The most complex problems in our time can be solved with simple techniques, if we are able to dream.
现如今,只要有梦想, 就可以用最简单的手段解决 最复杂的问题。
As a child, I discovered that creativity is the key to cross from dreams to reality. I learned this from my grandmother, Dr. Ruth Tichauer, a Jewish refugee that settled in the heart of the Andes. That is how I grew up: encouraged to see beyond any limitation. So part of my education included helping her in remote, indigenous communities. I cherish those memories, because they helped me to understand life outside the city, a life with a lot of possibilities, without barriers, as language or culture.
在孩童时期,我发现 让梦想照进现实的关键, 在于创造力。 我是从我的外祖母, Ruth Tichauer博士 那里学到的, 她是居住在安第斯山脉深处的 一位犹太难民。 在我成长的一路上, 外祖母总是鼓励我超越自己的极限。 我的一部分教育来自于 在遥远的当地部落 帮她做事的经历。 我非常珍惜这些经历, 因为它们帮我了解了城市以外的生活, 那种生活有无限可能, 没有语言或文化的障碍。
During those trips, my grandmother used to recite a Kipling poem: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Mountains. Something lost behind the mountains. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"
在那些旅途当中, 外祖母曾经背过吉普林的一首诗: “出发吧,去寻觅隐藏的宝藏。 去山川背后寻找。 那些宝藏遗失在山川背后, 正在等待你的发掘。出发吧!”
In the coming years, I became a medical student. One of every hundred children born worldwide has some kind of heart disease. There's a part of this problem I think I can solve -- the part of this problem I have spent my life working on.
后来几年,我去了医学院读书。 我得知,世界上每一百个 新生儿中就会有一个 患有某种心脏疾病。 我认为这是个我有能力 去帮助治愈的疾病—— 事实上,我一生都致力于这项研究。
The problem starts during pregnancy. The fetus needs to survive inside the mother. Survival depends on communication between the systemic and the pulmonary blood. At the moment of birth, this communication needs to stop. If it doesn't close, the baby has a hole in the heart. It is caused by prematurity and genetic conditions. But what we know today is that a lack of oxygen is also one of the causes. As you can see in the chart, the frequency of this kind of hole dramatically increases with altitude.
这个疾病产生于 怀孕期间。 胎儿是否能够在母亲腹中存活, 取决于血液在 体循环与肺循环间的交换。 胎儿出生时, 这一交换必须停止。 如果未能停止, 婴儿就会出现先天性心脏缺损。 这个问题多由早产及遗传因素引发。 但如今我们发现, 缺氧也会引发这一疾病。 在图中可以看到, 随着海拔的增高, 这种病出现的频率也大幅增加。
Video: (Baby crying)
视频:(婴儿哭声)
When you look at patients with this condition, they seem desperate to breathe. To close the hole, major surgery used to be the only solution.
先天性心脏缺损的患者 难以正常呼吸。 过去,我们只能通过大手术 来修复这一缺损。
One night, my friend Malte, were camping in the Amazon region. The only thing that would not burn in the fire was a green avocado branch. Then came a moment of inspiration. So we used the branch as a mold for our first invention. The holes in children's hearts can be closed with it. A coil is a piece of wire wrapped onto itself. It maybe doesn't look so fancy to you now, but that was our first successful attempt to create a device for this major problem. In this video, we can see how a very tiny catheter takes the coil to the heart. The coil then closes the hole. After that moment of inspiration, there came a very long time of effort developing a prototype. In vitro and in vivo studies took thousands of hours of work in the lab. The coil, if it works, can save lives.
有一天,我和我朋友Malte 在亚马逊流域露营。 我们发现唯一不能被火点燃的 东西是绿鳄梨的树枝。 这时我们有了一个灵感。 我们利用这种枝条设计出了 一个器材雏形。 它可以修补儿童心脏上的缺损。 这是一种螺旋体缠绕的结构。 也许对你们而言这并不稀奇, 但它却是我们修补心脏的 首次成功尝试。 这个视频演示了微型导管将螺旋体 植入心脏的过程。 之后,螺旋体修补了漏洞。 经由这一灵感启发, 我们通过相当长时间的努力, 研发出了一种器材原型。 我们在实验室里进行了 上千小时的体外实验及研究。 这种螺旋体一旦成功植入, 就能挽救生命。
I returned from Germany to Bolivia, thinking that wherever we go, we have the opportunity to make a difference. With my wife and partner, Dr. Alexandra Heath, we started to see patients. After successfully treating patients with our coil, we felt really enthusiastic. But we live in a place that is 12,000 feet high. And, the patients there need a special device to solve their heart condition. The hole in altitude patients is different, because the orifice between the arteries is larger. Most patients cannot afford to be treated on time, and they die. The first coil could successfully treat only half of the patients in Bolivia. The search started again. We went back to the drawing board.
我从德国返回波利尼亚, 想着无论我们去哪, 都有机会实现重大突破。 我和我妻子,也是我的合作伙伴 Alexandra Heath博士 一起开始接诊。 在成功地用螺旋体治愈患者后, 我们感到非常激动。 但我们住在 海拔3600多米的地方。 而且, 那里的病人们需要一种特别的器材 来解决他们的心脏问题。 高海拔地区病人的心脏缺损 不同于其他地区, 因为他们的动脉孔径更大。 绝大多数患者因得不到及时治疗, 最终不幸去世。 我们的第一代螺旋体只能成功救治 玻利维亚一半的患者。 于是我们又从零开始 寻找新的材料。
After many trials, and with the help of my grandmother's indigenous friends in the mountains, we obtained a new device. For centuries, indigenous women told stories by weaving complex patterns on looms, and an unexpected skill helped us for the new device. We take this traditional method of weaving and make a design made by a smart material that records shape. It seems this time, the weaving allows us to create a seamless device that doesn't rust because it's made of only one piece. It can change by itself into very complex structures by a procedure that took decades to develop.
多次试验无果后, 我在外祖母在山区的 原住民朋友的帮助下, 获得了一种新的器材。 几个世纪以来,原住民妇女 在织布机上织出了 各种复杂的图案, 我们从这种传统织布工艺上得出灵感。 我们用这种纺织方法 加工出了一种智能材料, 具有形状记忆的特性。 看起来这次, 织布技术似乎帮我们 造出了一种无缝器材, 它不会生锈, 因为它是一体化的,没有接缝。 它可以通过一种花费了 数十年才研发出的方法 改变自身形状,变成极为复杂的结构。
As you can see, the device enters the body through the natural channels. Doctors have only to close the catheter through the hole. Our device expands, places itself and closes the hole. We have this beautiful delivery system that is so simple to use because it works by itself. No open surgery was necessary.
我们可以看到,这种器材无需 大型切口就可以进入人体。 医生只需要在穿过 心脏缺损的部分后关闭导管。 我们的这种器材会 自动膨大并找准位置, 紧接着修复心脏缺损。 这种放置方式极为简单, 因为它可以自动完成, 我们不再需要创伤性手术。
(Applause)
(掌声)
As doctors, we fight with diseases that take a long time and effort to heal -- if they do. This is the child from before, after the procedure. As you can see --
我们医生与疾病抗争, 有的疾病就算能治愈 , 也需要花费很长时间、很多努力。 这是之前那个患儿 手术后的影像资料, 我们可以看到——
(Applause)
(掌声)
As you can see, once the device is in place, the patient is 100 percent healed. From start to finish, the whole procedure takes only 30 minutes. That's very rewarding from the medical and human point of view. We are so proud that some of our former patients are part of our team -- a team, thanks to added close interaction with patients that work with us. Together, we have only one idea: the best solutions need to be simple. We lost the fear of creating something new.
我们可以看到,这种器材一旦放入, 患者的治愈率就可以达到100%。 从手术开始到结束, 只需要短短30分钟。 这从医疗及普通人的角度 来说都非常令人振奋。 我们可以骄傲地说, 之前的一些患者现在也成为了 我们团队的一员—— 非常感谢患者与我们的 密切合作。 我们只有一个想法: 最好的解决方案必须足够简单。 我们不再害怕创造新的东西。
The path, it's not easy. Many obstacles arise all the time. But we receive strength from our patients. Their resilience and courage inspire our creativity. Our goal is to make sure that no child is left behind, not because of cost or access.
这一路走来并不容易。 我们遇到了很多阻碍。 但我们从患者的身上汲取到了力量。 他们的坚忍与勇气 激励着我们去探索、创造。 我们的目标是 确保没有孩子因为费用和条件的限制 而得不到及时的治疗。
So we have to start a foundation with a one-to-one model. We will give one device for free to make sure that every child is treated. We are in many countries now, but we need to be everywhere. This whole thing began with one impossible idea as will continue it, really: No child is left behind.
所以我们成立了一个 一对一模式的基金会。 我们为每个患儿免费提供这种器材, 以确保他们都能够得到治疗。 目前这一基金会在很多国家同时运营, 但我们需要它进一步扩大至全世界。 所有的这些事情都起源于 一个几乎不可能的期望, 但我们仍要继续实现它,那就是: 让每朵鲜花都有绽放的权力! (不放弃每一个孩子)
Muchas gracias.
非常感谢(西班牙语)。
(Applause)
(掌声)