VIDEO: Will 2017 See the First Successful Human Head Transplant?

The year has come.

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Back in 2015, Dr. Sergio Canavero said that a human head transplant would be possible by 2017. Now he is ready to try it and make history.

He is, of course, facing a lot of criticism and skepticism, but he remains confident.

If successful, the procedure would be a huge step forward in the medical field and for humanity.

According to Wikipedia, the actual procedure will be as follows: Two teams will work in concert, making deep incisions around each patient’s neck and exposing the carotid and vertebral arteries, jugular vein, and spine. The muscles would be color-coded for linkage. Three other cuts will be done, for later spinal stabilization and access to the carotids, trachea, and esophagus.

Next is the most crucial part: cutting of the spinal cord. Using a $200,000 diamond nanoblade and an operating microscope, the two spinal cords will be cut cleanly simultaneously as the last step before separation. Once the recipient’s head is separated, it must be transferred to the donor’s body to the tubes that connect it to the donor’s circulation.

The procedure must be done within an hour to ensure minimal brain damage. The cords will be adjusted and fused within 1–2 minutes, chitosan-PEG glue infused in the blood stream over 15–30 minutes and loose sutures applied to the body to the recipient head to theoretically immediately rewarm the recipient head.

The dura will also be sewn in a watertight fashion with wires and clamps. The trachea, esophagus, vagi, and phrenic nerves would also be connected in a similar fashion to how the spinal cord was attached. The muscles will be connected according to the markings made. The skin would be sewn by a plastic surgeon for maximal cosmetic results.

Once the procedure is finished, the recipient will be kept in a coma for 3-4 weeks, to prevent any spontaneous ruptures to the sutures during recovery. He would also be given medication to suppress immune response, similar to how it would be given for any other transplant patient.

Current progress is being made as Dr. Canavero’s collaborators continue research. Dr. Xiaoping Ren of Harbin Medical University of China and his team completed a monkey head transplant using Canavero’s research. The spinal cord was not connected for the monkey as the purpose was to see if the blood supply worked.

The monkey survived the procedure without any complications but was only kept alive for 20 hours for ethical reasons. They are also testing on human corpses to prevent injury.

C-Yoon Kim of Konkuk University School of Medicine in South Korea also published a study in Surgical Neurology International which showed how the team reestablished motor movements in mice whose neck spinal cords had been severed and re-fused. A video was also released.

Popular opinion about potential head transplantation has been generally negative, despite Sergio Canavero’s claims that he will be able to perform a successful head transplant by 2017.

These claims against Canavero do not take a moral or ethical stance, but rather focus on the state of technology and the timeframe in which Canavero says he will be able to successfully conduct the procedure.