The Incredible Cancer-Detecting Potential of Photoacoustic Imaging | Lei Li | TED

譯者: Winnie Y. He 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths globally.

乳腺癌是全球致死率最高的癌症之一

About one in eight US women will develop invasive breast cancer

在美國，每八位女性中就有一位

會被診斷為“侵入性”乳腺癌

over the course of their lifetime.

And globally, millions of women suffer from breast cancer every year.

在世界上其他國家，每年都有數以百萬計的 女性患上乳腺癌

如果盡早發現，乳腺癌是可以治療的

But it is quite treatable if detected early.

Right now, actually, mammography is the gold standard

如今，藉助乳房X光造影检查

for breast cancer diagnosis.

我們可以比較準確的診斷出乳腺癌

But mammography has a 10 percent chance of missed detection.

但是，這項技術有10%的誤診幾率

Thousands of lives could be lost each year

每年還是會有不少的女性

because of this 10 percent.

因此失掉寶貴的生命

今天我想跟大家分享的是一項新技術

Today, I’m going to introduce a new technology:

photoacoustic imaging.

名為“光聲成像 PAI”

正如你能看到的這張圖片

As you can see,

it provides a much clearer image,

它能清晰直觀、更加准确的呈現出診斷結果

leading to a more accurate diagnosis.

It will be affordable, just like an ultrasound scan.

這一技術並不昂貴，和普通的B超類似

無痛且檢查過程快速方便

It's painless and fast,

taking only 15 seconds to scan the entire breast in 3D.

只需要15秒就可以3D掃描乳房的全部狀況

And immediate results will be delivered to the patients.

檢查結果還能立刻發給病人

除了用於篩查乳腺癌

Beyond breast imaging,

this technology will broadly transform how we see inside our bodies --

“光聲成像”還能幫助我們看清身體的其他器官

and, maybe one day, even allow us to diagnose cancer

或許在未來的某天，我們可以通過佩戴

via a wearable watch-like device

裝備了“光聲成像”的可穿戴設備

that monitors circulating tumor cells.

通過監控腫瘤細胞，提前預知癌症的發生

那麼，什麼是“光聲成像”呢？

So what is photoacoustic imaging?

Based on a photoacoustic effect,

基於光聲效應的原理

it is a conversion of light energy into sound energy.

這一技術將光能成功轉化為聲能

首先，我們用脈衝雷射照射成像部位

We shot a gentle laser pulse onto the tissue.

The light is absorbed, raising its temperature a bit.

一部分被吸收的光能被轉化為熱能

升高的溫度使附近的組織部分膨脹

The rise in temperature leads to a tiny fraction of volume expansion,

which, in turn, generates acoustic waves.

從而產生聲波

Sensors process those sound signals,

傳感器捕捉並分析這些聲波信號

resulting in a high-resolution image

將其處理轉化為高分辨率的圖像

whose level of clarity and detail far surpasses

其清晰度和細節展示

what you've got with traditional CT scans or ultrasound.

比傳統的CT掃描和超聲波更勝一籌

那麼現在，說說我自己吧

Now, about me.

I started out in industrial optics,

我一開始從事的是工業光學相关工作

but changed direction

自從我的祖母因為癌症和中風去世後， 我改變了專業方向

after my grandparents died of cancer and stroke.

I realized that we needed better imaging technology

我們需要更先進的成像技術

to aid early diagnosis

來幫助醫生了解病情，并做出早期診斷

and to provide a better understanding of the diseases.

So I decided to devote myself to biomedical optical imaging.

所以，我決定投身於生物醫學領域的光學成像研究

I now research and develop next generation medical imaging

研發出下一代更為先進的成像技術

with applications ranging from diagnosing cancer

通過對大腦功能造影，用於癌症早期診斷

to mapping brain functions

and navigating medical micro robots for drug delivery.

同時觀察運輸藥物的醫療機器人所有的行動路徑

Here are some examples showing what we can do.

接下來我想分享一些“光聲成像”的實例

Take this mouse.

比如說這只老鼠

The mouse has been virtually sliced into 600 pieces from head to toe.

視覺上，它從頭到腳被切分成了600塊

It took only 12 seconds to complete the whole body scan.

只需要花12秒的時間，就能掃描出老鼠的整個身體

It looks a little like a mouse carpaccio.

是不是有點像薄切生肉？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But don't worry, no mice were hurt during the imaging.

別誤會，沒有老鼠因為造影過程受到傷害

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

In this next video,

在接下來的這隻片子裡你能看到

we hold the animal, another mouse, in position to image its liver.

我們利用造影技術掃描出了另一只老鼠的腎臟

The liver has a lot of blood vessels inside.

腎臟裡遍佈血管

You can see them as a tree-like network.

你可以把它們看作“樹狀”網絡

Because our imaging exposure time is too short, only 15 microseconds,

因為曝光成像的時間只有短短15微妙

there is no blur at all,

哪怕動物在掃描過程中有所移動

despite the movement of the animal during the imaging.

呈現出的影像也是非常清楚、不模糊的

The mouse is breathing normally,

當老鼠處於正常的呼吸活動

and every frame in our video is clear.

成像的每一幀都清晰可見

掃描出的每個切片，我們都能清楚的看到

With each slice we can clearly see the internal structure

and the blood vessel network.

內部組織結構和血管脈絡

This enables us to differentiate a tumor from normal tissue.

這能夠讓我們準確分別出腫瘤和正常組織

The light dose we use is well below the safety limit,

该项造影技術非常安全

and we don't need to inject any contrast agents.

並且不需要注射造影劑

It is totally non-invasive.

它完全無創且没有侵害性

Now, for an example, that is a little closer to home.

下面這個例子離我們普通人更近些

This is a side by side comparison of human brain images.

這是用兩種技術掃描成像的人體大腦

On the left, you see an image from an MRI.

左邊的來自MRI（核磁共振成像）

On the right, from photoacoustic imaging.

右邊則使用了“光聲成像”技術

Photoacoustic imaging can reveal detailed vasculature,

可以看到，“光聲成像”可以呈現出 更為細節的血管系統

but with even faster detection of the brain functions

還能更快的探測到腦補活動

and without using the costly high-magnetic field.

並且不使用昂貴的高頻磁場

What you are seeing here is the brain's activity,

你現在看到的是人體腦補活動的照片

where a patient, now a human this time,

該患者正在輕敲手指、抿起嘴唇

taps his finger, puckers his lips,

taps his tongue and is listening and thinking of words.

彈舌頭，聆聽和思考著什麼

接下來的例子我沒有照片可以提供， 但也想分享給大家

Although I don't have a visual for it, I'd like to share one more example.

In science fiction,

在科幻小說裡

micro robots enter our bodies to cure diseases

微型機器人可以進入人體任意部位幫助治療

in hard-to-reach areas.

However, in reality,

可惜事實上，在體內

locating, guiding and controlling them inside of the body is a big challenge.

定位、引導並控製它們非常有難度

Just like the satellites in space guiding cars to their destinations,

和衛星幫助車輛導航有點類似

a photoacoustic imaging system outside the body

“光聲成像”能夠有效的幫助微型機器人導航

can serve similarly as a GPS for the micro robots.

Biomedical optics has come a long way.

生物醫學光子學已經發展了數年之久

The microscope used every day in modern medical diagnosis

現代醫學中常用於診斷的顯微鏡

was invented in the 17th century,

是在17世紀發明出來的

which revolutionized 19th century medicine by letting us see into a cell.

通過看清細胞內部組織， 它在19世紀為醫學帶來了顛覆性發展

Then, optical coherence tomography developed in 1990s

接下來，“光學相干斷層掃描”在1990s年代快速發展

increased optical penetration to 1 millimeter,

將光學穿透力增加到1毫米的厚度

bringing huge benefits to clinical care for skin and eyes.

給皮膚和眼睛的臨床護理帶來巨大好處

Now, photoacoustic imaging,

如今的“光聲成像”技術

first adopted for medical use in the 2000s,

首次應用於醫療領域是在21世纪前十年

allows us to see even more,

它讓我們能夠看到人身体內的更多细节

allowing penetration by another order of magnitude,

擁有精確到釐米數量級的洞察力

to several centimeters,

allowing organ-level in vivo human imaging.

可以將身體器官清晰成像

Photoacoustic imaging is a highly-active and a fast-growing research field.

“光聲成像”是最近相當活躍且發展迅速的研究領域

Using microwaves instead of light,

用聲波代替光纖

this imaging method holds promises for whole body penetration in humans

這一成像項技術可以將人體全面掃描

in the future.

在不久的將來

We are hoping that the further advancement of this technology

我們希望可以依靠發達的“光聲成像”技術

will aid early diagnosis of cancer and brain diseases,

幫助癌症和腦補疾病的早期診斷

ultimately benefiting global health.

為全球的健康問題作出貢獻

I hope you all can share my excitement over this fast-growing field

我很開心跟大家分享這個快速發展的領域

and hope you'll join us in advancing the technology.

希望你們也能加入推動“光聲成像”技術的發展

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（鼓掌）