新技术帮助截肢病人重新站立起来

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:

当今最令人印象深刻的物理学装具并没有发生在竞技领域，而是创新医疗设备领域。26岁的美国腰下截瘫病人成为了首名无人工机械腿控制下独立行走的截瘫患者。

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.

就像展示的一样，这位在五年前揭髓损伤以后失去双腿的青年，在科技和雄心勃勃的物理学家的帮助下，刚刚走完了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.

作为一项取得重大突破的技术，这项技术十分复杂。但是粗略地说，这一过程始于头部一个可以辨别身体该做些什么的脑电波电极帽。一台电脑可以无限接受信息并且传达适当的向男子腰部的单机片包传达指令（比如继续站着或者走）。从这个微控制器中发出的电流和男子的膝盖相连，可以刺激步行所需要的肌肉运动的神经。

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.

如果你认为这一突破仅仅是先进技术的产物，那在UC Irvine领导该项研究的医生却强调，整个过程需要病患高强度的训练。病患不仅需要重建他在五年轮椅生涯中丢失的大量肌肉，还需要学习怎么发射正确的脑部信号---这是中枢神经系统必须承担的一项功能。