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Artificial Muscle Brings Back Blink
Most of us blink without thinking. But people who’ve sustained strokes or combat injuries can lose their ability to blink, which is important for lubricating and cleaning the eye. Surgery is an option—a small piece of muscle transplanted from the leg can sometimes work. But the operation takes 10 hours and has its own dangers. So scientists at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center are developing artificial muscles to help patients blink again, work discussed in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.
我们大多数人会在无意识地眨眼睛，但那些罹患中风或战斗中受伤的人可能会失去眨眼的能力，而眨眼对湿润和清洁眼球至关重要。有时采用把腿部的一小块肌肉移植到眼中的手术可以帮助人们重现眨眼的能力，但这种手术需耗时10小时且存在一定的危险性，为此，戴维斯加州大学和医学中心的科学家们研制了可帮助病人重现眨眼能力的人造肌肉并将成果发表在《面部整形外科文献》中。
The blink system starts with what researchers call an eyelid sling, a small piece of muscle or fabric that holds the eyelid. The sling attaches to bone around the eye. It’s then linked to an electrostatic polymer—basically a piece of flexible plastic that expands or contracts via voltage change. A tiny battery hidden in a natural hollow in the temple powers the polymer. Electrical current keeps the muscles contracted and the eyes open. Kill the current and the lid closes.
眨眼活动是由研究人员所谓的眼皮吊所引起的，它是用于支撑眼皮的一小块肌肉或组织。眼皮吊粘附于眼睛周围的骨骼，而后它被连到一个静电聚合物上，这种聚合物通常是一块可以通过电压变化来控制其扩张或收缩的弹性塑料，隐藏在太阳穴内空洞部位的一块微型电池为这种聚合物提供动力，当电流存在时，眼皮吊肌肉会收缩，眼睛保持睁开状态，一旦电流消失眼皮就会合上。
Here’s the creepy part—the mechanism’s been tested on cadavers, which are blinking away. But now that the principle is proven, in the next years real patients could be on the brink of a blink.
这儿听起来有点叫人毛骨悚然---人造肌肉在尸体上测试后，它可以使尸体快速眨眼睛。不过，现在它的原理已经被证实，相信在未来若干年里，真正的病人很有希望借此重现眨眼的能力。
—Cynthia Graber
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