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. BrainBridge said the process could be available within eight years and would integrate advanced robotics and artificial intelligence to carry out the transplantation procedures. The company added it would 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. He said: "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 fields of science.
The goal of our technology is to push the boundaries of what is possible in medica.