The Surgeon’s Studio

Chapter 207: That Day, That Night, That Man (Part 4 of 5)

Mu Tao was momentarily stunned. Then, he realized that since he had finished earlier, they had to have directed their attention to other ongoing surgeries.

The surgery projected on the screen demonstrated proficient superselection of a micro-guidewire into the artery.

The maneuver… looked familiar.

Mu Tao absent-mindedly approached Old Wu and accidentally knocked into a chair with his knee, causing him to grimace with pain.

Old Wu looked at him and reprimanded him quietly, “Why are you so careless? You’re not a child anymore. ”

Mu Tao ignored Old Wu and stared at the screen in surprise. Could it be that the professors were actually watching a surgery livestream in Xinglin Garden together?

“Sit down and watch,” Old Wu whispered, his eyes fixed on the livestream.

Mu Tao, who was very familiar with Old Wu, knew that the old man was on the verge of an explosion from his tone of speech.

Old Wu had been a grumpy man in his youth, but with his advancing age, he had been controlling his temper and significantly reducing his outbursts.

Mu Tao quickly sat down without objection, unwilling to face punishment later.

“Master, are you watching a live broadcast in Xinglin Garden?” asked Mu Tao softly.

“What live broadcast? We’re watching an ongoing surgery now,” replied Old Wu.

“…” Startled, Mu Tao paid closer attention to the screen.

He tried to recall the familiar-looking imaging film on the screen. A few seconds later, he slapped his thigh. Was this not the film that the young doctor, the “self-proclaimed” boss, studied in the CT room that night?!

“What are you doing?!” Old Wu snapped, obviously taken by surprise.

“Master, I know this man,” replied Mu Tao quickly to calm his master’s rage.

“Of course, Professor Pei has introduced him to you before.”

“No, I saw him in the CT room when I went to perform 3D reconstruction of the CT scan that night,” said Mu Tao.

“Huh?” Old Wu perked up.

“He was looking at the angiographic footage without performing image reconstruction at the time.” Mu Tao added.

“He must have done it afterward. Every blood vessel he accurately superselected had a purpose,” Old Wu said softly, “But the main point is that he is somehow able to distinguish between a cirrhotic liver nodule and cancerous tissue.”

Mu Tao remained silent.

That day, that night, that imaging film.

Impossible!

That could not be true!

Mu Tao was caught in a trance.

It was possible to use a 3D image reconstruction of a CT scan on large, solid tumors.

However, the film he had seen that night showed numerous nodules, which could have been either cirrhotic nodules or cancerous tissue.

It was difficult enough to use 3D reconstruction of a 64-slice CT scan to retrogradely locate an abnormal blood vessel, let alone distinguish benign and malignant nodules.

Was this a joke? It was possible to perform image reconstruction on every suspected nodule, but the workload would be humongous. What if one narrowed it down to highly suspicious nodules for testing? In Mu Tao’s view, there were at least eighty of them, and checking each and every one of them would be troublesome as well.

If he had been the one to check the patient, even two whole days would probably be insufficient.

Then, Mu Tao noticed the areas that had been successfully embolized.

The embolization had been done flawlessly, which reflected the surgeon’s proficiency in this domain.

He remained quiet.

His previous complacency and pride were now clear indications of his ignorance.

Since when did Sea City, a small town, have such an experienced interventional radiologist?

Old Wu was one of the first batch who had been involved in interventional radiology and a senior professor with peerless skill. Even so, Mu Tao’s master—Wu Haishi—did not have such prowess. Who the hell was performing the surgery now?

The young doctor with a ridiculously low emotional quotient, who could not even remember his face and even proclaimed himself a “boss”?

Impossible!

The sudden change in mood greatly depressed Mu Tao.

Eight abnormalities captured post-angiography were embolized one after another, delicately and beautifully, like a masterpiece being finished by an artist.

Following the complete embolization of the last small tumor nodule, the host surgeon again created an angiographic image, which revealed the complete absence of abnormalities in the liver.

In the surgical demonstration classroom, all the elderly professors applauded, offering reverence and compliments to the host surgeon in the live broadcast.

‘Amazing!’ Mu Tao snapped out of his thoughts and clapped.

Old Wu was the first to speak up. “Let him perform the surgery.”

The others agreed.

Mu Tao was somewhat depressed, but he understood perfectly.

Despite his measured steps, the young doctor had performed a technique beyond his capabilities, something that could not be offset by speed alone.

‘It looks like my near-limit speed still isn’t enough. Perhaps slowing down would offer more benefits in the future,’ Mu Tao thought.

Jin Yaowu’s voice came from behind. “Based on one surgery alone? Don’t you think it’s sloppy?”

He had just finished his surgeries on his pre-selected patients and had caught only the last imaging session.

When everyone agreed to nominate the host surgeon as the chief surgeon of the scientific research, Jin Yaowu was the first to object.

“Yaowu, sit down,” said Professor Pei, tapping the chair beside him.

The other professors gave Jin Yaowu a peculiar stare as he approached Professor Pei, draining him of his initial courage and indignation. He lowered his head, averting his gaze from Professor Pei’s. His confidence slowly faded away.

“Yaowu, this is the host surgeon’s seventh surgery.” Professor Pei added calmly.

“…” Jin Yaowu was dumbfounded.

Mu Tao was flabbergasted as well.

What? The host surgeon was on his seventh surgery when he had only completed three?

This had to be a fantasy.

Mu Tao’s self-image crumbled once again.

Slow? The host surgeon was just fast and precise in his manipulation…

How had he not heard of such a surgeon before this?

Had he hatched from a stone egg[1]?

“Treat subsequent operations with the utmost care. I don’t want any problems to come our way,” an older professor said grimly, “Give me a copy of the angiographic footage. I’ll go back and study it again.”

Even though the professors had decided on their chief surgeon, they continued to exchange views on the surgery instead of leaving the room.

It was humiliating for the surgeons whom the professors had dropped from the competition, but their focus had obviously been drawn to a more important issue—the host surgeon had been able to accurately distinguish between a benign and a malignant hepatic nodule.

“We’ve to study this later,” said Old Wu lightly as he glanced at the last angiographic image, feeling somewhat nostalgic.

“Master, do you think his technique is similar to that of the host surgeon from Xinglin Garden?” asked Mu Tao softly.

“Their techniques look similar, but I don’t think he is the surgeon,” Old Wu replied, “Doctor Zheng’s maneuver appeared slightly amateurish, and some parts weren’t handled well. However, he has mastered the usage of 3D image reconstruction of a 64-slice CT scan just like you, although he is far more experienced than you in that field.”

Mu Tao immediately understood after hearing Old Wu’s explanation.

It was a new technology, and those who mastered it first would have an upper hand. However, he had a better platform and a highly-skilled master, so would he not have a brighter future than Boss Zheng?

Just as Mu Tao was about to leave, an elderly voice came from the door. “Is Zheng Ren here?”

[1] In Chinese creation mythology, Pangu, the primordial creator, was hatched from a stone egg. Mu Tao does not seem to be comparing himself favorably to a creator god but rather seems to be using a poetic version of “born yesterday”.