Расшифровка записи
Brenda: Oh, hi Tom. Haven’t seen you for ages. They say you became a
successful doctor...
Tom: Hi Brenda. Who told you that? I’m just a surgical engineer.
Brenda: How do you mean?
Tom: I work for a company that produces extremely specialized surgical
instruments.
Brenda: Right then, Tom. Your job is a complete mystery to me. I'm a complete
idiot in scientific matters, so can you explain, as simply as possible, what you do?
Tom: Of course. I'll try! Well, our company produces surgical equipment. That is
different from medical equipment. By medical equipment we mean thermometers,
machines to measure heart beats and so on. We don't do that - all our equipment
is used for surgery.
Brenda: You mean knives, things like that?
Tom: (laughs) No... actually not quite as simple as that. In the old days, yes, if a
person had, say, cancer, the answer was usually to open them up and cut out the
cancerous tissue. This approach is used less and less nowadays, and that's where
our products come in. We specialise either in cryo-surgical instruments...
Brenda: Sorry, you'll have to explain that.
Tom: OK. Cryo-surgery basically means destroying diseased cells by freezing
them. Once the doctor has identified the malignant cells, the surgeon will insert an
instrument that freezes them, at temperatures as low as minus 75°. These
instruments are incredibly delicate and have to be extremely precise. They usually
look like a long, thin tube - sometimes as thin as 0.9mm.
Brenda: I see...
Tom: The other area we specialise in is ultrasonic surgery. Here the surgeon will
insert a titanium rod which oscillates, vibrates, at the very high frequency of
35MHz. This literally hammers the malignant tissue until it is destroyed.
Brenda: Fascinating. And what is your part in all this?
Tom: Well, my official job title is 'Project Engineer'. The way it usually goes is
this: a surgeon comes to us and says,"I think I can freeze a particular type of
cancer, and I think I can do it by doing this and doing that. Can you design a tool
that will let me do it?" I'm in charge of a team of draughtsmen who have to
design the instrument, and of mechanical and electronic engineers who will create
it. I have to oversee the whole process, and make sure that we are obeying all the
regulations, which are very strict in the making of surgical instruments.