The world’s first ever head transplant to take place using virtual reality will help patients adjust to life inside a new body, according to Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero.
Addressing members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glascow on Friday, the professor unveiled his plans to perform the world’s first ever head transplant surgery with the help of virtual reality technology, which will allow patients to prepare for life post-op. “This virtual reality system prepares the patient in the best possible way for a new world that he will be facing with his new body,” he said.
It is believed that head transplant patients would likely undergo intense psychological issues in coming to terms with their newly acquired bodies. That is why would-be transplant patients would need to undergo several months of VR sessions.
According to Alexander Pavlovcik, the CEO of Inventum Bioengineering Technologies, the US firm that invented the VR system for the procedure: “We are combining the latest advancements in virtual reality to develop the world’s first protocol for preparing the patient for bodily freedom after the transplantation procedure.”
In the revolutionary yet high-risk procedure, head transplant patients would have their heads “frozen” to prevent their brain cells from dying before partial severance of their necks and the connection of their heads’ blood vessels to their donor bodies with tubes. Next, patients’ heads would be affixed to their donor bodies, using polyethylene glycol to attach the actual spinal cord, and lastly vessels and nerves would need to be joined.
When asked how he dealt with criticism leveled against him by those who consider a head transplant akin to ‘Frankenstein surgery,’ Canavero said: “I say go and see what happens when you’re affected by a wasting disorder… trade places with … and then you tell me. That’s my counter-criticism for the critics.”
Russian national Valery Spiridonov, who has a muscle-wasting condition called Wernig Hoffman disease and is confined to a wheelchair, has volunteered to be the world’s first head transplant patient. In May, nonetheless, Canavero announced that a Chinese would likely be the first to undergo such a procedure, explaining that Spiridonov could not receive a donor body in China, citing biological and ethical reasons.
While Professor Canavero has not yet confirmed where he will perform the head transplant operation, he has said that Asia has the “upper hand” due to its early support and belief in his project.
Source: RT
