The rise of nanometers

Qilu Hospital's near-infrared light-gold nanorod treatment system was busy for nine days and finally performed cancer cell killing operations on 17 patients.

If the tumor is in the early stage, the location is small, and the tumor is not large, then an operation can be performed in 20 to 30 minutes.

For patients with complicated conditions like Wang Jinbang's, they need to work slowly and carefully, and one operation may not be completed in two or three hours.

Wang Jinbang, who was the first to undergo the operation, was unable to defecate in his large intestine after nine days of recovery.

However, according to Chang Zhiwen's follow-up observation, Wang Jinbang's large intestine lesion has begun to recover little by little. It is estimated that he can return to a normal life after a month or two.

The recovery of the other 16 patients was also in line with expectations. Even the most difficult-to-treat pancreatic cancer was completely eliminated.

Near-infrared light does not cause serious harm to normal cells in the human body. After all, the sunlight we are exposed to daily contains a lot of infrared rays, visible light, and ultraviolet light.

Generally speaking, among the various frequency bands of light waves, the longer the wavelength, the weaker the penetration effect on the human body. Arranged from long to short wavelengths, they are: mid-infrared light, near-infrared light, visible light, near-ultraviolet light, mid-violet light, Ultraviolet light, deep ultraviolet light, X-rays.

Compared with the feared ultraviolet light and X-rays, near-infrared light is even safer than visible light, after all, the penetrability of the wavelength is there.

However, it is difficult for near-infrared light to form a "resonance effect" with human cells (including cancer cells) and will directly penetrate the human body.

To describe it in one sentence, it arrives quietly and slips away quietly, leaving no trace of energy behind.

Near-infrared light is indifferent to human cells, but has a special liking for metal crystals. It can easily encounter nano-level metal crystals, causing a "resonance effect."

In summer, if you touch some metal products exposed to the sun, they will feel very hot. This is because metal is a good conductor of heat.

The thermal conductivity of silver, copper, gold and aluminum is among the best among metals. Excluding copper and aluminum that may be harmful, gold and silver are most suitable as "light wave resonance" targets for near-infrared light.

In a series of studies, one type of gold nanorod stands out among other materials because of its thermal conductivity and light wave resonance effects, and its compliance with the safety window of near-infrared light.

This is the technology that combines near-infrared light and gold nanorods to destroy cancer cells.

According to the current near-infrared developing power and photothermal killing power, the developing power will not cause any serious harm even if it is continuously irradiated for four or five hours. It may be greater than the amount of radiation we get from being exposed to the sun for more than ten minutes. Small.

The photothermal killing power is relatively high, but this power usually does not irradiate the same part for more than 2 to 3 minutes, and the optical radiation dose is less than 1/700 of CT. Maybe we are looking at our mobile phones. The dose of light radiation is higher than this dose.

This is the resonance effect of near-infrared light, which only transfers energy to the gold nanorods, and other energy will follow the infrared light and directly penetrate the human body.

Compared with those brutal X-knives, gamma knives, and cyber knives, or the neutron knives, proton knives, and meson knives that have emerged in recent years.

The therapeutic effect of infrared photothermal knife is better, the side effects are very low, and the price does not need to be too high.

In the case of medical insurance reimbursement, the initial treatment cost for patients will not exceed 5,000 yuan, in the mid-term it will be around 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, and in the late stage it will be around 30,000 to 80,000 yuan.

The price/performance ratio is basically inferior to that of second-generation radiotherapy equipment and third-generation radiotherapy equipment. The promotion of infrared photothermal knife is definitely a huge benefit in China, which has a large population and relatively tight medical resources.

These days, many domestic and foreign media have been staring at Qilu Hospital, waiting for the clinical testing of the infrared photothermal knife equipment.

Wang Xiaobing, who was sent for the interview, conducted an exclusive interview with Chang Zhiwen outside the nursing ward.

Facing the camera, Wang Xiaobing introduced: "Dear viewers in front of the TV, I am Wang Xiaobing, a reporter from the National Television Station, and I am now reporting for you on the world's first infrared photothermal knife tumor treatment system..."

The camera turned and cut to Chang Zhiwen.

"Hello, Dr. Chang, may I ask how the first batch of clinical trial patients are doing now?"

Chang Zhiwen replied with a smile: "At present, the bodies of the 17 patients have passed the critical period. Four of the early stage patients can basically be discharged after staying in the hospital for about ten days of observation. The late stage patients need to be observed for about a month."

Next, Wang Xiaobing interviewed several patients. There was no fraud at the scene. Although the faces of several patients were not good, their energy and energy gradually recovered.

This is the advantage of photothermal knife. It has ultra-low radiation and ultra-low damage. The patient does not suffer side effects such as hair loss, osteonecrosis, insomnia and nausea.

The killed cancer cells will also become nutrients for normal cells and be gradually decomposed or excreted out of the body.

After interviewing several patients, the scene changed and Wang Xiaobing and Chang Zhiwen appeared in the operating room of the photothermal knife.

"Dr. Chang, is this equipment the infrared photothermal knife?"

"Yes." Chang Zhiwen nodded.

Wang Xiaobing asked a question that many people are concerned about: "What is the overall price of this set of equipment?"

"The current quotation from Shennong Group is 8.5 million for a set. Compared with the heavy proton knife equipment costing more than 1 billion, this price is very cost-effective."

Wang Xiaobing nodded, and then continued to ask: "Dr. Chang, I believe many patients are very concerned about one issue, and that is the cost of photothermal knife therapy. In what range is it roughly?"

"The depreciation cost of the equipment itself is not high, but the photothermal knife requires a special gold contrast agent, which costs 2,000 yuan per unit. Usually, 1 to 4 units are used for early-stage patients, 5-8 units for mid-stage patients, and late-stage patients may 9 to 15 units are needed.”

Chang Zhiwen calculated an account for the patient. It seemed that the minimum cost was tens of thousands of yuan, but considering the proportion of medical insurance reimbursement, the price was already acceptable to ordinary people.

If it is really difficult, you can also apply for charity funds, local financial assistance, social donations, etc.

Radiotherapy, which costs hundreds of thousands more than before, is expensive and painful. There are many patients who cannot survive five years after treatment.

Nowadays, the highest cost of photothermal knife is RMB 70,000 to RMB 80,000. Generally, it can be done for RMB 10,000 to RMB 20,000. Most patients are willing to accept this price.

What's more, the Ministry of Health is already making plans to include cancer treatment in special subsidy projects, increase the overall reimbursement ratio to about 80%, and set up a special subsidy for poor households.

After the interview on national television was completed, the interview lasted about five minutes during prime time that night.

Immediately, this news detonated the entire domestic and foreign networks. Even Twitter, Must Die, and YouTube, which have been restricting access, appeared in a large number of reports.

The therapeutic effect of photothermal knife has attracted many medical experts, scientific research institutions and enterprises.

Even developed countries that are at the forefront of radioactive treatment are surprised and interested in the effects of photothermal knife.

In just half a day, Shennong Group received a large number of academic exchange emails and cooperation invitations.

Domestic hospitals such as Union Medical College, Beijing Medical University, Tongji, West China, Zhongshan, and Xiangya also inquired about information from Qilu Hospital and Shennong Group. They all intend to introduce photothermal knife equipment to enhance their own tumor treatment capabilities.

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