Neurologists say they are inching closer to being able to surgically place the head of one human on another person's body, according to reports.
A recent paper published online in Science Neurology International described the findings written by Dr. Sergio Canavero, a member of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group. The researcher talks about a procedure modeled after the successful head transplants in animals since 1970.
Scientists were able to successfully transplant the head of a rhesus monkey onto the body of a second rhesus.
"First, both patients must be in the same operating theater. Then the head to be transplanted must be cooled to between 12°C and 15°C (54.6°F and 59°F)," Quartz reported. "Moving quickly, surgeons must remove both heads at the same time, and re-connect the head to be preserved to the circulatory system of the donor body within one hour. During the reconnection procedure, the donor body must also be chilled, and total cardiac arrest must be induced."
The biggest obstacle the scientists reportedly faced was being unable to connect the animals' spinal cords to their donor bodies. This meant the animal was left paralyzed during the process. According to Quartz, Canavero said "recent advances in re-connecting spinal cords that are surgically severed mean that it should be technically feasible to do it in humans."
"The greatest technical hurdle to [a head transplant] is of course the reconnection of the donor's (D)'s and recipients (R)'s spinal cords. It is my contention that the technology only now exists for such linkage.... Several up to now hopeless medical connections might benefit from such a procedure," Canvero wrote in the paper.
The heart of the donor body is re-started after the head is successfully connected, and surgeons can begin making the necessary re-connections, like "re-attaching" the spinal cord.
To read more about this scientific advancement, click here. Below is a video about another scientist's, Dr. Robert White, successful animal head transplant surgeries.
WARNING: The video contains graphic images.
