From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness around the world. In the United States alone, more than two million people suffer from the disease.
青光眼是全球失明的第二大原因。仅在美国就有200多万人患有此病。
Glaucoma results from an over-production of fluid in the eye. The buildup of fluid causes uncomfortable pressure in the eye socket, which can lead to blindness.
青光眼源于房水分泌过多。这种液体的积聚会导致眼压不适，进而导致失明。
Glaucoma can be controlled with eye drops that either reduce the fluid, increase the flow of tears from the eye or both. But studies show only 56 percent of patients use the drops every day. If doctors need to inject medicine into the eye for other conditions, they generally use a hypodermic needle. But that can cause a painful or uneasy feeling in some patients.
青光眼可以利用减少房水或增加眼泪流动或两者具备的眼药水来控制。但是研究显示只有56%的患者每天使用眼药水。如果医生出于其它原因需要向眼镜注射药品，他们一般采用皮下注射针头。但这会导致一些患者感觉疼痛或不安。
Now, researchers are developing very small needles that may offer a more effective and painless treatment for glaucoma and other eye diseases. The needles are only about point-four to point-seven millimeters long. These instruments, called microneedles, can put medication into the front of the eye, exactly where it is needed. Its developers say injections of time-release drugs every three to six months could replace daily glaucoma eye drops.
现在研究人员正在开发一种非常微小的针头，这可能会为青光眼等眼部疾病提供一种更有效和无痛的治疗办法。这种针只有大约0.4到0.7毫米长，被称之为微针头。它可以把药物注射到眼睛的前部，这是治疗所需的确切位置。其开发者表示，每三到六个月注射缓释药物可以替代日常的青光眼药水。
Mark Prausnitz is director of the Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He helped develop the microneedles in a joint project with researchers at Emory University. He says the tiny needles are a better way to deliver medicine than an eye dropper.
马克·普罗斯尼茨（Mark Prausnitz）是乔治亚理工学院药物设计、开发与传输中心的负责人。他在和埃默里大学的一个合作项目中帮助开发了这种微针头。他说，这种微针头在传输药物上比滴眼管更好用。
"What the microneedle enables is a very targeted delivery, to put the drug just in the spot where it needs to be within the eye so that the drug is as effective and potent as possible where the drug needs to act. And the drug doesn't go to other places in the eye where it can cause side effects," Prausnitz said.
他说，“这种微针头能够进行靶向传输，将药物恰好输送到眼内所需位置。这样药物可以实现功效最大化。而且药物不会进入眼睛其它部位导致副作用。”
Being able to target the drug means that less medicine is needed. The microneedles are either hollow or empty, like a normal hypodermic needle, or covered with a drug which breaks down in the eye.
能够靶向药物意味着所需药物量最少。这种微针头像普通的皮下注射针头一样是中空的，或者覆盖了一层在眼睛里分解的药物。
Researchers tested the treatment on mice. Mark Prausnitz says the microneedles were successful in treating both glaucoma and the growth of unwanted blood vessels around the cornea. The condition is called corneal neovascularization.
研究人员在小白鼠身上对这种疗法进行了试验。普罗斯尼茨说，这种微针头在治疗青光眼和角膜新生血管上都取得了成功。
"One was a glaucoma drug where we were able to control the pressure inside of the eye. The other was a drug that stops blood vessel growth. And so when there was abnormal blood vessel growth going into the cornea due to an injury, we were able to administer that drug and suppress the blood vessel growth," Prausnitz said.
他说，“其中一种是能够控制眼压的青光眼药物。另一种是能够阻止血管生长的药物。因此当角膜由于受伤导致异常血管生长时，我们能够施用那种药物来抑制血管生长。”
Dr. Prausnitz says some people may find the microneedles uncomfortable despite their size. But he says an anesthetic drug could be used so that a patient does not feel any pain.
普罗斯尼茨博士说，一些人可能会因为其尺寸而对这种微针头感觉不适。但他表示，可以使用麻醉药品让病人感觉不到任何疼痛。
The solid needle for treatment of glaucoma is still being tested.
这种固体针治疗青光眼尚处于试验阶段。
A report on the needle technology was published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.
一份关于这种针头技术的报告发表在《眼科研究与视力学》杂志上。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯（Jonathan Evans）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)