美国国家公共电台 NPR--Encore: A new hard hat could help protect workers from on-the-job brain injuries

Encore: A new hard hat could help protect workers from on-the-job brain injuries

Transcript¹

A company started by two scientists has developed a hard hat that will do a better job protecting workers from on-the-job brain injuries. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Sept. 9, 2022.)

How a new hard hat technology can protect workers better from concussion²

SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS

How a new hard hat technology can protect workers better from concussion

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

More than 30 million workers in the U.S. wear safety helmets to prevent head injuries. Yet most of these hard hats offer little protection against serious impacts. Here’s NPR’s Jon Hamilton.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE³: Concussions⁴, or mild traumatic brain injuries, get a lot of attention when they happen on a football field. But these injuries are far more numerous in another setting. Michael Bottlang directs the Legacy⁵ Biomechanics Lab in Portland, Ore.

MICHAEL BOTTLANG: Where do the most brain injuries happen that should be prevented? It's really among workers, construction workers, anybody wearing hard hats.

HAMILTON: About a quarter of all concussions in adults occur on the job. And Bottlang says one reason is that hard hats, unlike football helmets, haven't changed much.

BOTTLANG: Unfortunately, today's most frequently used hard hats look identical to the ones from the '60s.

HAMILTON: There's a plastic outer shell with an inner suspension system made from webbing. Some models also include foam⁶ padding on the sides and a chinstrap. This design does a fine job protecting the brain from a direct hit. But hard hats aren't so good when the impact comes at an angle. Bottlang says that's because the helmet, and the head inside it, turns violently.

BOTTLANG: Think of a boxer⁷, get knocked in the chin, makes the head spin, and you drop like a fly. The human brain is readily injured by a rotational⁸ force.

HAMILTON: The brain is a bit like an egg yolk⁹, a soft capsule surrounded by liquid inside a hard shell. You can shake an egg forcefully without disrupting the contents. But if you spin one hard enough, the yolk inside will rupture¹⁰. Dr. Steve Madey, an orthopedic surgeon in Portland, says most hard hats and helmets act like an eggshell.

STEVE MADEY: They do a job at reducing force, so they serve a purpose. But if they're not optimized¹¹ to decrease the spin, they're not optimized to prevent injury.

HAMILTON: So Madey and Bottlang founded a company called WaveCel to make better helmets. Their inspiration came from observing what happens to a ball when it strikes the ground at an angle. Madey says ordinarily, the ball does more than just bounce.

MADEY: It'll hit the ground, it'll have friction¹², and it'll create spin.

HAMILTON: Unless the ground is made of something special.

MADEY: If you throw a ball into a sandpit, the sand gives underneath¹³, right? It doesn't impart spin to the ball.

HAMILTON: So the company developed a helmet liner made from a special plastic honeycomb designed to act like sand.

MADEY: The honeycomb structure is a very light, breathable material that is not only good at absorbing that linear force but also breaks that spin the way sand would.

HAMILTON: The liner can be found in several big-brand sports helmets. And now WaveCel is offering its own line of hard hats. In both sports helmets and hard hats, the company faces competition from the Swedish firm MIPS. Studies show MIPS technology also reduces spin but not as well. A WaveCel hard hat costs $189, several times the price of a standard helmet. And it's not clear whether any sort of anti-spin technology will become standard on job sites. Dr. Brandon Lucke-Wold, a neurosurgeon at the University of Florida, says he has yet to see much change.

BRANDON LUCKE-WOLD: Even the construction workers I saw biking home today were wearing hard hats that are very similar to what I saw 10, 15 years ago.

HAMILTON: Lucke-Wold says that's one reason he's still treating patients who get a concussion despite wearing a hard hat. So he'd like to see more workers in helmets that help reduce the speed at which the head spins in an impact.

LUCKE-WOLD: By having this slowing process from these helmets, it's keeping the brain more stationary¹⁴. And so that has a lot of potential benefit.

HAMILTON: Including keeping workers out of the hospital and on the job.

Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SIGNAL HILL'S "A SECRET SOCIETY")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

7 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

8 rotational   

adj.回转的，轮流的

参考例句：

• A synchronous motor drives the measuring bob at a constant rotational speed.同步马达驱动测锤以恒速旋转。
• With some limitations,this is true also of rotational degrees of freedom.在某些限定条件下，这一说法对转动自由度也成立。

9 yolk   

n.蛋黄，卵黄

参考例句：

• This dish would be more delicious with some yolk powder.加点蛋黄粉，这道菜就会更好吃。
• Egg yolk serves as the emulsifying agent in salad dressing.在色拉调味时，蛋黄能作为乳化剂。

10 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

11 optimized   

adj.最佳化的，（使）最优化的v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We are often asked whether consumer Web sites should be optimized for beginners or intermediates. 我们常常被问到这样的问题：消费类网站究竟应该为新手而优化，还是应该为中间用户而优化？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• GOOGLE Advertising optimized sequence, greatly increasing the advertising effect. 优化了GOOGLE广告位排列顺序，大大增加了广告效果。 来自互联网

12 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

13 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

14 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。