Dean Kamen: New prosthetic arm for veterans

譯者: Marie Wu 審譯者: Terry Lin

I got a visit almost exactly a year ago,

大約在一年以前，有一個人來找我

a little over a year ago, from a very senior person at the Department of Defense.

應該比一年還要再多一點，他是國防部的一個長官

Came to see me and said, "1,600 of the kids that we've sent out

他來找我說：我們送出去的士兵裡

have come back missing at least one full arm.

有1千6百個士兵回來的時候少了一支或二支手臂

Whole arm. Shoulder disarticulation.

一整支手臂，從肩膀這裡斷掉

And we're doing the same thing we did for -- more or less,

但我們能提供的協助比以前好不到那裡去

that we've done since the Civil War, a stick and a hook.

就像在南北戰爭時期，這些士兵只能得到一支木棍和一個鈎子

And they deserve more than that."

但是這些士兵應該得到更好的醫療選擇

And literally, this guy sat in my office in New Hampshire and said,

然後，坐在我新罕布夏州辦公室裡的男人說

"I want you to give me something that we can put on these kids

我希望你能設計一種義肢，讓我們能裝在這些士兵身上

that'll pick up a raisin or a grape off a table,

讓他們能拿起桌上的葡萄乾或葡萄

they'll be able to put it in their mouth without destroying either one,

然後輕柔地放進嘴裡，不會捏碎任何一個

and they'll be able to know the difference without looking at it."

也能不用看就能透過義肢來分辨二者的差別

You know, had efferent, afferent, and haptic response.

大概就是要具備傳出、傳入的功能，還要有觸覺

He finishes explaining that, and I'm waiting for the big 300 pound paper proposal,

他解釋完以後，我還以為他會給我一份重達三百磅的文件

and he said, "That's what I want from you."

結果他說：我希望你能幫忙

I said, "Look, you're nuts. That technology's just not available right now.

我說：我覺得你瘋了，現在根本沒有這種技術

And it can't be done.

也不可能辦到

Not in an envelope of a human arm,

我不可能把這種裝置放在義肢裡

with 21 degrees of freedom, from your shoulder to your fingertips."

還要讓義肢可以從肩膀到手指自由轉動21度

He said, "About two dozen of these 1,600 kids have come back bilateral.

他說：在這1千6百個士兵裡，大約有24人失去了雙臂

You think it's bad to lose one arm?

你以為少了一支手臂很糟嗎？

That's an inconvenience compared to having both of them gone."

跟失去雙臂的人比起來，那只是有點不方便而已

I got a day job,

我那時候白天有一份正職

and my nights and weekends are already filled up with things like,

晚上的時間則花在替這個世界思考

let's supply water to the world, and power to the world, and educate all the kids,

如何解決乾旱、增加供電普及率、兒童的教育等

which, Chris, I will not talk about. I don't need another mission.

Chris你放心，我不會談這些問題。我可不需要另一份工作

I keep thinking about these kids with no arms.

我還是持續在思考這些士兵失去手臂的問題

He says to me, "We've done some work around the country.

他對我說：我們已經有一些初步的研究

We've got some pretty amazing neurology and other people."

還有一些很令人驚訝的神經學成果

I said, "I'll take a field trip, I'll go see what you got."

我說：我會過去你那裡一趟，看看你們有些什麼成果

Over the next month I visited lots of places, some out here, around the country,

接下來的一個月，我去了很多地方，全國各地都跑遍了

found the best of the best.

拜訪了許多頂尖專家

I went down to Washington. I saw these guys, and said,

我後來去了華盛頓，見了這個人，我說

"I did what you asked me. I looked at what's out there.

我依照你要求的做了，也看了許多人的成果

I still think you're nuts. But not as nuts as I thought."

我還是覺得你瘋了，但沒有我想得那麼瘋

I put a team together, a little over 13 months ago,

大約在13個月之前，我組成了一個團隊

got up to 20 some-odd people.

聚集了大約20位頂尖人才

We said, we're going to build a device that does what he wants.

我們想要做出那個人要的義肢

We have 14 out of the 21 degrees of freedom;

雖然達不到21度，但我們做出一個可以自由活動14度的義肢

you don't need the ones in the last two fingers.

因為最後二個手指較少用到

We put this thing together.

我們把各自的成果結合起來

A couple of weeks ago we took it down to Walter Reed,

幾個星期前，我們把義肢送到Walter Reed陸軍醫院測試

which is unfortunately more in the news these days.

很不幸的這家醫院最近常上新聞

We showed it to a bunch of guys.

我們把這種義肢拿給許多人看

One guy who described himself as being lucky,

其中有一個人自稱他很幸運

because he lost his left arm, and he's a righty.

因為他失去的是左臂，而他是右撇子

He sat at a table with seven or eight of these other guys.

他和其他七八個失去手臂的人坐在一起

Said he was lucky, because he had his good arm,

他說他很幸運，因為他還有一支好的手臂

and then he pushed himself back from the table. He had no legs.

然後他將椅子推離開桌子，我們才發現他沒有腳

These kids have attitudes that you just can't believe.

這些士兵面對人生的態度真的很讓人敬佩

So I'm going to show you now, without the skin on it,

現在我要給你們看一段30秒的影片

a 30-second piece, and then I'm done.

是還沒有包覆皮膚的義肢，影片結束我的演說就結束了

But understand what you're looking at

但是請瞭解一點：你們所看到的

we made small enough to fit on a 50th percentile female,

這種義肢尺寸較小，是一般女人的尺寸

so that we could put it in any of these people.

所以我們可以把這種義肢裝在任何一個士兵身上

It's going to go inside something that we use in CAT scans and

我們會用CAT或是MRI等掃瞄技術

MRIs of whatever is their good arm,

掃瞄他們另一支健全的手臂

to make silicon rubber, then coat it, and paint it in 3D --

用以製造出一層矽膠皮膚，然後用3D技術上色

exact mirror image of their other limb.

讓義肢看起來就像他們另一支健全的手臂

So, you won't see all the really cool stuff that's in this series elastic set of 14 actuators,

所以你不會看到很炫的科技裝置，在義肢裡其實有14組伸縮裝置

each one which has its own capability to sense temperature and pressure.

每一組都可以感知溫度與壓力

It also has a pneumatic cuff that holds it on,

我們還設計了一個氣壓連接器來連接肩膀

so the more they put themselves under load, the more it attaches.

所以當他們拿的東西愈重，義肢與肩膀就連接得愈緊

They take the load off, and it becomes, again, compliant.

當把重物放下時，就會回復原來的柔順

I'm going to show you a guy doing a couple of simple things with this

影片裡的人會做一些簡單的動作

that we demonstrated in Washington. Can we look at this thing?

這是我們在華盛頓播放過的影片，現在來看看

Watch the fingers grab. The thumb comes up. Wrist.

請看手指抓取動作，拇指往上，接下來是手腕

This weighs 6.9 pounds.

瓶子重6.9磅

Going to scratch his nose.

抓鼻子

It's got 14 active degrees of freedom.

這支義肢有14度的自由活動範圍

Now he's going to pick up a pen with his opposed thumb and index finger.

現在他要用拇指和食指拿起一支筆

Now he's going to put that down, pick up a piece of paper,

然後放下，拿起一張紙

rotate all the degrees of freedom in his hand and wrist, and read it.

調整手和手腕的角度，然後開始閱讀

(Applause)

(掌聲)