The world’s first head transplant system has been unveiled. Neuroscience and biomedical engineering startup BrainBridge has announced a mind-bending concept that would allow a head to be grafted onto a donor body. The futuristic system would offer new hope to patients suffering from untreatable conditions such as stage-4 cancer, paralysis, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The whole-body procedure involves transplanting a patient's head onto a healthy, brain-dead donor body, ensuring the preservation of consciousness, memories, and cognitive abilities. A digital illustration of the BrainBridgehead transplant process. (BrainBridge via SWNS) says the process aims to be available within 8 years and would integrate advanced robotics and artificial intelligence to carry out the transplantation procedures.
The company adds it will also be able to conduct face and scalp transplantation to restore functionality and aesthetic appearance. BrainBridge is recruiting and has listed roles for experts in several fields including brain-computer interfaces (BCI), as seen in Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chip, robotic surgery and neuroscience. The concept is the brainchild of Dubai-based project lead Hashem Al-Ghaili, a biotechnologist and science communicator.
(BrainBridge via SWNS) He says: "Every step of the BrainBridge concept has been carefully thought out based on extensive scientific research that has been conducted and published by experts in various fiel.