The machine buzzes and a 3D pattern appears on the screen.

The pattern rotates slowly at a fixed speed, and the afterimage is like a faint cloud in the sky, swaying.

Unlike the 10-second GIF sent to Jack Jones before, the 3D picture in front of me is not beautiful and thrilling. It is like a dead branch in winter, messy with a bit of "death" in it.

The images are not beautiful, and can even be said to be somewhat boring and ugly.

"Wu, is this a brain map in a vegetative state?" asked Jack Jones, a little confused.

"Hmm. Wu Mian nodded.

"I thought it was going to be nothingness. ”

"No, according to the current vegetative state after they wake up, their brains are active during their vegetative state. There are even memories of what happened. Wu Mian said, "It's similar to the mythical soul being imprisoned, well, you can understand it that way." ”

"Wu, are you sure you're not kidding?"

"There are a lot of cases that illustrate this, and I'm not kidding. Wu Mian's eyes narrowed into a beautiful arc, staring at the slowly rotating image on the screen, and said, "Jack, I'm sorry I don't know why you always think I'm joking. ”

"No, Wu, I think you misunderstood. I was too surprised to question your claims. It's incredible, you know. Jack Jones hurriedly explained.

"Jack, there are records of memories of vegetative people after they wake up, the most recent of which is Jan Glebski, a Polish vegetative person. He woke up after 19 years in a coma, and Yang said that his brain had been working, hearing, seeing, thinking, thinking, and remembering, but his body couldn't move, and he had been anxious about it. ”

"......" Jack Jones paused.

"In our folk parlance, this situation is called a ghost press. However, in general, ghost presses have a normal medical explanation, and have nothing to do with vegetative people. And the ghost presses the bed...... Forget it, it's too much difference, and my example is not appropriate. Wu Mian said.

"Oh my God, the brain really works all the time?!"

Yang said that at that time he knew what was happening around him, but he couldn't move, couldn't speak, and could only lie down every day, very anxious.

When he saw his wife working tirelessly to take care of him, when he saw his children dangling around him when they came home from school, when he heard the frolicking of his children next door getting married, when he saw the cute appearance of his grandchildren, he was anxious because he couldn't express it. ”

Wu Mian said, "These are all the narratives of Yang after he woke up, and even he knew about the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and came into contact with some news from the sound of television." ”

"It's amazing. ”

"It's a pity that Yang is just a lucky one. "The essence of vegetative awakening is the restoration of the function of the higher cortex of the brain, but it is by no means the appearance of waking up from sleep or coma as many people imagine."

In fact, most still have severe functional and cognitive regressions, and in the eyes of the average person, are not much better than the so-called mentally handicapped people, but are different from the vegetative state. ”

"That ......" Jack Jones didn't continue, but looked at the rotating 3D image on the screen of the NMR machine.

"The concept of a vegetative person is not the same as brain death, just like the name, the patient is in a vegetative state. Well, you see that the patient's brainstem structure is intact. Let's say he's a small tree, and his roots are good enough to absorb enough nutrients. ”

Jack Jones looked at Wu Mian with innocent eyes.

"To put it simply, children can grow and develop normally because of the integrity of the brainstem structure. The gray matter and white matter structures of his cerebral hemispheres have been damaged to a certain extent, so he has lost his higher cognitive functions. ”

"The footage of the awakened, memorable vegetative person is kept secret and I can't find it. Wu Mian looked at the images on the screen and said, "It's a pity that the study of the brain is always a fairly high-level secret no matter what country it is in." ”

"And what are the results of your research?"

"Coma - vegetative state - minimal conscious state - awakening, I think there are 4 stages. Wu Mian stretched out his finger and pointed to a point of light on the screen, "The child's luck is good, and there is still a minimum state of consciousness." That is to say, he is conscious, sentient now, but only in the minimum, and he doesn't know how to express it. ”

"All we have to do is help him sober up. ”

"Wu, if you can do it, it can be said to be a miracle. Jack Jones shrugged.

"A miracle? Not at all. Wu Mian smiled, "I'm just a doctor, and what I do is always to treat diseases and save people." ”

"Wu, I think you know, what I care about. Jack Jones said unabashedly.

"Of course, I like you to be so straightforward. Wu Mian said, "Vegetative people can wake up, do you have any questions about Alzheimer's disease patients who are milder than vegetative states?"

"But is it commercially valuable?"

"I leave the patent application to you, and you can't always let me find my friends. Jack, I want you to know that I'm giving you a piece of cake, and it's quite tasty. ”

Jack Jones didn't continue with Wu Mian's words, he still had a lot of doubts in his heart.

"Are you wondering why I don't work with GE Healthcare?" asked Wu Mian.

"Hmm. Jack Jones nodded.

"A long time ago, GE Healthcare ignored my fiancée's plea and they hid the second-generation brain pacemaker and caused a lot of trouble for us and our patients. Jack, you know, I'm a stingy person. ”

“......”

Jack Jones really can't connect what can almost be called epoch-making technology to some personal vendettas.

If you talk about personal grievances, the confrontation on the mitral valve clip can completely allow Ranko to blacken Wu Mian for 10,000 years.

But that's all business, even if it's all about doctrine.

Nothing is more important than making money, if this vegetative person in front of him can be awakened like Wu said, even an ordinary person knows what kind of commercial value it has.

"Patents, I want patents. Wu Mian emphasized, "Whether it can be put into clinical practice at the earliest depends on the speed of Ranko's patent application and the speed of research on new brain pacemakers." ”

"Wu, you can apply for a patent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in only 1 week, this time ......"

"Jack, please believe that you will regret letting me apply for a patent. Wu Mian smiled and said, "I'll study the surgical approach, if it's okay, I'll have surgery early the day after tomorrow." ”

As he spoke, his hand pressed against the table in a rare way, his voice low and his eyes focused on the swirling, withered image, "That will be the moment to witness the miracle." ”