、维持呼吸的气管插管，以及监视脉动的心电图。”

Removing medical tape can be painful. It also may damage the skin of newborn babies. Doctor Karp says this is one of the biggest problems facing hospitals.

撕除医用胶布会非常痛苦。它还有可能损伤新生儿的皮肤。卡普医生表示，这是医院所面临的最大难题之一。

“There’s all sorts of horror stories of, of permanent damage being done, as well as tissue torn off from the skin, even ears being torn.”

“发生了各种永久性损害的恐怖故事，以及组织从皮肤撕裂开来，甚至是耳朵被撕裂。”

He and his team wanted to create a medical tape that was strong and could be removed without harming the skin.

他和他的团队希望发明一种医用胶布，它要足够牢固，在撕除时又不会损伤肌肤。

Normally, medical tape has two layers -- a non-sticky backing and the sticky part. The new tape adds another layer of sticky adhesive 2. It remains 3 on the skin after the tape is removed. Jeff Karp says this adhesive can be easily removed with talcum powder.

通常，医用胶布有两层，非粘性背衬和粘性部分。这种新胶布又增加了一层粘胶，在胶布被撕除后它还保留在皮肤上。卡普表示，这层粘胶可以用滑石粉轻易去掉。

“What we found is that if you have a continuous layer of adhesive that’s left -- as is, you know, done with our system -- when you just push on this adhesive it can easily roll off the skin and it’d be much less painful and, and much quicker to remove.”

“我们发现，如果剩下我们系统产生的这种连续粘胶层，当你推动它时，它能很轻易地从皮肤滚落，痛苦更少，去除速度更快。”

The new, softer adhesive tape was designed for newborns. But the researchers say it will also help much older patients, whose thin, weak skin can tear.

这种新型的柔软的胶带是为新生儿设计的。但研究人员表示，它对肌肤脆弱容易撕裂的老年患者也有帮助。

The new tape is made from materials already widely used. Doctor Karp believes it will receive government approval, and be available soon to hospitals and medical centers.

这种新胶布是由已经广泛使用的材料制成的。卡普医生相信它能得到政府批准，并且很快提供给医院和医疗中心。

The researchers have requested patent rights to the tape. They are also asking health officials for permission to test it on adults.

研究人员已经对这种胶带申请专利。他们还要求卫生官员批准对成人进行测试。

A report on the development of the painless medical tape was published in the journal Proceedings 4 of the National Academy of Sciences. We have placed a link to a summary of the report on our website, www.voanews.cn.

一份关于这种无痛医疗胶带开发的报告发表在美国国家科学院的学报上。