Fake video showing ‘world’s first head transplant system’ could actually be a glimpse into the future
Medical technology has come a long way, with a whole heap of procedures becoming possible in ways that wouldn't have been dreamed of by doctors a generation or two ago.
Still, there are always new ideas coming to the forefront, as demonstrated by the concept of BrainBridge, a fake start-up designed to look like it could complete a full human head transplant sooner than you might think.
The fake company, created by a filmmaker, recently started to publicize the design of its 'head transplant system', saying it aimed to be operating on patients in the next eight years.
An eight-minute-long briefing video walks people through the design, and it's entirely CGI to underline that this is all a pretty remote possibility right now.
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Still, you can see that plenty of thought has gone into the concept, even if the video is slightly terrifying in places:
BrainBridge would have had some enormous hurdles to overcome if it was ever going to get to the point where it was operating on people, after all.
A human head transplant is a ridiculously complicated prospect, since it involves enormous challenges, not the least of which is the need to repair the necessary damage to the spinal cord and nerve endings of the body once its new head is attached.
The fake quotes put out by the company sounded optimistic, claiming it was in the process of recruiting experts. It said in a statement: "In the short term, we expect the project to result in spinal cord reconstruction breakthrough and whole body transplant."
It also said that with a longer view, it believes its work "will expand into areas that will transform healthcare as we know it".
Dubai-based project lead Hashem Al-Ghaili is the science communicator and filmmaker behind this fun little stunt, and before it became clear that the project wasn't real, he gave a similarly bullish quote about how high BrainBridge could fly: "The goal of our technology is to push the boundaries of what is possible in medical science and provide innovative solutions for those battling life-threatening conditions. Our technology promises to open doors to lifesaving treatments that were unimaginable just a few years ago."
As the slightly creepy video demonstrates, the operation would involve a whole heap of robotic arms, lasers and more, although it turns out these are indeed nothing more than CGI renders.