How we can use light to see deep inside our bodies and brains | Mary Lou Jepsen

翻译人员: Hong Li 校对人员: jacks peng

People don't realize

大家不知道

that red light and benign near-infrared light

红光和近红外光

go right through your hand, just like this.

可以穿透我们的手掌，就像这样。

This fact could enable better, faster and cheaper health care.

这意味着更好、更快、更便宜的医疗。

Our translucence is key here.

我们的半透明状态是关键。

I'm going to show you how we use this key and a couple of other keys

下面我来介绍一下 如何通过这种方式和其它方式

to see deep inside our bodies and brains.

来一窥我们的身体和大脑的究竟。

OK, so first up ...

好的，首先，

You see this laser pointer and the spot it makes on my hand?

大家注意到我手上 这个激光光点了吗？

The light goes right through my hand --

这束光直接穿透了我的手掌——

if we could bring the lights down, please --

请把灯光调暗，

as I've already shown.

就像刚刚我给大家看的。

But you can no longer see that laser spot.

但是激光光点消失了。

You see my hand glow.

我的手掌是亮的。

That's because the light spreads out, it scatters.

因为刚刚那束激光发生了散射。

I need you to understand what scattering is,

我需要大家了解光线的散射，

so I can show you how we get rid of it

这样我才能解释如何消除它，

and see deep inside our bodies and brains.

然后一窥我们的身体和大脑的究竟。

So, I've got a piece of chicken back here.

我这有一块鸡肉。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's raw.

是生的。

Putting on some gloves.

等我戴上手套。

It's got the same optical properties as human flesh.

鸡肉的光学特性跟人体是相同的。

So, here's the chicken ... putting it on the light.

好的，我把这块鸡肉放在光上面。

Can you see, the light goes right through?

看到了吗？光线直接穿过来了。

I also implanted a tumor in that chicken.

我还在这块鸡肉里植入了一个肿瘤。

Can you see it?

大家能看到吗？

Audience: Yes.

观众：看到了。

Mary Lou Jepsen: So this means, using red light and infrared light,

玛丽·娄·杰普森：这就意味着， 利用红光和红外线，

we can see tumors in human flesh.

我们可以发现人体内的肿瘤。

But there's a catch.

但是问题来了。

When I throw another piece of chicken on it,

当我放另一块鸡肉在上面时，

the light still goes through,

光线仍会穿过，

but you can no longer see the tumor.

但是肿瘤看不到了。

That's because the light scatters.

因为光线发生了散射。

So we have to do something about the scatter

因此我们要解决散射的问题，

so we can see the tumor.

才能发现肿瘤。

We have to de-scatter the light.

我们要消除光线的散射。

So ...

因此……

A technology I spent the early part of my career on

我职业生涯前期使用的一种技术

enables de-scattering.

可以消除光的散射。

It's called holography.

叫做全息摄影。

And it won the Nobel Prize in physics in the 70s,

它能让你用光线 做到许多神奇的事情，

because of the fantastic things it enables you to do with light.

因此它在70年代 获得了诺贝尔物理学奖。

This is a hologram.

这是一张全息照片。

It captures all of the light, all of the rays, all of the photons

它捕捉了所有的光线、射线、光子，

at all of the positions and all of the angles, simultaneously.

当时所处的位置和角度， 完全同步捕捉。

It's amazing.

非常神奇。

To see what we can do with holography ...

我们来看看全息摄影可以做什么……

You see these marbles?

看到这些钢珠了吗？

Look at these marbles bouncing off of the barriers,

它们碰到障碍会弹来弹去的，

as an analogy to light being scattered by our bodies.

就跟光线在人体内散射的情况类似。

As the marbles get to the bottom of the scattering maze,

当钢珠抵达散射迷宫的底部时，

they're chaotic, they're scattering and bouncing everywhere.

就是一团乱，散落到各处。

If we record a hologram at the bottom inside of the screen,

如果我们在屏幕里面的底部 拍一张全息照片的话，

we can record the position and angle of each marble exiting the maze.

我们就能记录每一颗钢珠 在离开迷宫时的位置和角度。

And then we can bring in marbles from below

然后我们可以让钢珠从底部进入，

and have the hologram direct each marble to exactly the right position and angle,

利用全息照片指引每一颗钢珠 按正确的位置和角度进入，

such as they emerge in a line at the top of the scatter matrix.

这样它们就能从散射迷宫 的顶端排成一排离开了。

We're going to do that with this.

我们用这个东西来试一下。

This is optically similar to human brain.

它的光学特性跟人的大脑很像。

I'm going to switch to green light now,

我现在要用绿色的光，

because green light is brighter to your eyes than red or infrared,

因为对我们的眼睛来说， 绿光比红光或者红外线更明亮，

and I really need you to see this.

我需要让大家看得清楚。

So we're going to put a hologram in front of this brain

我要把一张全息照片 放在这个“大脑”前面

and make a stream of light come out of it.

让一束光线从中间穿过来。

Seems impossible but it isn't.

看起来好像不可能，但这是真的。

This is the setup you're going to see.

这是整个装置。

Green light.

绿光。

Hologram here, green light going in,

这里是全息照片，绿光从这边进入，

that's our brain.

这是我们的“大脑”。

And a stream of light comes out of it.

一束光线从里面穿出。

We just made a brain lase of densely scattering tissue.

我们用“大脑”这种高度散射的组织 形成了一束激光。

Seems impossible, no one's done this before,

看起来不可能， 之前从未有人这么做过，

you're the first public audience to ever see this.

你们是第一批看到这个的观众。

(Applause)

（掌声）

What this means is that we can focus deep into tissue.

这就意味着 我们可以聚焦到组织深处。

Our translucency is the first key.

我们身体的半透明度是一个关键。

Holography enabling de-scattering is the second key

全息摄影消除散射是第二个关键

to enable us to see deep inside of our bodies and brains.

能保证我们一窥 身体和大脑内部的究竟。

You're probably thinking,

你们可能会想，

"Sounds good, but what about skull and bones?

“听上去还不错， 但是颅骨和骨头呢？

How are you going to see through the brain without seeing through bone?"

你怎么可能穿过颅骨看到大脑呢？”

Well, this is real human skull.

好的，这是一块真的头骨。

We ordered it at skullsunlimited.com.

我们在“颅骨无限”网站上订的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

No kidding.

真的，没骗你们。

But we treat this skull with great respect at our lab and here at TED.

我们非常尊重这块颅骨， 无论是在实验室，还是在TED现场。

And as you can see,

大家可以看到，

the red light goes right through it.

红光可以顺利地穿过它。

Goes through our bones.

可以穿过骨头。

So we can go through skull and bones and flesh with just red light.

因此我们只用红光 就可以穿透颅骨、骨骼和肌肉。

Gamma rays and X-rays do that, too, but they cause tumors.

伽马射线和X光也可以做到， 但是会引发肿瘤。

Red light is all around us.

而红光到处都是。

So, using that, I'm going to come back here

好的，我回到这边

and show you something more useful than making a brain lase.

看除了制作大脑激光之外， 我们还能用它来做什么。

We challenged ourselves to see how fine we could focus through brain tissue.

我们不断挑战自己，看通过大脑组织 可以聚焦到多精细。

Focusing through this brain,

通过大脑来聚焦，

it was such a fine focus, we put a bare camera die in front of it.

这是如此精细的聚焦， 我们放一台摄像机在前面。

And the bare camera die ...

这台摄像机……

Could you turn down the spotlight?

能不能请你把聚光灯关掉？

OK, there it is.

好的，这样就行了。

Do you see that?

看到了吗？

Each pixel is two-thousandths of a millimeter wide.

每一个像素点的宽度 是两千分之一毫米。

Two microns.

也就是2微米。

That means that spot focus -- full width half max --

意味着那个聚焦点——半高全宽——

is six to eight microns.

是6到8微米。

To give you an idea of what that means:

我这么来解释你们就明白了：

that's the diameter of the smallest neuron in the human brain.

人类大脑最小神经元的直径 差不多就是这么大。

So that means we can focus through skull and brain to a neuron.

这就意味着我们可以穿过颅骨和大脑 聚焦到一个神经元细胞上。

No one has seen this before, we're doing this for the first time here.

还没有人见过这种， 我们是第一次展示。

It's not impossible.

这是可以做到的！

(Applause)

（掌声）

We made it work with our system, so we've made a breakthrough.

我们的系统做到了， 所以我们取得了巨大突破。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Just to give an idea -- like, that's not just 50 marbles.

想象一下，如果不只是50个钢珠。

That's billions, trillion of photons,

而是数十亿、上百亿个光子，

all falling in line as directed by the hologram,

在全息照片的引导下排成一行，

to ricochet through densely scattering brain,

蹦跳着穿过原本会造成散射的大脑，

and emerge as a focus.

最后聚焦到一点。

It's pretty cool.

是多么酷的一件事。

We're excited about it.

我们感到很兴奋。

This is an MRI machine.

这是一台磁共振扫描仪。

It's a few million dollars, it fills a room,

价值几百万美元， 有一间屋子那么大，

many people have probably been in one.

可能很多人都在里面待过。

I've spent a lot of time in one.

我就在里面待过很长时间。

It has a focus of about a millimeter --

它大约能聚焦到一毫米

kind of chunky, compared to what I just showed you.

跟我刚刚展示的相比， 这焦点有点大。

A system based on our technology could enable dramatically lower cost,

使用我们的技术打造的系统 花费会少得多，

higher resolution

分辨率高得多，

and smaller medical imaging.

并且医学影像的部分要小得多。

So that's what we've started to do.

我们已经开始这么做了。

My team and I have built a rig, a lab rig

我的团队和我 已经做出了一套实验设备，

to scan out tissue.

来对组织进行扫描。

And here it is in action.

这是它工作的样子。

We wanted to see how good we could do.

我们想看看能做到多好。

We've built this over the last year.

这台设备是我们去年做成的。

And the result is,

结果是，

we're able to find tumors

我们在这个样本中

in this sample --

找到了肿瘤，

70 millimeters deep, the light going in here,

光线穿到了70毫米深的地方，

half a millimeter resolution,

分辨率是0.5毫米，

and that's the tumor it found.

这是它发现的肿瘤。

You're probably looking at this,

也许你会看着它，

like, "Sounds good, but that's kind of a big system.

想：“听起来还不错， 但这套设备很大呀。

It's smaller than a honking-big MRI machine,

它比那些磁共振扫描仪要小，

monster MRI machine,

大得吓人的磁共振扫描仪，

but can you do something to shrink it down?"

但是你能把它再缩小点吗？”

And the answer is:

答案是：

of course.

当然可以。

We can replace each big element in that system

我们可以将每一个大的部件

with a smaller component --

用更小的零件来替代——

a little integrated circuit,

比如更紧凑的电路，

a display chip the size of a child's fingernail.

像小朋友指甲盖那么大的显示芯片。

A bit about my background:

简单介绍一下我的经历，

I've spent the last two decades inventing, prototype-developing

我过去20年一直在发明和 研制原型机，

and then shipping billions of dollars of consumer electronics --

并且交付了数十亿美元的 消费电子元件，

with full custom chips --

芯片都是完全定制的，

on the hairy edge of optical physics.

一直在光学的最前沿打拼。

So my team and I built the big lab rig

因此我的团队和我 制造了大型的实验室设备

to perfect our architecture and test the corner cases

就是为了完善我们的结构， 测试边角案例，

and really fine-tune our chip designs,

更好地调整芯片设计，

before spending the millions of dollars to fabricate each chip.

这些都是在投资数百万美元 大规模生产芯片之前进行的。

Our new chip inventions slim down the system, speed it up

我们最新发明的芯片 减小了系统体积，提高了速度

and enable rapid scanning and de-scattering of light

可以快速扫描和消除光的散射

to see deep into our bodies.

来探索人体内部。

This is the third key to enable better, faster and cheaper health care.

这是实现更好、更快、 更便宜医疗的第三个关键。

This is a mock-up of something that can replace the functionality

这是一个替代品，可以实现 价值数百万美元的

of a multimillion-dollar MRI machine

磁共振扫描仪的部分功能，

into a consumer electronics price point,

而它的价格可以低到 消费电子产品的级别，

that you could wear as a bandage, line a ski hat, put inside a pillow.

可以放进绷带，放在滑雪帽里面， 或者放在枕头里。

That's what we're building.

这就是我们在做的。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Oh, thanks!

哦，谢谢！

(Applause)

（掌声）

So you're probably thinking,

你们可能在想，

"I get the light going through our bodies.

“我让光穿过身体。

I even get the holography de-scattering the light.

我甚至利用全息摄影 防止光的散射。

But how do we use these new chip inventions, exactly,

但我们究竟要如何利用 芯片的这种创新技术

to do the scanning?"

来进行扫描呢？“

Well, we have a sound approach.

我们可以从声音的角度来想办法。

No, literally -- we use sound.

不，确切地说， 我们就是在利用声音。

Here, these three discs represent the integrated circuits

画面上的3个圆盘代表的是

that we've designed,

我们设计的集成电路，

that massively reduce the size of our current bulky system.

可以大大缩小我们目前所用的 笨重的系统的尺寸。

One of the spots, one of the chips, emits a sonic ping,

每一个点，每一个芯片 会发射出声波，

and it focuses down,

一路集中向下，

and then we turn red light on.

这时候我们打开红光。

And the red light that goes through that sonic spot

红光穿过声波点

changes color slightly,

颜色发生轻微改变，

much like the pitch of the police car siren changes

就像警车从你身旁告诉驶过时

as it speeds past you.

警笛声音的变化一样。

So.

接下来……

There's this other thing about holography I haven't told you yet,

关于全息摄影还有件事我没提到，

that you need to know.

你们应该知道的。

Only two beams of exactly the same color can make a hologram.

只有颜色完全相同的两束光 才能生成全息图像。

So, that's the orange light that's coming off of the sonic spot,

这是从声波点发出的橙色光，

that's changed color slightly,

它的颜色发生了轻微改变，

and we create a glowing disc of orange light

我们制作了一个发橙色光的圆盘

underneath a neighboring chip

放在它下面相邻的芯片上

and then record a hologram on the camera chip.

然后将全息图存储在摄影芯片上。

Like so.

就像这样。

From that hologram, we can extract information just about that sonic spot,

从这幅全息图中，我们可以只提取 声波点的信息，

because we filter out all of the red light.

因为我们把所有红光都过滤了。

Then, we can optionally focus the light back down into the brain

这样我们就能只关注反射回大脑的光线

to stimulate a neuron or part of the brain.

激活一个神经元或者大脑的一部分。

And then we move on to shift the sonic focus to another spot.

然后我们把声波向另一个点发射。

And that way, spot by spot, we scan out the brain.

用这种方法，一个点接一个点， 我们扫描整个大脑。

Our chips decode holograms

我们的芯片解读全息图像，

a bit like Rosalind Franklin decoded this iconic image of X-ray diffraction

有点像罗莎琳·富兰克林解读 这张标志性的X射线衍射图像，

to reveal the structure of DNA for the first time.

第一次揭示DNA结构的情形。

We're doing that electronically with our chips,

我们利用芯片，用电子方法

recording the image and decoding the information,

记录图像，解读信息，

in a millionth of a second.

在百万分之一秒内完成。

We scan fast.

我们扫描得很快。

Our system may be extraordinary at finding blood.

我们的系统 在寻找血液方面非常杰出。

And that's because blood absorbs red light and infrared light.

因为血液吸收红光和红外光。

Blood is red.

血液是红色的。

Here's a beaker of blood.

这个烧瓶里装的是血液。

I'm going to show you.

我们来看一下。

And here's our laser, going right through it.

我们用激光穿过它。

It really is a laser, you can see it on the -- there it is.

真的是激光， 你们可以在这——看到了吧。

In comparison to my pound of flesh,

跟这一磅肉相比，

where you can see the light goes everywhere.

大家可以看到，光线散到各处。

So let's see that again, blood.

我们再看回血液。

This is really key: blood absorbs light,

这是个重要的关键：血液吸收光线，

flesh scatters light.

肉散射光线。

This is significant,

这一点非常重要，

because every tumor bigger than a cubic millimeter or two

因为所有大小超过 1到2毫米的肿瘤，

has five times the amount of blood as normal flesh.

含血量是普通肌肉的5倍。

So with our system, you can imagine detecting cancers early,

因此通过我们的系统， 可以提前发现癌症，

when intervention is easy,

更容易进行干预，

or tracking the size of your tumor as it grows or shrinks.

或者跟踪肿瘤的尺寸， 是变大还是缩小。

Our system also should be extraordinary at finding out where blood isn't,

我们的系统也很擅长 找到哪里没有血液，

like a clogged artery,

比如阻塞的血管，

or the color change in blood

或者根据血液颜色的变化，

as it carries oxygen versus not carrying oxygen,

来判断它是否携带氧气，

which is a way to measure neural activity.

这是检测神经活动的一种方式。

There's a saying that "sunlight" is the best disinfectant.

有种说法，说阳光是最好的消毒剂。

It's literally true.

真的是这样的。

Researchers are killing pneumonia in lungs by shining light deep inside of lungs.

研究者将光线射入肺部深处， 来治疗肺炎。

Our system could enable this noninvasively.

我们的系统可以不用进入人体 而做到这一点。

Let me give you three more examples of what this technology can do.

下面我再来举3个例子 来说明这项技术的用处。

One: stroke.

第一个，中风。

There's two major kinds of stroke:

中风有两种：

the one caused by clogs

一种由阻塞引起

and another caused by rupture.

另一种由破裂引起。

If you can determine the type of stroke within an hour or two,

如果能在1到2小时内 确认中风的种类，

you can give medication to massively reduce the damage to the brain.

就可以通过药物 大大减少对于大脑的损害。

Get the drug wrong,

如果药用错了，

and the patient dies.

患者就会死亡。

Today, that means access to an MRI scanner within an hour or two of a stroke.

现在，这意味着要在中风1到2小时内 进行磁共振扫描。

Tomorrow, with compact, portable, inexpensive imaging,

而未来，运用更小巧，更便携， 更便宜的成像技术，

every ambulance and every clinic can decode the type of stroke

每台救护车和每个诊所 都能判断中风的种类

and get the right therapy on time.

并进行及时的治疗。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thanks.

谢谢。

Two:

第二，

two-thirds of humanity lacks access to medical imaging.

三分之二的人往往无法获得医学成像。

Compact, portable, inexpensive medical imaging can save countless lives.

小巧、便携、便宜的医学成像 可以挽救无数生命。

And three:

第三，

brain-computer communication.

脑机通讯。

I've shown here onstage our system focusing through skull and brain

我刚刚已经展示了，我们的系统 可以聚焦到头骨和大脑

to the diameter of the smallest neuron.

直径相当于最小的神经元。

Using light and sound, you can activate or inhibit neurons,

运用光线和声音， 我们可以激活或者抑制神经元，

and simultaneously, we can match spec by spec

同时，我们可以一步一步生成

the resolution of an fMRI scanner,

功能性磁共振成像扫描仪的图像，

which measures oxygen use in the brain.

它能测出大脑中氧气的使用情况。

We do that by looking at the color change in the blood,

我们通过观察血液颜色的变化 来做到这一点，

rather than using a two-ton magnet.

而不是用一块2吨重的磁铁。

So you can imagine that with fMRI scanners today,

你们可以想像，今天我们 使用功能性磁共振成像扫描仪

we can decode the imagined words, images and dreams of those being scanned.

可以破解那些被扫描者 脑海中的话、图像和做的梦。

We're working on a system that puts all three of these capabilities

我们研究的系统可以将这3种功能

into the same system --

整合到一套系统中，

neural read and write with light and sound,

利用光线和声音对神经系统进行读写，

while simultaneously mapping oxygen use in the brain --

同时观察大脑中的氧气使用情况，

all together in a noninvasive portable

全部集中到一种非侵入式的便携的设备中，

that can enable brain-computer communication,

可以实现脑机通讯，

no implants, no surgery, no optional brain surgery required.

没有植入，无需对大脑进行手术。

This can do enormous good

这可以带来莫大的好处，

for the two billion people that suffer globally with brain disease.

为全球20亿患大脑疾病的人造福。

(Applause)

（掌声）

People ask me how deep we can go.

大家问我们还能走多远。

And the answer is: the whole body's in reach.

答案是，整个人体都可以。

But here's another way to look at it.

还有另一种方法来看。

(Laughter)

（掌声）

My whole head just lit up, you want to see it again?

我的整个头部都被点亮了， 想再看一遍吗？

Audience: Yes!

观众：想！

(Laughter)

（笑声）

MLJ: This looks scary, but it's not.

MLJ：看起来可怕， 但其实并不是这样。

What's truly scary is not knowing about our bodies,

真正可怕的是不了解我们的身体，

our brains and our diseases

不了解我们的大脑和疾病，

so we can effectively treat them.

以至于没法有效进行治疗。

This technology can help.

这项技术可以提供帮助。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）