The Surgeon's Studio

Under Professor Rudolf Wagner's murderous gaze, Professor Tian took the hardcopy scans and escaped with his tail between his legs.

After much thought, Professor Tian still could not figure out what he had done to elicit such a negative response from Professor Rudolf Wagner.

Back in the orthopedic department, Professor Tian took some photos of the scans and forwarded them to the deputy department chief of the interventional surgery department in Imperial Capital.

Professor Tian was not adept at interpreting the image, but he could tell there was minimal bleeding during the surgery.

He wanted to understand how it was done, and this required the expert opinion of an interventional surgeon.

Soon, a WeChat notification popped up on his phone.

It was a reply from the deputy department chief. Before he could read the text, a call came in.

"Who was the surgeon for this case?" the deputy department chief's agitated voice sounded on the phone.

"An emergency department's chief resident from Sea City General Hospital," Professor Tian replied.

"Impossible, the other…" The speaker's voice died down for a few seconds before asking, "Is the surgeon's last name Zheng?"

'Oh? How did the deputy department chief know?'

Question marks appeared on Professor Tian's head.

"Yes, his name is Zheng Ren."

"Damn. Old Tian, that man is a genius. You heard of the lumbar artery embolization surgery, right? He came up with a novel method for it. It must be him."

"..."

'Sounds like he's quite famous.'

Professor Tian was confused. The man was just a chief resident in a prefecture-level hospital. It was such a lowly rank that Professor Tian would have to bend down with a magnifying glass to notice it.

Professor Tian's mindset was not unique. As a Imperial Capital professor, he had to perform three to five surgeries daily and on weekends, he had to travel around the country to assist in them. Occasionally, he was required to attend academic seminars to boost his reputation.

Even within the orthopedics field, he had trouble obtaining the latest news. News of interventional radiology-assisted surgeries were way beyond his reach and focus.

'Is the young man really that good?' Professor Tian frowned.

"Who is this man?" Professor Tian asked.

"There's just far too much for me to say through the phone but mark my words, he's going to be a future superstar. This surgery was done perfectly!"

Professor Tian considered his friend's words.

The deputy department chief was likely busy pouring over the scans to notice his friend's sudden silence.

Professor Tian hung up the phone in frustration. He glanced at the clock and it was almost time to head to the airport.

"Little Zhou," Professor Tian called out after a moment's thought.

"Ah? What's up, Professor Tian?" Dr. Zhou answered.

"Help me keep track of incoming patients with spinal neoplasms. If they're from the rural area, negotiate for an affordable fee but the prerequisite is that Dr. Zheng has to perform the embolization surgery. If you manage to get some patients, inform me earlier and I'll fly in. I want to observe Dr. Zheng's method," Professor Tian instructed.

Dr. Zhou agreed without a second thought.

The ulterior motive behind Professor Tian's words was disregarded. For now, Dr. Zhou would do as the professor said.

…

In the emergency ward, Zheng Ren and Professor Rudolf Wagner were discussing pointers that could be derived from the diffusion-weighted MRI scans of the liver to aid in the TIPS surgery.

Previously, Zheng Ren had discovered this correlation in the System's training room.

There was a limit to one person's mind and strength.

With Professor Rudolf Wagner, there were more discussions and back-and-forth exchange of ideas. He raised some doubts and contributed ideas from a different perspective.

The two men engaged in a fervent intellectual exchange. Professor Rudolf Wagner had not experienced this level of intellectual stimulation in many years.

It was not easy to develop a new differential diagnostic method from scratch.

Many of the methods today were tried and tested for years before they reached widespread adoption globally.

However, Zheng Ren had managed to uncover a precise method to enable a smooth puncture and connection during the TIPS surgery in record time!

Professor Rudolf's blond hair swayed in the air as he talked, his head moving as if he was playing a passionate tune on the violin.

He was deeply engrossed in the ongoing discussion.

Similarly, Zheng Ren was caught up with the conversation at hand. Having the world-class professor as his sounding board was 100 times better than musing alone in the System.

The professor's input and insights were monumental to Zheng Ren. Their discussion went on with no end in sight.

Some time passed before a person interrupted the two oblivious men and their conversation.

"Little Zheng."

Zheng Ren was unhappy to be interrupted by anyone other than Xie Yiren.

He angled his head and saw that it was Department Chief Sun from the general surgery department.

Despite his disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, Zheng Ren reminded himself to be respectful toward his colleagues and elders.

He forced a smile and said, "Department Chief Sun, how can I help you?"

Slightly abashed, Department Chief Sun said, "Little Zheng, sorry to interrupt you."

Zheng Ren did not appreciate the time-consuming etiquette and manners presented by the department chief.

Zheng Ren quickly stood up and said courteously, "Department Sun, it's no matter. Why do you need me?"

Department Chief Sun was comforted by Zheng Ren's considerate attitude.

"Little Zheng, we had a tricky case in the clinic today. I was hoping you could have a look," Department Chief Sun said and he gestured for someone to enter the room.

Zheng Ren glanced at the person who walked in. It was a woman in her forties who had a dazed look on her face.

"She underwent a medical examination in one of the clinics and they noted some problems in her scans before referring her to me. I've never seen anything like it, so I was hoping that you could help," Department Chief Sun said with a smile.

"I'd be honored to," Zheng Ren replied. The diagnosis panel in his vision showed that the woman had peritoneal loose bodies.

It was a rare disorder that Zheng Ren barely remembered seeing throughout his medical career.

His memory had expanded significantly with the System's help or else he would have forgotten the disorder's symptoms.

The scans were passed over and placed onto the viewer.

The patient's lower abdominal cavity showed a 7cm oval-shaped outline located near the intestines. It was an X-ray scan which provided no information on the blood supply network.

The X-ray scan was simple and was not worth a closer examination. However, Zheng Ren kept up the pretense as he racked his brain for the right information.

Inflammation and impaired blood supply in the abdominal cavity could lead to the necrosis of adipose layers. The necrotized matter would then undergo fibrosis and calcification, forming peritoneal loose bodies that would be visualized as floating objects in the abdomen.

Most people would go about their lives not knowing they carried these peritoneal loose bodies. Therefore, the prevalence of the disorder was unclear and there were no steps for prevention.

As it was not a malignant disorder, little attention had been given to it. Zheng Ren vaguely remembered mentions of it in two published journal reports.