Chapter 308: 750 X-ray Machine Unveiled
The tuberculosis department of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has opened.
Even though the Chinese medicine hospital did not use any advertising and did not invite any leaders, many colleagues still came to watch the fun.
The hospitals that came here include Union Hospital, Digital Hospital, Railway General Hospital, Friendship Hospital, Fuxing Hospital, etc. They are all comprehensive Western medicine hospitals.
However, the directors of these hospitals were all stopped in the conference room by Vice President Ji and asked to drink boiled water, on the grounds that the Chinese medicine hospital still had to prepare for the opening ceremony.
This opening ceremony did not involve setting off firecrackers, hanging colorful balloons, or having a leader cut the ribbon.
At the foot of Baihu Mountain, at the entrance of the Tuberculosis Department.
Dean Shen was holding a big rooster, looking around stealthily. After finding that no one was watching, he aimed the kitchen knife at the chicken's neck and pulled it. As the rooster struggled, blood spurted out.
Dean Shen then lit the candles again, placed the chicken in the middle, and placed some cakes and fruits as offerings next to it. He quickly bowed a few times, then quickly blew out the candles and quickly put the rooster's body into the bag.
The whole process took no more than 3 minutes.
Lin Sanqi was lying on the wall at this time, looking around vigilantly to prevent anyone from seeing this "opening ceremony".
Sacrifices are absolutely not allowed in this era, especially D party cadres should take the lead in rejecting feudal superstitions.
But there is no way. The dean of the hospital, Shen Guoming, is from the south, the director of the department, Lin Sanqi, is also from the south, and even the Chinese medicine consultant of the tuberculosis department, Mr. Shi Jinmo, is also from the south.
Southerners still have great respect for ghosts and gods in their hearts, especially the Ming Tombs, which are full of gloomy energy and they will not feel at ease if they don’t worship them.
"Uncle Shen, are you okay?"
"Alright, alright, come here and quickly bury the candle ashes. I bought this rooster with great difficulty. Tell Aunt Li to quickly clean it up. We'll have boiled chicken for lunch."
The two of them cleaned up the scene as quickly as thieves, destroyed the corpse, and then became happy:
"Alright, Xiao Qi, I'll leave the Tuberculosis Department to you. Many deans from major hospitals are here today, so you have to do your best to make a name for yourself. You have to make our hospital famous, shocking our colleagues and making it known throughout the country."
Lin Sanqi thought that by then it would probably be known all over the world and would definitely go beyond Asia and face the world.
"Uncle Shen, don't worry, just wait for the moment to steal the fruits of the revolutionary victory."
Using later Western medicines and Western medical diagnosis and treatment plans, and standing on the shoulders of decades of experience of medical researchers, isn't that stealing the fruits of other people's victory?
Dean Shen kicked Lin Sanqi on the butt: "Get lost, do you think I'm Yuan Datou?"
…
…
After the clinic opened, the tuberculosis ward was very lively today. In addition to the department director Lin Sanqi and many leaders of the Chinese Medicine Hospital, there were also 7 college student employees and a 24-year-old apprentice, who occupied most of the yard.
In addition, there were leaders from major hospitals in the capital, fellow doctors from the respiratory and infectious disease departments, and some leaders from the health bureau.
The small courtyard of the tuberculosis department was packed, and Lin Sanqi had to move his desk to the courtyard so that everyone could "intern" nearby.
Today's patients are two famous people, Ma Lianliang and Zhao Yanxia.
Ma Lianliang and Zhao Yanxia are both actors. Actors are naturally free-spirited and don't care much about being watched by the crowd.
So after Dean Shen and Lin Sanqi persuaded them, the two famous actors agreed to act as models for today. While treating the disease, they also wanted to explore a set of useful experiences for the treatment of tuberculosis.
Although the artists asked for food at a high price, their ideas were still very advanced. Many of them fled to northern Shaanxi after the liberation, and many of them eventually became wealthy women. Some were so capable that they even called General Lei's front-line command post from thousands of miles away...
Ma Lianliang was wearing a long gown and sitting quietly on a stool.
Lin Sanqi, wearing a white coat and an N95 mask, looked back at the people in the courtyard. Everyone was also wearing an N95 mask. Then he nodded and said:
"Then I'll start."
The film camera lens was aimed, and college student Zhou Wenliang pressed the button, and the world's first case of tuberculosis treatment using Chinese and Western medicine began.
The camera was purchased by Lin Sanqi from Hong Kong. For smugglers, the entire camera and radio were very common and no one was surprised by them.
Lin: "Mr. Ma, when did you start feeling unwell?"
Ma: "It was about five years ago. I always felt weak. I thought it was because I was too tired from performing. Later, I kept coughing and expectorating. I saw many doctors, but there was no effect. I became thinner and thinner.
On a friend's recommendation, I went to a traditional Chinese medicine hospital for treatment and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. My family was worried, so they sent me to Union Hospital, where I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. I then took a lot of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
At this time, Lin Sanqi said to everyone in the yard:
"Mr. Ma's case is quite special because he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis in advance, and the diagnosis was made by both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, so there was little chance of error in the diagnosis.
But if we encounter similar patients in clinical practice, how do we determine whether it is pulmonary tuberculosis? One way is to look at the clinical symptoms. If you encounter a patient in clinical practice who has been coughing and expectorating for more than two weeks, accompanied by low-grade fever and night sweats, you should highly suspect pulmonary tuberculosis!
Dean Shen was a little anxious after hearing this, and reminded in a low voice:
"It's pulmonary tuberculosis. Don't keep saying pulmonary tuberculosis. Use the term pulmonary tuberculosis, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine."
Lin Sanqi was a little embarrassed. He had become accustomed to using Western medical terms when he entered the working state. So he nodded slightly to indicate that he understood and continued:
"If a doctor strongly suspects a patient has tuberculosis, they generally need to perform several tests to confirm the diagnosis. Traditional Chinese medicine doctors have their own unique methods. These are difficult to learn, so we won't discuss them for now.
From the perspective of our Western medicine, ahem, from the perspective of our doctors, there are two types of preliminary screening: tuberculin test and tuberculosis antibody test.
But I want to tell you that these two tests are unreliable, with very high rates of false positives and false negatives, which can affect doctors’ judgment.”
At this time, the supporting actor needs to appear. College student Geng Fuxing raised his hand and said:
"Director Lin, when we're in the outpatient clinic, how do we determine if it's pulmonary... tuberculosis?"
Lin Sanqi nodded, thinking that the college students were indeed smart. The eyes of those 24 soldiers were full of clear stupidity, even though he had given them two weeks of sudden training.
"There are two ways to confirm whether it is tuberculosis. One is sputum culture, which is easy to understand. It is to perform quantitative culture on the patient's sputum. As long as tuberculosis bacteria are found, it can be confirmed.
The other is a pathological examination, which is more involved. It involves either a surgical procedure to open the chest and remove a small amount of lung tissue. Or a puncture is performed, where a long needle is inserted into the lung to remove a small sample for a biopsy.
Many directors and doctors from other hospitals who attended the lecture were somewhat opposed to it, thinking that Lin Sanqi was wrong.
In 1960, the domestic Western medicine community focused on clinical practice and paid less attention to laboratory testing. One reason was that the conditions did not allow it, and the other was that time did not allow it.
For example, sputum culture for tuberculosis often takes 2 to 8 weeks. If a patient comes to see you, do you ask him to come back 2 months later? This is obviously impossible.
Then a doctor from another hospital stood up and asked:
"Director Lin, as far as I know, sputum culture isn't 100% accurate. Some patients can't cough up sputum on their own, and some sputum specimens are easily contaminated. So, isn't using sputum culture as the gold standard for diagnosis inaccurate at this time?"
Lin Sanqi was not annoyed by the doubts. The more he argued, the clearer the truth became. It is normal to have doubts, and people should not be silenced at every turn.
"That's a good question. The accuracy of sputum culture is about 80% to 90%, which is certainly not 100%. But logically speaking, as long as we find tuberculosis bacteria in the sputum, we can definitely confirm the diagnosis, right?
As for lung tissue examinations, they involve surgery and needles, which most people wouldn't accept, and most doctors wouldn't perform them. So what should we do then?"
Doctor Feng Xinmin of Union Hospital shouted half-seriously:
"Then we need an X-ray for diagnosis. But the question is, where can you find an X-ray machine in your hospital?"
"That's right. Traditional Chinese medicine hospitals only take pulses and examine the tongue coating. Since sputum culture isn't always accurate, how does traditional Chinese medicine confirm a diagnosis?"
"Come on, Director Lin, let us see your innovative diagnosis and treatment plan."
“Hehehe~~~”
In 1960, the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was definitely the best in the country in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and all colleagues knew this.
But everyone also knows that the Chinese medicine hospital follows the traditional medicine route and does not have the testing equipment and instruments of a modern hospital, so several directors of other hospitals began to take the opportunity to joke.
It's not really a mockery.
It's true that people are angry. The Chinese medicine hospital has plenty of food and even built a new farm. Looking at the cornfield that is already half a person's height, everyone is envious.
As a result, everyone laughed for a long time and found that Dean Shen, Vice Dean Ji, Lin Sanqi and other people from the Chinese Medicine Hospital did not have any expressions of shame, frustration or anger. Instead, they were all very calm.
So everyone became restless.
Dean Tu thought about how the Chinese Medicine Hospital had dared to be the first in the country to propose a "tuberculosis specialty department," and then thought about the miraculous effects of Lin Sanqi in the past, and he took a deep breath.
"Oh shit, Old Shen, did you guys buy the X-ray machine?"
Dean Shen raised his chin and said, "Of course. Our X-ray machine is the most advanced 750 mAh machine, which is clearer and the results will be amazing."
When the colleagues from the external hospital heard this, they all narrowed their eyes.
Dean Shen glanced at them, chuckled, and continued to stimulate:
"If the site wasn't so small, we would have installed seven, eight, or even ten X-ray machines. We only have two now, and we don't know if that's enough."
"Two? You have two 750mAh X-ray machines here?"
Whether it was President Tu, President Liu, President Dai, or the heads of departments of other major hospitals, they all stood up excitedly, their faces turning visibly red.
Of course the eyes are redder.
Dean Liu Shengli of the Digital Hospital pointed at Dean Shen and asked:
"Old Shen, how many patients do you have in the tuberculosis department now?"
Dean Shen blinked and said innocently:
"We have two patients currently admitted. They are both artists. The other eight patients are our hospital staff and are not officially considered patients for now."
Liu Shengli waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, count these eight. You have ten patients in total, right?"
"Yeah, what's the matter?"
"Damn it, Shen Guoming, you want to die, you dare to use two X-ray machines for 10 patients? You are like a little cow taking a plane, you are so awesome!"
Dean Tu Bin of Union Hospital also cursed:
"Old Shen, Old Shen, you know our Union Hospital has 1,500 beds and hundreds of thousands of outpatient visits every year. How many X-ray machines do we have? One, and we only have one 400 mAh X-ray machine. How dare you use two 750 mAh X-ray machines for just 10 patients?"
Dai Youzhong, the director of Friendship Hospital, also shook his head:
"This is too much, too much. The higher-ups are so partial. Why are all the good stuff going to the Chinese Medicine Hospital?"
Director Zhu of the Health Bureau quickly jumped out to clarify:
"It's unfair! I'm being wronged! Our health bureau has no idea where these two X-ray machines at the Chinese Medicine Hospital came from or how much they cost. I just found out about this just like you did. Old Shen, you're lying!!!"
Liu Shengli became angrier and angrier as he thought about it, his eyes growing redder. Suddenly, he saw Lin Sanqi retreating into a corner, so he ran over and grabbed him by the neck.
"Hey kid, where are you running to? Tell me, did you get this X-ray machine? Have you forgotten that you are also a part of the Digital Hospital? You are also my deputy director of the procurement department!"
Lin Sanqi felt pain and quickly begged for mercy: "No, no, no, Lao Liu, please give me some face."
Pan Ye was so frightened that tears were about to fall out. He quickly stepped forward and shouted, "Director Liu, he's going to strangle me to death! He's going to strangle me to death!"
Liu Shengli was furious at the time, and when he heard Lin Sanqi's plea for mercy, he hummed:
"Save face for you? Guard, bring me my pistol. I'm going to kill this guy first and then steal the X-ray machine. All my hard work has gone to waste."
In 1960, the most advanced X-ray machine in China was the 400 mAh X-ray machine, and the 750 mAh model was the main model that European and American countries had just equipped.
It was not until the early 1980s that 750 mAh machines began to be produced in large quantities in China, and it was not until the late 1980s that 1250 mAh X-ray machines began to appear in China.
This is also the reason why several hospital directors started to get angry when they heard that the Chinese medicine hospital had a 750 mAh X-ray machine. Who wouldn’t want such an advanced machine?
Seeing that several deans were about to arm themselves to seize the X-ray machine, Lin Sanqi quickly shouted:
"Old Liu, I don't like what you're saying. I'm the deputy director of the purchasing department at your digital hospital. Have you ever paid me a salary? Have you ever allocated me housing? You just gave me a work ID, and you expect to get something for nothing?"
Liu Shengli thought for a moment and asked curiously, "Did I forget to pay you?"
"No, I haven't. You haven't even paid me a month's salary. I don't even know which way the door of your purchasing department faces. How dare you say I'm one of your people?"
Dean Shen also sarcastically said at this time:
"When they need people, they move forward; when they don't, they move backward. Your Digital Hospital is really calculating."
Liu Shengli knew he was in the wrong, but he refused to admit defeat:
"Then isn't it too late for me to use it now? Lin Sanqi, I order you to report to the Digital Hospital immediately tomorrow. I will also set up a special tuberculosis department just for you."
Lin Sanqi was speechless. Today was a teaching clinic, with so many students watching, and yet the deans were the first to get into a fight.
"Stop, stop, stop. What's wrong with you deans? Teacher Ma and Teacher Zhao are here, and there are so many new employees and interns watching, and you're just making a scene like this? Where's the Qi-cultivation skills you promised? How can you set a good example for the younger generation?"
Ma Lianliang quickly waved his hands to indicate that he saw nothing.
Zhao Yanxia looked indifferent. She was an extraordinary woman, a Mulan-like figure who watched the ups and downs of life with a smile.
Dean Liu is a soldier, and all soldiers are straight men. At this time, he had already waved his hand:
"I don't care. Your Chinese medicine hospital doesn't need two X-ray machines. I'll pack one up and take it away. Just tell me how much it costs and I'll pay it."
Dean Shen was also anxious: "How dare you? This is our Chinese medicine hospital's territory. We have thousands of employees and their families combined. Try to move our X-ray machine."
“Just give it a try!”
"You want to die? You are no match for Old Wen. Did you eat ginseng?" Dean Shen was so anxious that he blurted out his hometown dialect, which stunned everyone present.
Lin Sanqi quickly dissuaded him:
"Don't worry, everyone. I still have a 750 mAh X-ray machine on hand. I'll give you a friendly price, the cost price, the bargain price, 150,000 yuan per machine. You can exchange it with me for ginseng, musk, bezoar, and other precious medicinal materials worth 150,000 yuan."
Dean Liu, Dean Tu and others were delighted when they heard that Lin Sanqi had an X-ray machine, but they became a little embarrassed when they heard that he also needed Chinese medicinal herbs.
The Digital Hospital is better because they have a Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, and this hospital has connections everywhere, so it is easy to get any medicinal materials.
However, Union Hospital is a purely Western medicine comprehensive hospital. There are no Chinese medicinal materials in the hospital, and there are no corresponding supply channels in the society. This made Director Tu a little worried.
Just when Dean Tu was worried, Vice Dean Ye next to him had an idea:
"Old Butcher, aren't we going to visit North Korea soon? They produce ginseng there. We can just ask them to buy some. It wouldn't take much to build an X-ray machine."
When Dean Tu heard this, his eyes lit up and he nodded heavily.
"Comrade Xiaolin, okay, then our Union Hospital needs two X-ray machines. I'll try to get them for you next month for the 300,000 ginseng. Before that, you must keep this X-ray machine for me."
Dean Liu counted on his fingers:
"Kid, I don't just represent our Digital Hospital. You know we have many sister units in the military medical system. So, I need 10 X-ray machines. You can go get them. Each one costs 150,000 yuan, so it shouldn't be a problem for several of our hospitals to pool their resources."
Subsequently, several other hospitals also came forward to request the purchase of X-ray machines, and the remaining dozen or so X-ray machines were sold out in a short time.
The name of Lin Sanqi from the Chinese Hospital of Timely Rain has now spread throughout the health system. Everyone knows that the Chinese Hospital of Timely Rain has such a capable person who can get things that others cannot get, from food to advanced equipment.
Therefore, no one had any doubt that Lin Sanqi could provide the X-ray machine. Since their superiors had tacitly agreed, they naturally would not be timid.
When advanced foreign equipment comes to China, there is no way China will suffer any loss and there is no reason to stop it.
It's just like when a little boy and a little girl fall in love. If something unexpected happens, the boy will never suffer any loss, so what is there to be afraid of?
It can only be said that these hospitals did not lose money, but Lin Sanqi made a huge profit. The cost of 100,000 yuan per unit in 2024 was equivalent to 150,000 yuan of medicinal materials in 1960. Taking inflation into account, Lin Sanqi is making a lot of money.
After the farce ended, Lin Sanqi continued to treat Ma Lianliang and Zhao Yanxia.
Lin Sanqi personally operated the X-ray machine and took a frontal and lateral X-ray of each of the two Peking Opera actors, and then immediately arranged for students to develop them.
Compared with the previous X-rays from Union Hospital, the ones from the Chinese Medicine Hospital are obviously clearer.
But it was this one look that revealed the problem. On Ma Lianliang's X-ray film, many white spots of varying sizes, not very evenly distributed, could be seen in both lungs.
Lin Sanqi frowned. The directors of other hospitals knew the problem after seeing it, but most people at the scene were confused.
Even Ma Lianliang himself was a little nervous, sitting there with his fists clenched tightly.
One university student couldn't help but ask, "Director Lin, how do you interpret Teacher Ma's film? This seems similar to the miliary tuberculosis you mentioned earlier."
Lin Sanqi looked back and saw that it was his new recruit, Fan Zili, so he nodded with satisfaction:
"Student Fan listened very carefully in class and deserves praise. Did you all understand? This film is a typical example of chronic miliary tuberculosis.
Let me explain again. Acute miliary tuberculosis is caused by a large number of Mycobacterium tuberculosis invading the body at one time and entering the lungs along the blood circulation. It manifests as many miliary-like dense shadows of uniform size in the lungs.
The most typical acute miliary tuberculosis presents three uniform signs, namely: uniform size of miliary shadows, uniform distribution of lung fields, and uniform density of shadows. Some people also call it the three uniform syndrome.
However, the uneven white spot phenomenon on Teacher Ma’s X-ray generally indicates that tuberculosis has transformed into chronic miliary type, which we generally describe as "three unevennesses".
Why do the three unevennesses appear? That's because over time, some tuberculosis nodules heal on their own, while others fuse together and grow larger, resulting in the appearance of white spots of varying sizes.
Fan Zili continued to ask, "Then Director Lin, what does it mean if we see three uneven films in clinical practice?"
Lin Sanqi glanced at Ma Lianliang and knew that this kind of teaching clinic could not be sloppy, so he said bluntly:
"This indicates a serious condition. Teacher Ma previously said that he had low-grade fever and cough in the early stages of the illness. Five years later, as it has progressed to this day, he must be experiencing frequent high fevers, difficulty breathing, and other systemic symptoms of poisoning. Is this also the reason why Teacher Ma can't perform on stage right now?"
Ma Lianliang sighed when he heard this:
"Yes, yes, yes. We opera singers must breathe steadily and long, but now I have trouble even speaking. I'm sweating all over after walking around. If I were to perform on stage, I'd probably die. By the way, Doctor Lin, is there any cure for my illness?"
From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, Ma Lianliang was already terminally ill and no god could save him.
But in Lin Sanqi's eyes, a small case of tuberculosis is easy to control!
(End of this chapter)
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