Surgery Godfather-Chapter 592 - 539: Digital Human Project

After bidding farewell to Professor Liang, Yang Ping returned to the hospital, organized his materials, and went with his patient Fang Faquan.

Huang Jiacai was already waiting downstairs, they were going to the Digital Medical Laboratory at Nandu Medical University.

This laboratory is constantly studying the "Digital Human" project, which was stifling due to lack of funding.

Huang Jiacai took the initiative to approaching Professor He Jirong, the head of the lab, proposing a collaboration where Ruixing Company will provide continuous research funding.

At that time, Professor He was skeptical; "Digital Human" is a basic medical research, no company would be willing to invest money in it.

Such a purely fundamental project that can’t generate profits, is of no interest to enterprises.

Corporations prefer fast-paced projects that can make quick money.

Professor He doubted whether Boss Huang had ulterior motives. When Huang Jiacai handed him the cooperation agreement, there were no clauses requiring profits, only a request for sharing the results of the collaborative project.

Prudent Professor He took the agreement back for several days of consultation, then met with Huang Jiacai again with a try-it-out attitude and the two signed the agreement.

After signing the agreement, Huang Jiacai immediately made a phone call, and the account of Nandu Medical University left by Professor He received the first research fund from Ruixing Company---twenty million.

Twenty million!

So casually given, Professor He was a bit bewildered at the time.

At that time, Professor He saw the sincerity and courage of Huang Jiacai, feeling that his project had hope.

This is the first time Yang Ping met Professor He and it was also the first time he used Professor He’s "Digital Human" technology.

Yang Ping wants to use the "Digital Human" technology to construct a dynamic model for Fang Faquan’s motion system.

Then, using computer to optimize the force line, calculate the ostectomy site and direction, determine the pinhole position of the external fixation device, and perform dynamic simulation of the correction process.

These simulations could be done by Yang Ping in the system space.

But the experience gained in the system space can only serve as his own surgical reference, which he is not satisfied with.

He wants to elevate these experiences into scientific technologies that can contribute to medical advancement.

Therefore, the best choice is to simulate surgery with computers.

If they could use the data obtained in the system space for computer modelling, the computer simulation technology would become extremely accurate.

Professor He had been waiting at the entrance of the research building. The research building houses many labs, with the digital human project being just one of them.

The great respect shown by Huang Jiacai and Yang Ping towards him was not about Professor He bowing to his financial backer; it was because Huang Jiacai, a boss who only has high school education, had genuine vision and insight, and shows great respect for both Professor He and the other researchers.

Professor He and Huang Jiacai had already become friends who felt that they should have met earlier.

Today, Huang Jiacai bringing Yang Ping over indicates the importance he attaches to the task.

Of course, he doesn’t know the real relationship between Yang Ping and Huang Jiacai.

The digital medical laboratory occupies only half a level on the third floor. After introductions and socializing, Professor He took Yang Ping and Huang Jiacai to their usual office.

"If it’s convenient, shall we start building the model now?" Yang Ping proposed to start working as soon as he sat down.

"Yes, I am ready, President Huang informed me that Professor Yang needs to establish a model of lower limb walking function this time. We have just perfected the simulation of lower limb function. Without the module of digital human function, building this model would surely take several months. But now we have a module of digital human lower limb function, and by adding the module of external fixation, we could achieve modeling in just a few days. Once these modules become matured, modeling could be achieved in just a few hours." Professor He was very excited, feeling a sense of achievement when someone uses his technology.

Huang Jiacai said to Professor He, "Professor He, just call me Xiao Huang, avoid using the formal term ’President Huang’, it feels alienating."

Professor He liked this young man and immediately agreed, "When we had just started simulating lower limb functions, we encountered funding difficulties, and it was at this very moment that Xiao Huang made a generous donation of twenty million, enabling us to complete the lower limb walking function modeling in one effort."

Currently, the "Digital Human" is still at the anatomical human stage, and only the lower limb motion function has entered the functional human stage.

Professor He asked a graduate student to take Fang Faquan to the motion information collection room.

Professor He, Yang Ping, Huang Jiacai, and a few graduate students were in the computer room next door.

The two rooms were separated by a glass wall and connected by a small door.

The graduate student instructed Fang Faquan to perform movements according to the instructions, explaining each directive clearly and demonstrating as required.

The young man was somewhat clever and had a good learning capability, and quickly learned how to perform movements according to the instructions.

The floor of the motion information collection room and Fang Faquan’s body were both outfitted with many sensors, and high-definition high-speed cameras with different angles were installed on the ceiling and walls to capture different side profiles of motion states.

Slow walking was first, followed by sprinting, then jumping, abrupt stopping, and turning.

Each motion state needed to capture a lot of dynamic images.

On the computer screen in the lab, a model figure mimicked the same movements as Fang Faquan.

This model was a stripped-down human motion system consisting of only bones, joint capsules, ligaments, muscles, and tendons.

The image was a reconstruction composed of Fang Faquan’s skeletal CT 3D, muscles and tendons MRI 3D, combined with the Digital Human model.

Once Fang Faquan’s motion data was fully captured, the screen split in half.

One half still showed Fang Faquan’s model, while the other half showed the model of a normal person’s version of Fang Faquan.

The latter model was generated based on corrections to the former one.

Then, they demonstrated the dynamic process of transformation from deformity to normality using animation.

Yang Ping explained to Professor He and the graduate students how surgical interventions should be performed, what information surgeons need, and how the model can assist them.

These high-IQ masters and doctoral students, with medical backgrounds and computing research orientations, quickly grasped what Yang Ping was saying.

In the orthopedic correction process, they incorporated the effect of the external fixation frame into the model, and then found the optimal tension core line, which is the osteotomy line.

Based on biomechanics, they found the optimal distribution points for the holes in the external fixation frame.

Then, they used the external fixation frame to apply tension and complete the transformation from deformity to normality.

"Give us three days and we’ll give you a satisfactory digital model," Professor He confidently stated after the explanation.

The combination of digital technology and clinical practice held immense power.

"If we have a dedicated supercomputer in the future, this project will progress much faster."

Having a supercomputer was Professor He’s dream.

Huang Jiacai encouraged the professor: "Take your time, before long, we’ll have everything, not just a supercomputer, but even a supercomputing cluster."

This project was the most foundational in Huang Jiacai’s plan and he intended to concentrate funding to support it.

The company’s funds were currently tight, but once money started coming in, he would continually inject capital into the project.

"If funding is sufficient, we can expand the research team and complete the modeling of the movement of the lower limbs, spine, and upper limbs within a year. Among these three, the upper limb, especially the hand, is the most complex and will require more time," Prof. He said confidently.

"Professor He, you can focus on research in the future and tell me directly about any difficulties. We will always support this project," Huang Jiacai assured Professor He.

Professor He did not doubt Boss Huang’s capabilities at all: "Huang, your words reassure me. Honestly, for these foundational projects of ours, nothing is more worrisome than having to abandon them halfway."

Computer assistance in medicine will play a decisive role in the future.

In the case of orthopedic corrections, achieving ideal results through experience alone is difficult.

With computer simulation, everything becomes much easier.

Yang Ping can make surgeries perfect in the system space by simulating numerous cases, but he always hoped to achieve this same perfection even without the system. This is what Yang Ping aspires to do.

The system is just a tool for him, and now he aims to create one for every doctor.

The Digital Human can help Yang Ping achieve this goal.

If one day, the Digital Human is able to provide a lifelike simulation of the human body both in terms of anatomy and functionality, all patients can benefit from modeling with the Digital Human, simulating surgeries, and then combining the data with surgical robots or computer-assisted devices to make surgeries easy and precise.

In the future, the Digital Human can also be combined with virtual reality technology to develop training systems for physicians, allowing them to repeat certain types of surgeries for practice.

Centered around the Digital Human, many technologies can be expanded.

In this way, every doctor would have a powerful cheat code at their disposal.

Yang Ping and Professor He continued to discuss the details of modeling Fang Faquan’s lower limb function.

Yang Ping spent the whole morning at Nandu Medical University’s Digital Medical Laboratory. At noon, Huang Jiacai played host and invited Professor He and all the lab researchers for a meal.

Professor He was very excited at the meal. Intellectuals like him pursue one thing–concentrated and earnest scientific research.

Now he had an investor who respected him, made no specific demands, and didn’t interfere with his research.

Aren’t all researchers dreaming of this situation?

Professor He had decided to cooperate with them. Reviews and awards were meaningless in comparison.

As long as there was funding for research, it was worthwhile to devote his life’s energies to it.