读者文摘:他修复了自己的心脏（在线收听）

When Tal Golesworthy was told he needed lifesaving heart surgery in 1993, he said no.

1993年，当塔尔·高尔斯沃西被告知他需要接受拯救生命的心脏手术时，他说不。

Golesworthy has Marfan syndrome, a genetic condition affecting the strength and elasticity of connective body tissues, including blood vessels.

高尔斯沃西患有马凡氏综合症，这是一种影响结缔组织（包括血管）强度和弹性的遗传病。

Back in 1993, when he was living in Cheltenham, in the west of England,

早在1993年，他住在英格兰西部的切尔滕纳姆时，

his doctor told him that a major artery in his heart, the aorta, was so enlarged that it would inevitably rupture unless he underwent major surgery.

他的医生就说，他心脏里的一条大动脉，即主动脉过度增大，如果不做大手术，它将不可避免地破裂。

"They talked through the surgical options," says Golesworthy, "and I was not interested.

“他们讨论了手术的选择，” 高尔斯沃西说，“我对此不感兴趣。

The operation really didn't look attractive."

手术看起来并不具有吸引力。”

What he particularly didn't like was having to be on blood thinners after the operation,

他特别不喜欢的是术后必须使用血液稀释剂，

something that would prevent blood clots but presented its own risks:

这种方法可以防止血栓形成，但也有风险：

"I was riding motorbikes then, and skiing, so my whole lifestyle would have been affected."

“当时我骑摩托车、滑雪，所以我的整个生活方式都会受到影响。”

By 2000, however, his condition had worsened. Realizing something had to be done,

然而到了2000年，他的病情恶化。高尔斯沃西意识到必须做些什么，

Golesworthy put his years of experience as research-and-development engineer with the United Kingdom's National Coal Board to good use.

他充分利用自己在英国国家煤炭委员会（National Coal Board）担任研发工程师的多年经验。

He decided he would fix himself. "Learning new stuff and developing new ideas, that was my job," Golesworthy says.

他决定自己进行修复，高尔斯沃西说：“学习新东西，发展新思想，这是我的工作。”。

A bulging aorta, he reckoned, was much like a bulging hydraulic hose—it needed external support.

他认为，鼓起的主动脉就像一个膨胀的液压软管，需要外部支撑。

And wrapping something around the outside of the aorta would require a less invasive operation.

在主动脉外包裹一些东西需要实施较少的侵入性手术，

So Golesworthy subjected himself to 30 hours in an MRI scanner;

因此，高尔斯沃西接受了30个小时的核磁共振扫描；

used 3D printing to create a physical replica of the faulty part of his heart (the aortic root);

使用3D打印技术制作了心脏缺陷部位（主动脉根部）的物理复制品；

and then used soft, porous textile mesh to make a sleeve to fit around it.

然后用柔软、多孔的织物网制作了一个袖子，使其能套在周围。

"Luckily, I'd done a lot of work with technical textiles, looking at filters for flue gases in coal-fire processes," he says.

他说，“幸运的是，我在技术性纺织品方面做过很多工作，以研究燃煤过程中的烟气过滤器。”。

Sheer determination coupled with an original yet practical solution won him the support of two leading cardiothoracic surgeons

坚定的决心加上独创而务实的解决方案，为他赢得了两位顶尖心胸外科医师的支持，

and helped him raise the money to develop his idea.

帮助筹集资金来拓展他的想法。

In May 2004, at the age of 47, he became the guinea pig for his own invention, the ExoVasc Personalised External Aortic Root Support (PEARS).

2004年5月，47岁的他成为了他自己发明物的实验对象，这项发明是血管外个性化体外主动脉根部支撑（PEARS）。

The operation was a success.

手术很成功。

It has since been used by surgeons in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands.

此后，英国、爱尔兰、比利时、捷克共和国、新西兰、澳大利亚和荷兰的外科医生都在使用这种方法。

"When you're as motivated as I was," Golesworthy told mosaic.com, "you make things happen."

“当你像我一样受到驱动时，就会让促使事情发生。”戈尔斯沃西接受mosaic.com网站采访时说道。