It looks like once you lose your head, literally, you can already replace it with another. This will be out of science fiction anymore as an Italian neurosurgeon will make this head transplant possible.
Sergio Canavero in 2013 surprised the medical field with his ambition of doing a human head transplant. It was a doubtful idea until three years later, today, he detailed his two part procedure which is composed of HEAVEN, or head anastomosis venture, and Gemini, or the subsequent spinal cord fusion. This procedure was outlined initially in a publication in the peer-reviewed journal Surgical Neurology International. Last year, Canavero presented the concept at the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeon’s 39th annual conference.
The seemingly first head transplant will take 36 hours and a team of 150 people composed of doctors, nurses, technicians, psychologists and virtual reality engineers. The whole process will cost about $20 million.
A recipient of this transplant has already been found in the person of Valery Spiridonov, a 31-year-old Russian program manager who suffers from the rare muscular atrophy disorder Werdnig-Hoffman disease. Spiridonov has volunteered to become the first patient.
Valery Spiridonov. Source: Ruptly
The transplant is set to take place late next year.
