It’s a bit strange and scary, but the world’s first ‘head transplant system’ has been unveiled and is expected to be up and running within eight years.
BrainBridge, a neuroscience and biomedical engineering startup, unveiled its futuristic invention in an eight-minute video, complete with terrifying sound effects if you’re a bit apprehensive.
In the CGI show, a fully automated system removes heads from the bodies of the donor and recipient at the same time before swapping one for the other via a creepy conveyor belt.
There’s not a human in sight (aside from patients) as robotic arms and a vast array of lasers operate, using artificial intelligence (AI) to drive the obscene (and so far purely theoretical) complexity.
Head Implant Machine – BrainBridge
BrainBridge says the system will provide new hope for patients suffering from incurable diseases such as late-stage cancer, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, or paralysis.
However, one major hurdle to overcome is the inability of medicine (yet) to adequately repair damage to the nerves and spinal cord. Without it, any head transplant recipient would be paralyzed from the neck down.
The company is currently recruiting specialists to help overcome these barriers and hopes that the concept demonstration will “attract the best talent from around the world who are interested in pushing the boundaries of biomedical science and changing the world for the better.”
“In the short term, we expect the project to lead to significant advances in spinal cord reconstruction and whole-body transplantation,” Brainbridge said. They added: “But in the long term, the project will expand to include areas that will transform health care as we know it.”
The concept is the brainchild of project leader Hashim Al-Ghaili, a biotechnology specialist and science communicator based in Dubai. “Every step of the BrainBridge concept has been carefully thought out based on extensive scientific research conducted and published by experts in various fields of science,” he said.
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