The Surgeon's Studio

A few hours before…

Mu Tao trailed behind Wu Haishi as they exited the research building.

The old man walked in silence. Once they were past the doors, he suddenly asked, “Are you confident?”

“Yes,” Mu Tao replied without hesitation.

A few months ago, he would not have had the confidence to say that he could beat Jin Yaowu. Their abilities were roughly equal and there would be no clear winner. However, at this very moment, Mu Tao was sure he could trounce Jin Yaowu.

After analyzing the livestream on Xinglin Garden, Old Wu had deduced the surgeon had used a custom configuration for the 64-slice CT scan reconstruction.

As a result, Mu Tao had invested a good amount of time into researching 3D reconstruction of CT scans.

In terms of his surgical skill, he was already above average. It was impossible to make any significant improvements on that front with what little time they had.

Hence, he had decided to branch out and master a subspecialty. He believed it would give him the edge he needed to beat Jin Yaowu.

“Old Wu, it must have been a tiring day for you.” As they stepped out into the cold, Hua Yingying stood and approached them. She took one of OId Wu’s arms with care. Mu Tao suddenly realized that Hua Yingying could be his teacher’s most important disciple.

“You’ve been waiting out here, in the cold. You should be worried about yourself.” Old Wu shook off her assistance but gave her a verbal pet on the head.

Hua Yingying put on a respectful smile as she ensured the professor was warm. She walked a few steps ahead of Old Wu and opened the car door.

“Mu Tao, arrange for a 64-slice CT scan reconstruction before the surgery,” Old Wu said.

Mu Tao nodded and watched as the Mercedes-Benz drove away, then got his phone out to make the necessary arrangements.

Personal requests were best done after working hours.

As it was the weekend, the timing was more flexible.

Once the arrangements were made, Mu Tao headed for the interventional radiology department as scenes from the Xinglin Garden’s livestream replayed in his head.

It had been perfect.

Mu Tao believed that he could achieve the level of perfection of the livestream’s surgeon one day, and that day was not too far away.

He arrived at the interventional radiology department and displayed his identification. He was met with the on-call doctor’s warm welcome.

“These patients are so lucky.” The doctor brought Mu Tao to the office and switched on the computer.

At this moment, the nation’s most esteemed surgeons were congregated in the city for the elective surgery on Monday.

The doctor’s comment was not a compliment for him per se, but Mu Tao regarded himself a bit better than the lead professor.

“How many patients?” Mu Tao asked.

“22.”

“What happens if we can’t complete them?”

“The lead professor will step in. The caseload was spread out between two to three days but when the patients caught news that a bigshot professor was performing surgery, they all rescheduled to Monday. After all, the cost was the same,” the doctor explained to Mu Tao.

Mu Tao flipped through the patients’ case files, skipping the mild cases, to find a suitable subject for demonstrative surgery.

He avoided cases that were too challenging as well. He was not a fool to make such a mistake.

A moderately difficult case was what he wanted.

This hospital was well-equipped and well-staffed. Mu Tao finished looking at the scans of 22 patients and picked out three. “Give me these three patients.”

“You want to perform surgery on all three?” the doctor said curiously.

“Yes. It’ll be done in one morning.” Mu Tao wrote down the patients’ case numbers and visited them to ask some health-related questions before heading to the CT room.

Old Wu had already contacted the department and the deputy chief was personally waiting for Mu Tao at the CT room. When Mu Tao mentioned he wanted to attempt 3D reconstruction of CT scans, the deputy chief exclaimed, “How far has technology come; even surgeons can perform reconstruction now. In a few years, we’ll be out of jobs.”

They both knew it was a joke.

This was a special occasion that required a personal touch.

It depended on the surgeon’s dedication.

Mu Tao was glad to see the same machine as the one they had in Shenzhen Economic Development Zone People’s Hospital. As he was familiar with the machine, he would finish faster.

As he observed Mu Tao’s skillful operation of the machine, a bitter smile appeared on the face of the deputy chief.

The joke he made minutes ago was not as funny now.

If clinical doctors could operate these machines… What a scary thought.

The deputy chief knew Mu Tao was a high achiever and only a handful of surgeons in the country possessed similar skills. However, watching Mu Tao’s effortless manipulation of the system made his heart twinge.

“Chief, I’m gonna take some time so you may have to wait a bit,” Mu Tao said as he fiddled with the system.

“A few hours is fine. Old Wu personally asked me for this favor.”

Time passed and as evening came, the CT room remained quiet.

The deputy chief refreshed the news feed on his phone. The same news kept recycling on the screen.

Hours had gone by and he was bored out of his mind. Footsteps echoed from the corridor outside.

“Who’s here at this hour?” Deputy Chief Zhang wondered.

From their conversation, it sounded like one of the research graduates.

“What’s this?” Deputy Chief Zhang was surprised to find people in this corner of the building.

“This associate wanted to have a look at our machines, so I brought him over.” The research graduate was startled by the deputy chief’s question. Like a deer caught in headlights, the young man put on an awkward smile.

The congregation of medical professionals from all parts of the country had led to an increase in department tours. Deputy Chief Zhang paid them no mind and continued scrolling his phone.

They went into another control room. The research student let out a breath of relief.

“Mr. Zheng, this is the model we have. It’s a 320-slice Siemens,” he said with pride. “Are you familiar with it?”

The question was a formality. He assumed Zheng Ren would not have a clue.

This model was rare in the country as it was top-tier equipment with only one real competitor, a 640-slice CT machine from Toshiba.

In the early development of 3D reconstruction technology, 64-slice scans were the upper limit. Hence, the technology was commonly referred to as 64-slice 3D image reconstruction.

Continuous advancement in the imaging field led to multiple equipment updates. The difference between a 640-slice and 320-slice scan was insignificant.

Zheng Ren smiled and said, “More or less. The switch is here, right?”

He turned on the machine.

It came to life with a low hum. The research student quickly stepped forward to help Zheng Ren with the controls. He would not be able to answer to his superiors if Zheng Ren accidentally damaged the machine.

Zheng Ren stood aside and let the young man busy himself with the controls. They followed the appropriate operating procedures and keyed in the patient’s case number to bring up the corresponding scans.

At first, the research student could track Zheng Ren’s every stroke, but he was soon bewildered.

‘This man is a surgeon, but he can perform a 3D image reconstruction manually? This… This is retrograde reconstruction.’