能識別問題食物的袖珍裝置

河北 胡金瑩

據估計，全世界有十分之一的人患有與消化系統相關的疾病。然而，發現哪些食物會引起不良反應是一個漫長而艱苦的過程，而且代價昂貴。為了解決這一問題，愛爾蘭工程師安格斯·肖特和彼得·哈特發明了只有5 平方厘米大小的便攜式設備來測量一個人呼出的氣體中的氫含量，以幫助使用者監測消化系統疾病。

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1It is estimated that one in ten people worldwide are suffering from diseases that are related to digestive conditions. There is no cure, although it can be managed with lifestyle and dietary changes.However,discovering which foods cause a bad reaction for individuals can be a long and painstaking process and it's expensive as well.

2That's why Irish engineers Aonghus Shortt and Peter Harte founded Food-Marble, a startup that has invented portable devices, measuring just5square centimeters.It can be used to test the hydrogen levels in a person's breath,which is a key signal for digestive disorders.

3FoodMarble's app has a database of nearly 1,000 foods,which are typically hard to digest. FoodMarble's AIRE device, which was launched in 2018, allows users to test for hydrogen after meals,giving them real-time feedback on what food is bad for their body.Readings are transmitted via Bluetooth to the FoodMarble app,where users can record what they eat,and over a course of weeks spot the ingredients that cause symptoms.

4Hydrogen breath tests have long been a method for diagnosing digestive conditions,but the technology has not been widely accessible because it requires multiple trips to the hospital for testing. By miniaturizing it, the technology can be accessible to ordinary people. So far, FoodMarble has sold 25,000 of its breath sensor devices, which have outperformed other hydrogen breath test methods.

5Doing breath tests in a clinical setting can be challenging and needs more manpower,requiring a medical assistant to take a breath sample every 15 minutes over a number of hours.The attraction of the FoodMarble device is that it's not just a one-time analysis of the breath. A person could use it multiple times to gather multiple data points on which to make better judgment calls and assessments about food sensitivities.

6Dr Tara Troy,a gastroenterologist(胃腸病學家),warns that hydrogen breath tests are not a foolproof method for diagnosing digestive problems and can sometimes produce false negatives and positives.“It is important to complement them with other tests that can determine if a patient is suffering from more serious conditions. Anyhow, they are hugely valuable in offering some sort of objective criteria for patients with digestive conditions,”said Troy.

Reading Check

Choose the best answers according to the text

Language Study

Ⅰ.Analyze the difficult sentence in the text

That's why Irish engineers Aonghus Shortt and Peter Harte founded FoodMarble, a startup that has invented portable devices, measuring just 5 square centimeters. 這就是愛爾蘭工程師安格斯·肖特和彼得·哈特創立FoodMarble 的原因。FoodMarble 是一家初創公司，發明了只有5平方厘米大小的便攜式設備。

【點石成金】本句中，why引導表語從句，measuring just 5 square centimeters 為非謂語動詞作定語。

Ⅱ.Memorize some text-centered chunks

be related to 與……有關

give sb real-time feedback 給某人實時的反饋

over a course of weeks 在幾個星期的時間里

be accessible to 可使用的

so far 到目前為止

a number of 很多；大量

suffer from 遭受