万花筒 2009-06-20&06-22 让盲人重见光明！

If you know anyone who is deaf, then you know the cochlear implant¹ has offered hope and help for some people. This next story may be the equivalence where restoring sight is concerned. While the science is very different and very tricky², the promise here is enormous. Nothing short of restoring sight for those who don’t have it. We get our report tonight from our chief science correspondent Robert Bazell.
"We're, basically, you’re gonna see squares on this screen."
"OK."
Catherine Blake has been totally blind but can see again.
"Correct." (computer voice)
Not a lot.
"I was able to sort my clothes."
But enough to make a big difference in her life.
"That would be right.""I was able to actually point the moon out in the sky. These are the glasses that make everything work."
Blake's vision comes from a tiny TV camera mounted on her sunglasses. They send images to electrodes placed on the back of her eyes.
"Here it is."
For 20 years, Dr. Mark Quimi and his team at the University of Southern California have been working towards the amazing goal of restoring the vision to the blind. The challenges are immense.
"The key of this is not only the hardware but the software. How do you take an image from the camera and convert it into this neural³ code, of this Morse code of the eye and then stimulate⁴ the nerve cells in the retina.
But recently the team has achieved great improvement into the device, going from 16 electrodes to 60, enabling better sight. With this demonstration⁵, Dr. Quimi shows me what the patients see. First is the total blindness.
"Could you tell which of my hand is moving?"
With the 16-electrode device, the patient sees nothing but rows of light. But they change with movement, allowing the patient to avoid hitting large objects. Next with the latest device, I make out Dr. Quimi.
"I can see tie and a face on top of it."
"Correct."
And then parts of an eye chart.
"F, maybe, yeah. Two Fs? Yeah, two Fs? T. O."
"That’s progress. The idea is that more electrodes and more sophisticated device, you can actually begin to read large letters."
Soon the glasses will go.
"The typical prototype…"
Armand Tanguay, an electrical engineer is developing cameras to be implanted directly in the eye lens.
"We think it’s a pivotal future generation step to be able to supply the best possible vision to the blind."
A system many scientists believe will restore better and better sight to millions like Catherine Blake.
"OK."
Robert Bazell, NBC News, Los Angeles.

 

1 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

2 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

3 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

4 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。