Chapter 54: Out Of Control?!
August 10th! Monday, the start of the week.
However, Lu Cheng took leave and rode his electric scooter to the ‘dormitory’ where Chen Song and Tong Yuan’an were staying!
Tong Yuan’an gave Lu Cheng his room number, and Lu Cheng went directly up by elevator, knocking on the door.
As soon as he pushed the door open, Lu Cheng discovered that the training room Tong Yuan’an had converted at his home was infinitely more professional than his own.
A standard operating table, one meter long and two meters wide, a microscope eyepiece, a complete set of new microsurgical instruments, and various models of hand surgery practice sutures.
The value of these sutures alone was at least over eight thousand yuan, with each one costing more than ten yuan.
The practice sutures Lu Cheng usually bought, the most expensive costing only three yuan each, he didn’t dare to be so extravagant…
A small shadowless lamp, fresh pig trotters…
Lu Cheng looked at so many treasures, so envious he was swallowing his saliva: “Teacher Tong… your place…”
“This was renovated with applied funding. To conduct research projects, naturally, many basic things need to be prepared thoroughly, and all these items can be taken with us later.”
“You’ve come at the perfect time. After I woke up this morning, I had already prepared the pig trotter tendons, all from the hind trotters. Also, the hand surgery specialized measurement instruments I bought have arrived, and we can start testing today…”
“To advance this kind of surgical procedure to clinical practice, there must be initial animal experiment data recorded. This way, even if there’s a medical dispute, we can silence the expert group, showing that we have diligently practiced and have objective data on record.”
“If there are problems with patient suturing, it will be an objective risk, not due to our own insufficient technical skills or lack of preparation.”
Tong Yuan’an was wearing loose pajamas and had already adjusted the air conditioner to a suitable temperature.
He noticed the fine sweat on Lu Cheng’s face and said, “Xiao Lu, you should go wash up again. Treat specimen practice as seriously as a formal surgery; physical preparation is also very important.”
“Okay, Teacher Tong. I’ll go wash my face then.” Although Lu Cheng rode his bike here, August felt like it was going mad, with heat waves hitting him.
Lu Cheng wasn’t fat, but he was still drenched in sweat.
After about twenty minutes of cooling down, and after Tong Yuan’an and Lu Cheng had each had two cups of coffee, their physical and mental energy were at their peak, and their state was optimal.
The two of them walked from the living room to the operating room again.
Tong Yuan’an said, “The Tajima Suturing Technique you’ve learned is a control group, but you must perform seriously, as this technique will be applied to our own patients.”
“A doctor’s skill in clinical practice has no nationality, so no matter how excellently you perform, it’s never too much; the more proficient, the better…”
“Even if our research project fails, the patient still benefits. Do you understand?”
Lu Cheng nodded slightly after listening, and looked at his ‘Skill Point Balance: 42 points’.
Lu Cheng was now gaining more surgical experience, so his average daily skill point acquisition rate over the past week had reached 6 points.
This was almost a week’s worth of skill points accumulated.
【Unnamed Suturing Technique （Proficient 10/10 ）】
Lu Cheng’s mind suddenly moved, and it instantly became 【Unnamed Suturing Technique （Mastery 10/20 ）（Skill Points -30）, reaching the upper limit for basic suturing skills, unable to improve further.】
【Skill Point Balance: 12.3!】
Lu Cheng distributed them bit by bit again!
Half a minute later!
【Suturing Skills: Suturing （Mastery 14/20）（Skill Points -3）, Tendon Suturing （Mastery 13/20）（Skill Points -5）, Modified Kessler Suturing Technique （Proficient 10/10）, Tsuge Suturing （including sliding type）（Proficient 10/10）, Modified Tang Method （Mastery 3/20）, Tendon Unnamed Suturing Technique （Mastery 14/20）（Skill Points -4）】
Well, this was the limit Lu Cheng could reach.
“Are you ready?” Tong Yuan’an asked Lu Cheng.
Lu Cheng nodded: “I’m ready, Teacher Tong.”
“Then you suture first… after you finish, I’ll suture using our hospital’s new suturing technique, and then we’ll measure and compare the tensile strength of these tendons,” Tong Yuan’an said, waving his chubby hand, signaling Lu Cheng to go ahead.
Lu Cheng nodded.
Since it wasn’t a formal operating room, only one sterile glove was needed for the procedure; a sterile surgical gown wasn’t required.
Lu Cheng’s suturing technique was clearly very proficient, which met Tong Yuan’an’s expectations for Lu Cheng’s learning speed.
So, after a few glances, he left the room.
The suturing operation was a very private matter. Since it wasn’t surgery, an assistant wasn’t needed; having Lu Cheng suture alone would allow him to concentrate better.
After Lu Cheng had sutured about five pig trotters, he and Tong Yuan’an switched places. Lu Cheng stayed in the living room to drink tea, while Tong Yuan’an stayed in the operating room to focus on the ‘new technique’ suturing.
After about forty minutes, Tong Yuan’an walked out of the ‘operating room’ doorway holding tweezers: “Xiao Lu, I’m done. You must also be curious about how to evaluate core biomechanics, right?”
“Come in quickly, let’s study together.”
In Tong Yuan’an’s eyes, Lu Cheng’s talent already made him a professional hand surgeon. If he weren’t on a research project, he would have already taught Lu Cheng other hand surgery techniques.
Of course, Lu Cheng’s current talent had great use and was about to be utilized directly.
Lu Cheng walked in.
Tong Yuan’an explained: “The core biomechanical indicators of hand surgery suturing techniques lie in tensile strength, gap control at the wound edges, and sliding resistance.”
“Generally speaking, current tendon suturing techniques, which can withstand an immediate postoperative tension of ≥35N and a gap of ≤0.5mm under a load of 0.5N, are considered acceptable.”
“Proceeding to in-vivo testing.”
“Look, these are five pig tendon specimens I operated on; their ultimate tensile strength has exceeded 90N…”
“The modified Kessler has a tensile strength of about 40-55N, the Tsuge Suturing Technique is between 65-85N, and the Modified Tang Method is 90-110N.”
“The ultimate tensile strength of the Modified Tang Method is 150.25±10.50 N, and the Modified Tsuge Suturing Method is 125.3±11.5 N.”
“The ultimate tensile strength of our team’s tendon sutures is!” Tong Yuan’an directly snapped a tendon suture…
“Based on these calculations, the tendon toughness is 14N/mm, slightly higher than the Modified Tang Method…”
“Let’s continue testing and calculate the average results.”
Tong Yuan’an explained to Lu Cheng in a very professional and detailed manner. Finally, after inputting the data into the statistical table prepared by Tong Yuan’an, the comprehensive conclusion was reached:
【Tensile Strength at 2mm Gap: Tong Method: 108.40±7.52N; Modified Tang Method: 100.30±8.20 N; Modified Tsuge Method: 52.6±7.4 N】
【Ultimate Tensile Strength: Tong Method: 166.31±11.50 N; Modified Tang Method: 150.25±10.50 N; Modified Tsuge Method: 125.3±11.5 N】
【Tendon Toughness: Tong Method: 14.21±1.34N/mm; Modified Tang Method: 12.55±1.25 N/mm; Modified Tsuge Method: 8.3±1.8 N/mm】
“How about it, your Teacher Tong still has some skills, right?” Tong Yuan’an asked Lu Cheng after looking at the tabulated data, with a kind and amiable expression.
Lu Cheng nodded: “Mm.”
“Good, next we’ll test yours.”
“Tensile Strength at 2mm Gap: 100, 110, 126, 119… Hmm… 120N.”
Tong Yuan’an glanced at Lu Cheng: “Ultimate Tensile Strength: 160, 180, 195N…”
After seeing these two sets of data, Tong Yuan’an immediately fell silent. His expression was extremely grim, his plump face like a steamed bun, filled with despair.
