Marc Gauthier has Parkinson’s disease. 

马克·高蒂尔患有帕金森病。 

The disease affects his nervous system, weakens his muscles and causes his arms and legs to shake. 

这种疾病影响了他的神经系统，削弱了他的肌肉，导致他的胳膊和腿颤抖。 

The 63-year-old Gauthier had not been able to leave his home for some time. But that was until he became the first person to receive a new Swiss-designed medical device that greatly improved his ability to walk. 

63岁的高蒂尔已经有一段时间无法离开家了。但直到他成为第一个接受瑞士设计的新型医疗设备的人，该设备极大地提高了他的行走能力。 

Gauthier received a medical device called a neuroprosthetic at Switzerland’s Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). Part of the device, called an electrode field, is placed against part of the nervous system which runs in the back called the spinal cord. Another part of the device, found under his skin below the stomach, uses electricity to stimulate the spinal cord to start up his leg muscles. It is called an electrical impulse generator. 

高蒂尔在瑞士洛桑大学医院 (CHUV) 接受了一种名为神经假体的医疗设备。该设备的一部分（称为电极场）放置在位于背部的神经系统（称为脊髓）的一部分上。该装置的另一部分位于他胃下方的皮肤下，利用电力刺激脊髓来启动他的腿部肌肉。它被称为电脉冲发生器。 

"It changed my life because I'm now independent," said Gauthier, a native of the French city of Bordeaux, as he sat with his doctors at CHUV. "I can leave my home, run errands. I even go on foot." “这改变了我的生活，因为我现在独立了，

”来自法国波尔多市的高蒂尔在 CHUV 医院与医生坐在一起说道。“我可以离开家，跑腿。我什至步行去。”

The number of people affected by Parkinson’s disease has doubled over the past 25 years, the World Health Organization found. Worldwide estimates showed that more than 8.5 million people suffered from the disease in 2019. Grégoire Courtine is one of the doctors leading the project. He said the electrical pulses delivered to Gauthier’s spinal cord has permitted him to walk the way he would have without the disease. 

世界卫生组织发现，过去 25 年来，帕金森病患者数量增加了一倍。全球估计显示，2019 年有超过 850 万人患有这种疾病。Grégoire Courtine 是领导该项目的医生之一。他说，传送到戈蒂尔脊髓的电脉冲使他能够像没有疾病时那样行走。

"We strongly believe that many individuals could benefit from this therapy," said Courtine. He is a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Lausanne and CHUV. 

“我们坚信许多人可以从这种疗法中受益，”库尔廷说。他是瑞士洛桑联邦理工学院 (EPFL)、洛桑大学和 CHUV 的教授。 

The study was published in Nature Medicine recently. The findings by Courtine’s team at the NeuroRestore research center suggest the technology could be used more widely in patients with more progressed Parkinson’s. Many of those with more progressed, or advanced, Parkinson’s have severe problems with being able to move. 

该研究近期发表在《自然医学》杂志上。NeuroRestore 研究中心的 Courtine 团队的研究结果表明，该技术可以更广泛地应用于患有进展性帕金森氏症的患者。许多患有更严重或晚期帕金森病的人在行动方面存在严重问题。 

Dave Marver is chief executive officer of Onward Medical, which designed the medical device. He said that the device was similar to another device called an implantable defibrillator and those used to deal with pain. But he added the device is special in the way that it targets the spinal cord.

Dave Marver 是 Onward Medical 的首席执行官，该医疗设备由该公司设计。他说，该设备类似于另一种称为植入式除颤器和用于治疗疼痛的设备。但他补充说，该装置的特殊之处在于它针对脊髓的方式。 

"For the health care system, it will look and feel familiar, but it will offer therapy that doesn't exist today," he said. 

“对于医疗保健系统来说，它看起来和感觉起来都很熟悉，但它将提供当今不存在的治疗方法，”他说。 

Courtine’s team plans to carry out continuing researching and test the device on six new patients next year. 

Courtine 的团队计划明年继续研究并在六名新患者身上测试该设备。 

Jocelyne Bloch is the doctor who performed the operation on Gauthier and co-director of NeuroRestore. She said with this therapy, if people can gain belief in themselves and can go out, socialize and do more things, it is a big plus “… in their daily activities and quality of life.” 

乔斯琳·布洛赫 (Jocelyne Bloch) 是为高蒂尔进行手术的医生，也是 NeuroRestore 的联合主任。她说，通过这种疗法，如果人们能够对自己产生信心，能够出去、社交和做更多的事情，那么“......对他们的日常活动和生活质量来说”是一个很大的优势。