Surgeon behind the first HEAD transplant unveils a virtual reality system to prepare patients for the experience
A neurosurgeon planning to carry out the first human head transplant has unveiled a virtual reality system that will "prepare patients for life in a new body".
Professor Sergio Canavero wants to carry out the operation next year and believes it could lead to people paralysed from the neck down being able to walk again.
Russian wheelchair user Valery Spiridonov has volunteered to take part in the first operation, which would see his head "frozen" to stop brain cells from dying and tubes connected to support key arteries and veins.
The spinal cord would then be cut, repaired and fused on to a donor body and the skin stitched back together.
If successful the process could still lead to "unexpected psychological reactions" from the patient as they get used to their new life, so a virtual reality world to prepare them for a different body is being developed.
See the full story here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/surgeon-behind-first-head-transplant-9285705