Zheng Ren had had to attend two meetings today, so he had returned late. Seven cases were selected after a round of evaluation.
The cases he chose were a mix of difficulties. Some patients had early-stage primary tumors that called for a direct injection of iodized oil into the hepatic artery, while some showed signs of metastatic carcinomatosis cirrhosis.
In Zheng Ren’s eyes, the patients were his number one priority. He ignored the System’s mission and the complications of each case.
He stayed true to the doctor’s code of ethics.
Saving lives outweighed everything else.
One of the patients that showed symptoms of hepatic cirrhosis seemed similar to the patient referred by Bu Ruotian. These cases interested Zheng Ren as it was tricky to determine malignancy.
One…
Two…
Three…
Zheng Ren had performed these reconstructions back in Sea City. With his Master-level skill, he manipulated the system with an uncanny ease and familiarity.
The research graduate stared at him wide-eyed.
He thought the others had been joking when they called Zheng Ren a ‘boss’.
Now, his view of Zheng Ren had changed. He was ready to kneel before this master.
With his limited knowledge, he could only understand bits and pieces of what Zheng Ren was doing.
Zheng Ren appeared to be manually reconstructing the 64-slice CT scans to locate the tumor-feeding artery.
This was no ordinary feat.
Radiology research graduates focused on interpretation and diagnosis.
A research graduate who completed a radiology attachment would be able to interpret imaging, be they CT, MRI or X-ray scans.
System manipulation, on the other hand… Equipment these days came with sophisticated software that required minimal user input. Manual configuration was compulsory back in the old days when software development was lagging behind.
Now, manual configuration was unnecessary.
He would have deemed such a practice ludicrous were he not witnessing it first-hand.
His head throbbed as he tried to make sense of the operation. In the end, he turned away to avoid popping a vessel.
Despite his curiosity, the research graduate walked out of the room.
He was afraid that he would faint from the information overload.
Instead, he went to check out the room next door.
He gently knocked on the door and went in, greeting Deputy Chief Zhang.
The 64-slice CT scan of a liver cancer patient was on display.
‘What is going on tonight?’
Both doctors were performing rare manual reconstructions of similar cases.
He was baffled.
“Little Liang, can you understand what he is doing?” Deputy Chief Zhang asked, bored.
“Yes…”
“Oh? You do?”
“A bit,” the research graduate replied curtly as his headache threatened to return.
“Not bad. A bit of understanding goes a long way,” Deputy Chief Zhang chuckled in a low voice. “Very few people do this these days. You have a good eye if you can catch what he’s doing at first glance.”
“It’s not my first time seeing this,” the young man said.
“Oh? You’ve seen others do this?” the deputy chief asked.
The research graduate gulped and stared at the control room door. “Next door.”
A look of surprise came across Deputy Chief Zhang’s face and he recalled the recent rumors surrounding the research and development department.
Still, he suppressed his inner curiosity. Years of work experience had cultivated a strong sense of professionalism in him.
Things that were beyond his scope should be ignored. Some questions were better left unasked.
Mu Tao was almost done with the rendering. The hepatic tumors were artistically dissected and displayed on the screen.
Deputy Chief Zhang was shocked.
The reconstruction was totally different from what he had imagined.
On the visualized image, the arteries that branched out from the hepatic artery fed into the tumor. In addition, two more tumor-feeding arteries had been identified, one originating from the phrenic artery while the other from the renal artery.
What an amazing feat!
Mu Tao was searching for the print function; Deputy Chief Zhang approached to help him process the image and said, “You have a rare skill there. Is it from Old Wu’s new research?”
Mu Tao’s pearly whites shone. “I picked it up from a surgery livestream hosted by Montreal General Hospital.”
“Impeccable technique,” Deputy Chief Zhang commented.
“I was doubtful at first. But the professor’s encouragement and reminders made me decide to spend one month in a CT room to learn the skills required,” Mu Tao explained. “I’ve run two clinical tests and the outcome was obvious.”
“Ah, the young learn so fast.” Deputy Chief Zhang patted Mu Tao’s shoulder and said, “I have high expectations for you. Good luck!”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll be leaving now. Little Liang, once your side is done, remember to switch off the machines and lock the door,” Deputy Chief Zhang said to the research graduate.
“Yes, sir,” the research graduate responded. He was glad that it was Deputy Chief Zhang he had run into. Had it been his own boss, there would have been a lot of shouting.
“Hard at work at this hour?” Mu Tao saw the lights of the other control room flicker.
“Mr. Zheng from the northeast district is inside. He’s also performing 3D reconstruction of a 64-slice CT scan.”
“Oh?” Mu Tao’s curiosity was piqued.
Since the discovery of the Xinglin Garden livestream, Mu Tao had spent many days and nights learning the ropes under the guidance of Old Wu. The technique was in his grasp but his execution was still imperfect.
However, with this advantage, Mu Tao was confident he would come out victorious.
It was the ace up his sleeve—this unique technique born from Montreal General Hospital.
He wondered what the man was doing in the control room. It must be standard reconstruction using the system’s default settings.
Mu Tao smirked confidently but decided to have a peek into the room before he clocked out.
The northeast region? Were there any surgeons worth mentioning? Most of those would have fled south to seek greener pastures.
Mu Tao remembered Professor Pei’s glowing review of this young doctor. It had provoked the ire of Professor’s Pei’s most senior disciple, Jin Yaowu.
He could understand Jin Yaowu’s displeasure at being compared to a young upstart. People even called him the ‘boss’.
Boss Zheng; it had a funny ring to it.
Mu Tao grinned. “Boss Zheng, huh? I want to meet him.”
Dr. Liang figured it was common courtesy. He led Mu Tao into the control room.
Zheng Ren was no longer performing the reconstruction. Instead, his attention was fixed on the 64-slice CT scan of a patient.
Mu Tao’s grin widened.
‘Just as I thought: there was no way this guy would know advanced techniques such as retrograde reconstruction. He’s just using the machine to get a clearer view.”
No matter how detailed existing scans were, they would not have an impact on the surgery’s progression; not without some form of retrograde reconstruction.
