Chapter Thirty-One: Truly Astonishing

  (Updated daily at 12:00 PM and around 7:30 PM! Two updates a day, extra chapters at irregular intervals!)

  "Sun Daochang, during these days you've been away from Chang'an, I've made a device for diagnosing illnesses. I think it should be quite useful. Today, I'll bring it over and show it to you!" Chen Yi held up the stethoscope he had improved upon overnight and showed it to Sun Simiao in his study.

  Yesterday evening, Ning Qing tried it out on himself and the effect was pretty good. Chen Yi made some slight adjustments after Ning Qing left, increasing the airtightness of the earpiece. This morning, as soon as he got up, without even having breakfast, he took this newly-made treasure to show off to Sun Simiao!

  Sun Simiao got up very early and had Wang Chong and Liu Hai called over to discuss matters, with Ning Qing also present.

  Looking at Chen Yi's delighted appearance, with a strange object in his hand, Sun Simiao showed a curious expression: "Oh, Ziyin, what is this thing? Bring it over and let me take a look!"

  "Sun Daochang, this is called a stethoscope. It's recorded in ancient medical books that it can conduct sounds from inside the body through objects and amplify them, making it easier for our ears to hear and distinguish! I've been thinking about making one of these lately, and after tinkering with it for a few days, I finally managed to create this thing," Chen Yi said, presenting his handmade stethoscope to Sun Simiao, pointing at the two funnel-shaped objects. "I spent several days crafting this out of wood. If you press one end tightly against someone's heart or lungs and listen with your ear on the other end, you can clearly hear their heartbeat and breathing sounds. If it's well-sealed and blocks out external noise, you can even detect some subtle changes in the body. I just tried it out with Ning Qing, and the effect is pretty good..."

  "Oh?! You've created a diagnostic tool?" Sun Simiao took the stethoscope from Chen Yi's hand with great interest, examined it carefully, and asked: "Zi Ying, why did you make this thing like this?"

  Chen Yi revealed a natural and triumphant smile, pointing to the stethoscope with a moderate tone: "Dao Chang, with this end attached to the patient's heart and lung area, the sounds of heartbeat and breathing can be transmitted through the chest wall to this funnel-shaped listening tube. If it is tightly attached to the patient's chest, these sounds will almost not leak away and can be transmitted over. With good sealing performance, many other noises can also be isolated, and the sound can be amplified. These sounds are transmitted through this hollow wooden tube, which is relatively thick and closely connected to the funnel, so most of the sound will not be lost. Then it is transmitted to the funnel on this side, and if our ears are tightly attached to this funnel to listen, we can clearly hear the transmitted sound. Using this thing for patients' auscultation can avoid some inconvenient appearances and can more intuitively and clearly hear the sounds of heartbeat and breathing, and even other parts of the body. From the abnormality of these sounds, we can judge the patient's diseased area, the degree of disease progression, and have a very significant role in diagnosing diseases... I have tried it out, and the breathing and heartbeat sounds can be heard very clearly, and small changes in sound can also be discovered!"

  "Hmm! Subing, you make a lot of sense, it seems your brain is quite useful. Alright, try it out in front of me and see how it works!" Sun Simiao looked at Chen Yi, then at the two male disciples standing beside him, and pointed at Wang Chong, saying to Chen Yi, "Subing, now try it on Wang Chong, use that thing you made to listen to his heartbeat and breathing!"

  "Yes, Master Dao!"

  Chen Yi signaled to Wang Chong to sit down beside him, and he himself sat down beside Wang Chong. He then instructed Wang Chong to unbutton his collar and said to Sun Simiao: "Master Tao, removing the obstruction of clothing and pressing against the skin can make the sound clearer, and also eliminate the extraneous noises produced by the friction of clothes... If it is inconvenient to remove the patient's clothes, try to avoid rubbing and moving as much as possible to prevent extraneous noises."

  Chen Yi said, attaching one end of the stethoscope to Wang Chong's heart and his own right ear to the other end, which was shaped like a funnel. When Chen Yi made this simple stethoscope, he designed the funnel-shaped end to fit snugly around his ear, with a layer of leather wrapped around it to better seal in the sound and block out external noise, preventing outside sounds from mixing with the patient's breathing and heartbeat sounds coming through the stethoscope.

  Chen Yi wasn't quite sure if Sun Simiao understood human anatomy, but thinking that after studying medical techniques for many years, Sun Simiao should be familiar with the physiological structure of the human body. Without paying much attention to it, Chen Yi explained to Sun Simiao and several others beside him about the projection of internal organs such as the heart and lungs on the body surface. Pointing at Wang Chong's chest cavity, he explained to everyone where they could hear the clearest heartbeat, where they could hear the breathing sounds of the trachea and bronchi, the sound of blood flowing through the large blood vessels coming out of the heart, as well as some muscle and organ sliding and wriggling sounds.

  These are the basic skills of clinical doctors in later generations, which are clearly explained in anatomy and diagnostics. Everyone should understand them, but Chen Yi thought that ancient people might not have understood these things very well, at least many people were not completely clear, just like Sun Simiao's several disciples, so he explained it very carefully!

  Although this stethoscope is simple in design, it can still be used to make do. There are no sounds coming from the edges, and the internal organs' sounds as well as the breathing sounds can all be heard clearly. Even Wang Chong's subtle sound of swallowing saliva can be heard clearly.

  Chen Yi's detailed account left everyone stunned, including Sun Simiao. He couldn't help but admire this strange and wonderful young man who had such a thorough understanding of the distribution of various organs in the human body. Originally thinking he knew Chen Yi's identity, Sun Simiao now had doubts again. A person who understood medicine so well didn't seem to match his original identification, which was almost completely overturned. Sun Simiao couldn't help but re-examine what Chen Yi's true identity might be.

  Wang Chong and Liu Hai were also shocked, Chen Yi's words once again exceeded their expectations. This knowledge was not even taught by their master Sun Simiao, they all understood medicine and knew that what Chen Yi said made perfect sense, they couldn't help but feel astonished and admiring. Ning Qing had an even more worshipful look on her face, proud of how much Chen Yi knew, leaving her own master stunned.

  Chen Yi listened for a while to the strong heartbeat and breathing of Wang Chong, as well as some intestinal sounds, then moved his head away from the stethoscope and said to Sun Simiao: "Daozhang, you come try this thing I made..."

  No need for Chen Yi to say, Sun Simiao had already prepared to come and listen personally. He immediately moved over, sat down, plugged his right ear into the listening tube, and listened carefully. In the process of listening, he also moved according to what Chen Yi had just explained, in the projection positions of various organs on the surface.

  Several people around him also held their breath, staring at Sun Simiao.

  After a while, Sun Simiao finally lifted his head, took his ear off the stethoscope, and looked at Chen Yi with some surprise: "Ziying, such a simple object can actually make the heartbeat and breathing sounds inside a person's body so clear, even some extremely faint sounds can be heard clearly. This thing is really very useful! With such a good tool, doctors can examine the patient's condition more clearly when diagnosing diseases... You can create such a great diagnostic tool, it's really surprising..."