In the field of medicine, neurology had always been a thorny field, especially when it came to spinal nerves. The situation would become particularly complicated.
If the end of the spinal nerve was damaged, the entire lower body would be paralyzed. In such a situation, doctors would tell the patient that it was basically impossible to stand up again.
Li Gaoliang's situation was the same. Once the central nerve cells were damaged, they could not be regenerated. Even the best doctor couldn't make a paralyzed person stand up again.
However, what Lu Zhou planned to use wasn't a conventional treatment.
A nerve signal modem was implanted at both ends of the damaged spinal nerve. At the same time, the damaged nerve was covered by a simulated nerve sensing device made of molybdenum/titanium alloy.
It was equivalent to building a bridge over the damaged spinal nerve, using electrical signals to replace the complex signal transmission between neuronal cells, and using the "translators" at both ends to achieve the translation of electrical signals and nerve signals, controlling the titanium alloy skeleton with a built-in electric drive device to achieve the effect of restoring the motor function of the patient's legs.
In order to maximize the restoration of the patient's athletic ability and to extend the shelf life of this neural prosthesis, the titanium alloy skeleton used in the legs was jointly designed by the Institute of Computational Materials and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
The unit price per gram averaged more than US $2,000, which meant that one kilogram would cost at least US $2 million.
Including the value of the nerve connection device itself, the cost of installing this entire set of equipment was almost comparable to a main battle tank …
However, there was nothing wrong with this analogy. After this transformation, almost half of his lower body parts had been replaced with machinery. Although it was certainly not as exaggerated as the Terminator in the movies, once he was able to fully adapt to this transformation, his athletic ability and reflexes would not be a problem for him to completely surpass ordinary people.
In the operating room.
The anesthesiologist was ready to start anesthesia at any time.
The chief surgeon, who had already put on gloves, took out the surgical tools and looked at Li Gaoliang before the operation began.
"Are you ready?"
Li Gaoliang, who was lying on the operating table, calmly nodded.
"I'm ready, let's get started."
All of the preparations were ready, and the operation soon began.
Wang Peng stood outside the operating room. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up. He then quickly put it out and threw it into the trash can.
After pacing back and forth, he couldn't help but look at Lu Zhou sitting on the bench.
"Do you think the operation will be successful?"
Lu Zhou shook his head and said simply, "I don't have 100% confidence. I can only say that I've tried my best to minimize the risk."
In order to ensure that the surgery was foolproof, Star Sky Technology specially invited the most experienced chief surgeon from Beijing. Before the surgery began, they used a 1: 1 model to practice countless times.
Even so, Lu Zhou could not guarantee that there would be no accidents during the surgery.
Wang Peng nodded and didn't say anything. He just stared at the door of the operating room in silence. He clenched his fists and silently prayed for the safety of his old comrade.
The surgery took a long time.
The original plan was to end at 6: 00 PM, but it dragged on until 3: 00 AM.
He was dozing off on the bench at the entrance of the operating theater when he was suddenly woken up by the sound of the operating theater door being pushed open. When he saw the chief surgeon walking out of the operating theater, Lu Zhou stood up and walked forward without saying a word.
"How's the situation? Did the surgery go well? "
The chief surgeon took off the mask on his face and looked at Lu Zhou with a tired face.
"The surgery is basically a success … As for whether or not it will work, we'll only know after the patient wakes up."
When Lu Zhou heard the chief surgeon's words, he finally let out a sigh of relief. His heart was finally at ease.
Wang Peng, who was standing next to him, finally relaxed his clenched fists. He looked at the doctor gratefully and spoke.
"Thank you!"
"Don't thank me, it's mainly because the patient's physical fitness is good. To be honest, this is the first time I've done such a messy surgery … I've never even heard of spinal nerve bridging before."
When the chief surgeon said this, he also had a look of emotion on his face.
Although to the people outside the operating theater, the outcome of the surgery could only be described as a simple success or failure, for him, the chief surgeon, every minute of the ten hours or so had been extremely thrilling.
After pausing for a second, the chief surgeon spoke.
"Generally speaking, if a spinal cord injury causes its nerve fibers to be severed, it can't be regenerated. Therefore, the paralysis caused by this injury is basically permanent … If he can really stand up again, he might become a miracle in the history of medicine."
"I hope we can create a miracle." Lu Zhou nodded at the chief surgeon and said, "You should go rest too."
The chief surgeon forced a smile.
"Even if you didn't say that, I wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer."
After more than ten hours of continuous focus on the operating table, his mind was already on the verge of exhaustion.
…
After the surgery was over.
Li Gaoliang slept until the next morning. He was lying on the hospital bed, and he finally woke up from his coma.
Although the anesthesiologist in charge of anesthesia was very experienced and had perfect control of the dosage, it would still take a lot of time for the anesthetic to wear off after the surgery, which was near the central nervous system. As a result, he could only open his eyes now. He could not speak, and his entire body was like a wooden man.
After hearing that he had woken up, Lu Zhou, who was at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, immediately rushed over.
When he arrived at the ward, Li Gaoliang was lying on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
Only his eyeballs and some of the muscles on his face could move. After hearing the movement at the door of the ward, his eyeballs moved slightly, and he looked in the direction of Lu Zhou.
"How do you feel?"
Li Gaoliang's facial muscles twitched, but he still couldn't open his mouth.
"Sorry, I forgot that you can't speak yet." Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He paused for a second and said, "The surgery was very successful. According to the doctor, you should be able to get out of bed in a week. As for whether you can adapt to your new body, it depends on how well you do after the surgery. I believe that since you survived the surgery, this shouldn't be a big deal. "
Li Gaoliang didn't say anything. He just stared intently at Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou read a touch of gratitude in Li Gaoliang's eyes, and he smiled nonchalantly.
"Anyway, it's great that you're safe and sound.
"You should rest well for the next few days. I won't disturb your recovery. When you can get out of bed, I'll come to see you again."
"I …"
The muscles on Li Gaoliang's face twitched. He barely opened his mouth, and he struggled to speak.
"Thank you, thank you."
"You're welcome."
Lu Zhou smiled and nodded at him.
After that, he turned around and walked away.
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