Surgery Godfather-Chapter 423 - 0391 Painting of Tianji

Chapter 423: Chapter 0391: Painting of Tianji

Chapter 423: Chapter 0391: Painting of Tianji

Director Tan is performing a surgery, a posterior cervical pedicle screw fixation following a cervical vertebral fracture.

The exposure and decompression parts of the surgery have been completed, now waiting for Yang Ping to deploy pedicle screws using the Tian Ji surgical robot.

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Director Tan has completed over three hundred surgeries with the Tian Ji robotic system, which involve procedures on the spine, pelvis, and fractures of extremities. His surgical experience is among the top in the country.

For laparoscopic surgery with the Da Vinci system, most of the surgery can be completed using several robotic arms, with the assistant only being required to assist with sterlizing, establishing pathways, and changing instruments.

However, when Tian Ji performs orthopedic surgery, it cannot complete the entire surgery with one robotic arm alone. It only assists doctors in completing process steps like image registration, pre-operative planning, automatic positioning, screw placement, and post-operative verification. Essentially, its primary role is to assist with screw placement, with much of the work still needing to be done by the assistant.

If Da Vinci is considered an upgraded laparoscopic system, Tian Ji can be seen as an upgraded navigation device.

The previous navigation systems could only offer image navigation, and the screws needed to be placed by the chief surgeon.

Now this navigation device can not only provide navigation for the chief surgeon, but also remotely control this robotic arm to insert screws.

Because Tian Ji has only one robotic arm, doctors have given it a nickname – “Lone Ranger”.

Its biggest advantage is placing screws accurately and steadily under real-time percutaneous navigation.

In the realm of Tian Ji robotic surgeries, the posterior cervical pedicle screw fixation following a cervical fracture is the most challenging and riskiest procedure.

In conventional surgery, inexperienced doctors, while inserting screws into the cervical pedicles, may easily cause damage to the vertebral arteries or cervical cord due to slight deviations, leading to severe consequences.

In Tian Ji robotic surgery, inserting screws is as accurate as launching a missile. It uses X-ray computer imaging technology for navigation to place screws with sub-millimeter accuracy, so there is virtually no chance of making a mistake.

This diminishes the role of experience in the surgical process. Regardless of whether they’re

experienced experts or not, as long as one becomes familiar with the machine, they can safely and accurately place the screws.

Therefore, robotic surgery lowers the skill level required for screw placement, which enhances the safety of the procedure.

In addition to the tasks that the robotic arm is unable to perform, the assistant also plays an important role in the event that the robotic arm loses control, as they’re able to take emergency action.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released data as early as 2015 stating that between the years 2000 and 2013, 144 patients died during robotic surgery. Reasons include “robotic malfunction”, “electrical short circuit”, and “parts falling into the body”.

Dr. Tan attaches the screw insertion instrument to the robotic arm. Yang Ping sits at the console and begins to register the image with the tracker. A guiding line that passes through the pedicle center is drawn. The virtual image of the screw is simulated to enter the pedicle. The entry point, direction, route, and the diameter and length of the screw are automatically calculated. The machine automatically complete the positioning and the screw insertion tool precisely opens the pathway. The fluoroscopic image of the machine shows that the pathway is perfect without deviation. Dr. Tan changes the instruments and mounts the screw insertion tool and screw onto the machine. The robotic arm implants the screw into the cervical pedicle.

Without robotic assistance, performing this type of surgery for Yang Ping is like planting beans. With robotic assistance, it’s even easier and more effortless.

Dr. Tan is a bit overwhelmed, and he and Dr. Zhong keep changing instruments. One by one, the pedicle screws are precisely implanted into the narrow cervical pedicle. The entire procedure is completed under navigation and fluoroscopy.

The surgical step is completed in few minutes. The three-dimensional reconstructed fluoroscopic images show that each screw is perfectly positioned, enveloped by vertebral tissue.

As for the visual performance, Tian Ji’s surgery still falls short of Da Vinci’s “hot dance”. A single robotic arm doesn’t have the thrill of coordinated operations.

To prepare for the surgery, Manager Gu, the Tian Ji technology specialist, arrives at the operating room early to see if he can be of any assistance.

Yang Ping hasn’t used robotic surgery much in his past operations. Manager Gu wouldn’t have thought of him if it weren’t for this competition.

Manager Gu, a middle-aged senior technician entering his middle-aged years, with the savvy gained from experience, is quick to follow Yang Ping around to see if he requires any assistance whenever he learns that Yang Ping would definitely win the competition.

His search aims to showcase Tian Ji’s robotic strength by controlling a robotic surgery from over a thousand kilometers away with 5G during the competition, so as to create a sensational effect.

But this plan is rejected by Yang Ping, because in the current orthopedic robotic surgery, remote control robotic arm can only complete a part of the steps, many other steps still require the doctor. So his control over the entire operation would be lost.

If he can’t control the whole operation, he can’t guarantee its safety, which is unacceptable to Yang Ping.

When it comes to surgery, being careful is the key.

To demonstrate his loyalty, the technician brings a pencil for training and a paintbrush and board for demonstrations.

After Dr. Tan completes the remaining steps of the surgery, the technician mounts a pencil on the robotic arm, holding drawing board in his hand, and asks Yang Ping to draw a few letters casually on the board.

Draw letters? That’s underestimating him.

The robotic arm, under Yang Ping’s control, begins to draw. With every stroke and contour meticulously outlined, a detailed skeletal anatomy illustration gradually appears on the drawing board. Finally, Yang Ping signs his name on it.

The technician treasures the drawing like a priceless possession. People nearby gather to see it. He’s worried that someone might damage the drawing, as it’s an excellent promotional material. Wherever he brings it to display in the future, the strength of Tian Ji is evident in this painting, with no words needed to explain.

A surgical robot that can draw? Everyone’s seeing this for the first time.

Whether it’s the Da Vinci’s hot dance or Tian Ji’s skeletal anatomy, Dean Xia is relieved. The Golden Knife Award is bound to go to Sanbo.

“Are the competition cases prepared?”

Dean Xia asked with concern.

“They’re all prepared,” said Director Han with a big smile.

“Pick the classic cases for the competition. The one about the cervical fracture just now isn’t bad. As for the costs, the hospital will cover the operation start-up fees for surgery cases,” Dean Xia said generously. In order to win the Golden Knife Award, this amount of money is not an issue.

“How about I try to set up a training center at your hospital?” Manager Gu said, expressing his admiration. He’s visited many hospitals, but hasn’t seen anyone quite as proficient with their robotic system.

“Have you played before?” Manager Gu carefully asks.

Yang Ping, seeing that he keeps following, sends him off with, “This isn’t difficult, it’s similar to a child’s toy bulldozer. You get proficient after playing it a few times.”

Awkwardly, Manager Gu adjusts his sterilization cap and mask. A $15 million high-tech device is being compared to a child’s toy bulldozer.

After thinking about it, Manager Gu realizes that coarse words sometimes express an accurate idea. That’s exactly the principle here, it’s just a high-end remote control toy.

Naming it a “robot” feels a bit excessive.

The Da Vinci next door is also a high-end remote control toy, just with a few more robotic arms and a slightly higher technical content.

They’re obviously remote control toys, so why are they named robots? Even Manager Gu couldn’t figure that out.