image retrieved from bigthink.com
Man scheduled to receive first human head transplant in December 2017
JENNIFER | AUGUST 15, 2016 6:50 EST
The impossible is certainly becoming a myth in the eyes of medicine. Some see it as the worst idea ever, while others have hope. The brave Russian wheelchair-bound, Valery Spiridonov, is planning to have a brand new body by the end of 2017. The never performed surgery on human beings is a tricky one that few doctors have been working on perfecting around the globe.
At the young age of 31, Spiridonov is suffering from a deadly spinal muscular atrophy disease by the name of Werdnig-Hoffman. The computer scientist is ready to carry a new body in hopes of being able to walk on someone else’s shoes, better yet, feet.
The procedure is a sensitive one and expensive by all means. A similar procedure took place at the beginning of 2016 when Dr. Xiaoping Ren transplanted a monkey’s head. Once this news became public it sparked interest in people and medical professionals worldwide. Unfortunately, the monkey died over a week later. The spinal cord was not linked properly and it experienced difficulty breathing. Nonetheless, that has not stopped Spiridonov from having faith in having a successful procedure. In any case, this experience could have allowed Spiridonov’s neurosurgeon, Dr. Sergio Canavero, the areas to center great attention on when performing his own surgery.
Dr. Canavero is looking to raise $18 million dollars to complete the transplant costs. HEAVEN is the name the doctor coined for the procedure and it stands for head anastomosis venture. It will take 2 days to complete the transplant, which will require the patient’s head to be severed and cooled at -15 Celsius. After attaching the patient’s head to the donor’s body and connecting the spinal cords then the blood supply will merge. What will attach the human head is a substance that resembles glue. This is what Dr. Canavero names the magic ingredient but it is polyethylene glycol, to meld the spinal cord on Spirdonov’s head to his new back’s spinal cord as one.
This surgery has been in the planning phase for about two years with the doctor and patient. Both Dr. Canavero and computer scientist, Spiridonov have been making the necessary strategic plans to make this surgery a true unprecedented success.
If a procedure of this caliber could be successful, so can others. People of all walks of life who are experiencing similar terminal diseases could possibly have a ticket to a new body. It is also in the talks that this could be a procedure to allow senior citizens the opportunity to live longer if younger bodies could be attached to their heads.
Procedures like these are doubtful to the general public and medical professionals who have never done it before. It is truly a strange situation for people who may not be ready to believe, but transplants and other risky procedures that were once unprecedented, later became successful and normal. Some of the biggest transplants include the heart, liver, pancreas, lung and so on. The idea of transplantation is not foreign to the medical field, however, a head transplant is and this is the time few doctors have chosen to try it out regardless of the criticisms they might face.
In this video, the procedure is described in details.
JENNIFER | AUGUST 15, 2016 6:50 EST
The impossible is certainly becoming a myth in the eyes of medicine. Some see it as the worst idea ever, while others have hope. The brave Russian wheelchair-bound, Valery Spiridonov, is planning to have a brand new body by the end of 2017. The never performed surgery on human beings is a tricky one that few doctors have been working on perfecting around the globe.
At the young age of 31, Spiridonov is suffering from a deadly spinal muscular atrophy disease by the name of Werdnig-Hoffman. The computer scientist is ready to carry a new body in hopes of being able to walk on someone else’s shoes, better yet, feet.
The procedure is a sensitive one and expensive by all means. A similar procedure took place at the beginning of 2016 when Dr. Xiaoping Ren transplanted a monkey’s head. Once this news became public it sparked interest in people and medical professionals worldwide. Unfortunately, the monkey died over a week later. The spinal cord was not linked properly and it experienced difficulty breathing. Nonetheless, that has not stopped Spiridonov from having faith in having a successful procedure. In any case, this experience could have allowed Spiridonov’s neurosurgeon, Dr. Sergio Canavero, the areas to center great attention on when performing his own surgery.
Dr. Canavero is looking to raise $18 million dollars to complete the transplant costs. HEAVEN is the name the doctor coined for the procedure and it stands for head anastomosis venture. It will take 2 days to complete the transplant, which will require the patient’s head to be severed and cooled at -15 Celsius. After attaching the patient’s head to the donor’s body and connecting the spinal cords then the blood supply will merge. What will attach the human head is a substance that resembles glue. This is what Dr. Canavero names the magic ingredient but it is polyethylene glycol, to meld the spinal cord on Spirdonov’s head to his new back’s spinal cord as one.
This surgery has been in the planning phase for about two years with the doctor and patient. Both Dr. Canavero and computer scientist, Spiridonov have been making the necessary strategic plans to make this surgery a true unprecedented success.
If a procedure of this caliber could be successful, so can others. People of all walks of life who are experiencing similar terminal diseases could possibly have a ticket to a new body. It is also in the talks that this could be a procedure to allow senior citizens the opportunity to live longer if younger bodies could be attached to their heads.
Procedures like these are doubtful to the general public and medical professionals who have never done it before. It is truly a strange situation for people who may not be ready to believe, but transplants and other risky procedures that were once unprecedented, later became successful and normal. Some of the biggest transplants include the heart, liver, pancreas, lung and so on. The idea of transplantation is not foreign to the medical field, however, a head transplant is and this is the time few doctors have chosen to try it out regardless of the criticisms they might face.
In this video, the procedure is described in details.
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Neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero
image retrieved from mashada.com
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