Doctor: start with the heart

Chapter 113 Extraction of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

three days later.

Stem Cell Research Center.

Inside a sterile laminar flow laboratory.

Zhao Xu and Sun Chang were in the laboratory, preparing to perform the first minimally invasive operation on Li Jun lying on the operating table, that is, to obtain normal spinal cord mesenchymal stem cells from his spinal cord, and then perform the surgery on Li Jun. The spinal cord mesenchymal stem cells obtained were purposefully differentiated and cultivated, and then reinjected into Li Jun's spine to repair Li Jun's damaged spinal nerves.

Outside the laboratory, through the glass curtain wall, the dean, Wang Ming, the team members of the research center, and the directors of each department are all outside at this time.

The establishment of a national-level stem cell research center was originally a major event in the First Affiliated Hospital, so doctors in various departments paid close attention to it.

And this high paraplegic patient is the first patient to undergo stem cell therapy since the establishment of stem cells.

All the doctors in the First Affiliated Hospital are watching whether this first shot can be fired.

"Director Wang, this is the first stem cell therapy since the stem cell center was established."

Standing next to director Wang Ming, the dean looked at Zhao Xu and Sun Chang who were preparing for the first minimally invasive surgery in the laboratory, and said with emotion.

As the top hospital in the country, the First Affiliated Hospital naturally has a lot of clinical research projects, and most of them are of very high level.

But none of these scientific research projects can be compared with stem cell therapy.

It can be said that stem cell therapy is a new treatment method that can change the entire medical industry.

If we say that the previous era was drug therapy, then starting from stem cell therapy, the whole world has entered the era of cell therapy.

"Yes, Dean, this represents a whole new approach to treatment."

Wang Ming also said with the same feeling.

"The times are advancing too fast. Think about when we first started working, that was 30 years ago. At that time, antibiotics were still a high-end medical method that only a few people could use. Look now, it has entered cell therapy It’s time for us old guys. It won’t take long for us old guys to retire. From now on, it’s the age of young people.”

The dean looked at Zhao Xu in the laboratory and was filled with emotion.

Such a young man, in their time, had just stepped into the clinic and followed the superior doctors to accumulate surgical and clinical experience.

A doctor of Zhao Xu's age would at best help a superior doctor to pull a check mark during an operation, but looking at Zhao Xu now, his growth has surpassed the imagination of the older generation of doctors!

"Xiao Zhao is always a very small number. In fact, I feel that the young doctors today lack the spirit of our generation of doctors. Although the times have changed and the requirements for doctors are different, this kind of dedication is true. Common."

Wang Ming said with great emotion.

"Old Wang, if your words are heard by young doctors, they will hate you in private. Nowadays, when young people mention the word dedication, it's like mentioning a magic spell. Now, it's all about treatment. , Speaking of reality, did you not see, even I, in the hospital committee, or when communicating publicly with young doctors in the hospital, I have rarely mentioned dedication. The times have changed, and we should follow Change."

The dean said these words, somewhat sentimental.

In other words, there is a sense of powerlessness without successors.

"You and I, although we have some abilities and resources, are just two old guys who are behind the times. I don't care about other things now, I just want to see how far Xiao Zhao can go."

Wang Ming put a lot of hope in Zhao Xu, which was something he dreamed of but never realized.

"Yes, I think the same way. We can help him now, help him more."

The dean nodded, he had the same idea as Wang Ming.

inside the laboratory.

Li Jun had already been anesthetized, and he was lying on the operating table with his eyes closed and his breathing calm.

The anesthetist also stood by and waited.

The next step is to make a minimally invasive incision, and then insert a very thin catheter deep into the spinal cord to collect normal spinal cord mesenchymal stem cells.

Although this operation sounds simple, it is very difficult in practice.

The spinal cord is the channel connecting the brain and the body. After the brain sends out a signal, it sends the signal through the spinal cord to various parts of the body, controlling the sensation and movement of the limbs.

The spinal cord is located in the spinal canal, which sends out paired nerve bundles, which are distributed to all parts of the body and limbs, and control the sensation and muscle movement of the limbs of the body.

Therefore, the spinal cord is the center of the human body, and any operation on this place must be done with caution!

Most importantly, the patient has been paralyzed for many years, and it is completely unknown how many normal mesenchymal stem cells are left in the spinal cord.

If you can't find enough spinal cord mesenchymal stem cells, then there will be no way to talk about stem cell therapy.

Of course, if he really couldn't find normal spinal cord mesenchymal stem cells, Zhao Xu had an alternative plan, but this alternative plan was more difficult and complicated.

It is naturally the best to be able to succeed with a simple plan.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, Zhao Xu would not choose an alternative plan.

This operation, visually speaking, is like driving a car on a minefield on a battlefield.

Where there is thunder and how to avoid it is entirely the experience of the practitioner.

If one is not careful, if the patient's spinal cord is damaged due to the operation, the patient will suffer cardiac arrest in an instant!
"The patient's breathing and heart rate are normal and can begin."

The anesthesiologist looked at the life monitor and said to Zhao Xu.

"Well, let's get started."

Zhao Xu nodded and said to Sun Chang.

Sun Chang also held his breath, preparing to cooperate with Zhao Xu in the operation.

Next, Zhao Xu first used a microwave scalpel to make a 1cm incision on the selected part.

Considering that the patient will undergo major spinal surgery in the future, it is not possible to make too large an incision on the patient. However, if the incision is small, the surgical field of view will be small, which places higher demands on the surgeon.

After Zhao Xu's operation, the doctors who watched the operation in real time outside the laboratory immediately discussed it.

"With such a small incision, the surgical field of view is simply not enough!"

"Yes, the surgical field of view is too small, and it is impossible to find a suitable place to enter the catheter."

"The surgical incision needs to be enlarged at least twice to find a suitable place to insert the catheter. With such a small incision, it is all based on experience."

Hearing the discussions of the surrounding doctors, the dean turned to Wang Ming and said, "Old Wang, what do you think?"

"Very people have extraordinary methods. Of course, expanding the incision can have a better surgical field of view and make surgery more convenient. However, considering that this patient has been bedridden for many years, the recovery of the body is very poor. If the incision is too large, if it cannot heal or heal If it is slow, it will have a great impact on the next operation. Although Xiao Zhao has made a small incision now, I believe he has the ability to accurately find the position of the catheter."

Wang Ming could understand what Zhao Xu was thinking when he saw Zhao Xu's manipulation.

Zhao Xu had been under him for so long, and he knew Zhao Xu's surgical philosophy very well.

To put it simply, Zhao Xu's operation philosophy is to minimize the damage caused by the operation and use various methods to speed up the patient's recovery to the greatest extent.

Perhaps seeing this, someone will ask, isn’t this the philosophy that all doctors should adhere to?

This is true in theory, but in reality, every doctor has a different skill level.

To achieve the ideal state that Zhao Xu insisted on, a very high level of technology and meticulous operation was required, which was beyond the reach of ordinary doctors.

"Well, that's fine."

Hearing Wang Ming's words, the dean was also relieved.

This treatment is very important for this newly established research center. If there is a good start, then the situation will be opened at once.

inside the laboratory.

Seeing that Zhao Xu had just made a 0.5cm surgical incision, Sun Chang's heart tightened a little. However, she and Zhao Xu had been working together for a long time, and she fully trusted Zhao Xu's level.

Zhao Xu put his right hand slightly around the surgical incision, and a wonderful feeling came from his right hand. The skin, fascia, nerves, blood vessels, and bones centered on the position where the right palm touched, a clear [-]D scanning model The image appeared in Zhao Xu's mind.

For a doctor, it may take constant trial and error to find the best position with his rich experience and some luck, but for Zhao Xu, it's as simple as finding out the best position according to the picture.

It can be said that for Zhao Xu now, the degree of difficulty of the operation is nothing more than the time spent for him.

"Okay, introduce the catheter."

Zhao Xu confirmed the location and said to Sun Chang.

"Ah."

Sun Chang nodded.

As Sun Chang introduced the catheter from the position designated by Zhao Xu, the doctors outside the laboratory began to discuss again.

"This will determine the location?"

"Could it be possible to have clairvoyant eyes?"

"I really don't know whether to say that this is the daring of a high-level artist, or simply taking a risk!"

"Just wait and see, I think he should be successful."

In the eyes of these doctors, Zhao Xu's operation was completely different from the normal surgical procedure.

Under normal circumstances, even an experienced surgeon must go through experience, a little trial and observation before he can determine the location.

But Zhao Xu determined the location just by probing with his right hand, which seemed a little unbelievable to other doctors.

Although the doctors who were watching had doubts, this did not affect Zhao Xu and Sun Chang's operations.

In the laboratory, as the extremely fine catheter is slowly introduced, the tiny camera at the end of the catheter transmits the collected images to the electronic screen in real time.

"It's here, you can start sampling."

When Zhao Xu saw that the catheter had reached a certain position, he spoke to Sun Chang.

"Ah."

Sun Chang nodded. Although he had cooperated with Zhao Xu for many operations, Sun Chang was still a little surprised.

The sampling this time went incredibly smoothly.

Without any obstacles or stops, under Zhao Xu's guidance, it was a matter of course, and the catheter reached the exact position.

Sun Chang had never had such an extremely smooth surgical experience before.

It will take some time for the sampling. With this time, Zhao Xu also carefully observes the specific situation in the patient's body.

"It seems that the situation is better than we thought. Although the sensory nerves of the spinal cord have been damaged, there is still a part of the spinal cord that has not lost its activity. In this way, there is no need to reshape the nerves from scratch."

Zhao Xu said to Sun Chang while watching the electronic screen.

"This is a bit unbelievable. Under normal circumstances, as long as the spinal cord nerves are damaged and ruptured, they will soon die. However, some spinal cord nerve cells in this patient have maintained normal activity."

Seeing this scene, Sun Chang said in surprise.

It can be said that this violates the normal pathological process.

"Maybe this has something to do with the patient's mental state. A good and positive mental state can stimulate and maintain the body's self-healing system. Although it is not enough to regenerate necrotic nerve cells, it still maintains the activity of some nerve cells. Moreover, you can see that the muscles of his whole body, although he has been bedridden for many years without any activity, still maintain a certain degree of activity."

Zhao Xu thought for a while and said.

The influence of people's spiritual and psychological states on the human body is a brand new field. In the past, research in this area was criticized as pseudoscience.

However, with the advancement of technological means, more and more studies have confirmed that the human spirit can have an impact on the state of the human body itself.

And, sometimes, this effect is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

"Can a positive attitude really have such a big impact on the body?"

Sun Chang still couldn't believe it.

"We generally remove things like mentality and spirit from matter. In fact, this is not rigorous. In essence, our psychological and spiritual activities, and the various emotional reactions we produce are actually caused by hormones in the human body. For example, endorphins, hormones and dopamine. Therefore, the effects of the mind and the body are mutual. If the mental state is extraordinary, the body will secrete some special and rare hormones to help the body heal itself .”

Zhao Xu said seriously.

For any phenomenon that arises and exists in this world, it is necessary to maintain an objective attitude to study.

Preconceived ideas are not acceptable. Although things cannot be quantified through technical means, it does not mean that they do not exist.

In the future, psychological and spiritual treatment will definitely develop and progress by leaps and bounds.

Among the new treatment methods envisaged by Zhao Xu, in addition to the technological innovation caused by stem cell treatment, psychological and spiritual treatment is also part of the blueprint.

"I haven't thought about it from this angle, but if you say this, at least in this patient, we have seen evidence."

Sun Chang nodded. Regardless of whether what Zhao Xu said was correct or not, at least in this patient, he did see the powerful influence of mental and psychological states on the body.

Soon, the sampling was over, and the patient was sent back to the intensive care unit.

The collected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells will be processed in the next step under sophisticated instruments.

The next step is to add a special inducer developed by Zhao Xu to the treated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, cultivate and differentiate the mesenchymal stem cells into corresponding bone marrow and nerve cells, and then inject them into the patient's body to complete the repair.

(End of this chapter)