让骨髓活检不再痛苦的发明

For many cancer patients, the pain of a bone-marrow biopsy can add to the anguish of the diagnosis and treatment.

对很多癌症患者来说，骨髓活检的疼痛可能让诊断和治疗过程更加痛苦。

Vidacare Corp. aims to ease that pain with the OnControl Bone Marrow System. The Bronze winner of The Wall Street Journal's Technology Innovation Awards, and winner of the Medical-Devices category, the product allows doctors to more quickly and precisely take samples from inside the bone.

Vidacare Corp.致力于借助OnControl骨髓抽取系统减少患者的痛苦。该产品获得《华尔街日报》“科技创新奖的医疗设备类铜奖，可使医生更迅速、准确地抽取骨髓样本。

Biopsies of bone marrow, the spongy tissue and fluid that helps make red and white blood cells, are used to detect and monitor such conditions as leukemia and other cancers of the blood. Bone marrow also is extracted from healthy individuals to donate to patients who need transplants.

骨髓是一种呈液态的海绵状组织，可帮助制造红血球和白血球。骨髓活检一般被用作检测并监控白血病等血癌的情况。此外，还可从身体健康的人身上抽取骨髓，捐献给需要骨髓移植的病人。

But for decades, marrow has been extracted by doctors using strong force to manually insert a needle deep into the bone. Patients sometimes have to be stuck several times if the needle isn't properly inserted.

但几十年来，医生在抽取骨髓时一直采取的是穿刺法，即用力将针手动深深刺入骨头内部。有时如果穿刺位置不合适，病人不得不挨好几针。

The OnControl device, which is already on the market, bores like a household drill into the so-called intraosseous space inside the bone. When the device reaches the correct point in the bone for the sample, changes in resistance and how the motor sounds offer cues for the doctors. It's a faster process, with less pain, and the quality of the samples raises the likelihood that just one puncture will be needed, according to Mark Mellin, chief executive of the privately held, San Antonio, Texas-based company.

OnControl设备目前已经上市销售，它用一个类似家用钻头的部件刺入骨髓腔内。当到达抽取骨髓样本的正确位置时，阻力变化和马达声音就可为医生提供线索。少数人持股的Vidacare位于美国得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市。该公司首席执行长梅林(Mark Mellin)表示，这种抽取骨髓的方法速度更快，减少了病人的痛苦，并且抽取的样本质量更高，可能只需一次穿刺即可。

Darlene J.S. Solomon, a competition judge and chief technology officer at Agilent Technologies Inc., in Santa Clara, Calif., calls the innovation a 'superb contribution.'

“科技创新奖评委、美国加州圣克拉拉市安捷伦科技公司(Agilent Technologies Inc.)首席技术长所罗门(Darlene J.S. Solomon)说，该发明是项卓越的贡献。

'We're learning that bone marrow is an increasingly important bodily material,' says Dr. Solomon, who adds that the product has the potential not only to make biopsies easier for patients, but to lower the barrier to marrow donations by healthy individuals for transplants.

所罗门说，我们知道骨髓作为人体组成物质的作用越来越重要。他还说，这项发明可能不仅会减轻病人做骨髓活检的痛苦，还会减少健康人捐献骨髓的障碍。

The product was based on the earlier success of Vidacare's EZ-IO Intraosseous Infusion System, which allows for quick and easier intravenous administration of fluids, also by penetrating inside the bone. The EZ-IO device was the Gold Winner of The Wall Street Journal's 2008 Technology Innovation Awards contest.

这个产品是基于Vidacare早先的EZ-IO骨内输液系统的成功经验。该输液系统也是将液体注入骨内，从而实现快速且更为方便的静脉注射。EZ-IO曾获得《华尔街日报》2008年“科技创新奖的金奖。

After the success of the IO device, Vidacare began thinking about other medical opportunities inside the bone that could be aided with a power device, and they saw one for a product that extracted bone marrow rather than infusing fluid, according to Mr. Mellin.

梅林表示，EZ-IO设备获得成功后，公司开始思考在动力装置协助下实施骨内医疗的其它机会，然后他们找到了一个机会：制造抽取骨髓而不是输液的设备。