VOA慢速英语2014 喀麦隆工程师发明检查心脏的电子设备

 

Young Cameroon Engineer Invents Cardiopad

Cameroon is experimenting with Africa's first mobile system to send a cardiac, or heart signal over a wireless¹ network. The system will give much needed medical assistance to heart patients in rural areas. Cameroonian Arthur Zang invented the device called the Cardiopad. He was just 24 years old when he invented it.

The Cardiopad is a touch screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations to be performed. The results of the tests are sent wirelessly² to specialists in other parts of Cameroon who can interpret them.

Simplice Momo is a 55-year-old heart patient in a rural area of Cameroon. He says the Cardiopad saves him time and money. He says it is too costly³ and difficult for him to see a heart specialist in the city.

"It has been about a year now; they said I had cardiovascular disease. I have been traveling to the city to take treatment. But since they brought this machine, they just put the machine inside me so I no longer travel to the city, which it was expensive for me before."

Cameroon has a population of about 22 million people. But the country only has 40 heart surgeons. Most are in the cities of Douala or Yaounde. Sometimes the heart experts needed can only be found outside the country.

Apolonia Budzee is a nurse at Saint Elizabeth Cardiac Center. She says the device will permit doctors to send patients’ medical information to specialists in Europe.

"You know we do not have a resident surgeon. So we have various teams coming from Italy, from France, Sweden, Germany and other places. So we are not working on a daily basis. We collect the patients and then program and then call the people up to come and operate."

Arthur Zang started the Cardiopad project five years ago. The young computer engineer said he needed more training and $45,000 to develop the device. His family did not have the money. Banks would not give him loans. So he shared his idea on social media. The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, answered the appeal with money for the project. Mr. Zang also received free online training from an engineering school in India.

"When I decided⁴ to design the tablet at the electronic level, I did not have the knowledge because I am basically a computer science engineer. So I decided to learn myself electronics by online video. So I went to the internet and discovered a free education program provided by the Indian Institute of Technology. This is how I learned electronics online."

The Cameroon scientific community has recognized the Cardiopad as extremely effective. The device costs about $4,000. The government of Cameroon has not been able to provide the device to hospitals in need. Most of them lack internet and enough electricity. But the Cardiopad testing at the Bafia Hospital is gaining attention and may get the assistance needed.

Mr. Zang says he has had private investors⁵ contact him. But he is more interested in investors who share his vision. That vision is not of money, but of better ways to help improve people’s lives.

1 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

2 wirelessly   

不用电线的，用无线电波传送的

参考例句：

• I heard it on the wireless. 我是从无线电收音机里听到的。
• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio. 收音机里有许多无线电线路。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会