A man who is getting ready to have the world's first ever head transplant is not worried about the procedure, and says he and his doctor are making medical history.
Far from being anxious, Russian Valery Spiridonov has told Sky News: "We are making science."
Computer
programmer Valery, who suffers from a muscle wasting disease, is
meeting with a neurosurgeon from Italy called Dr Sergio Canavero.
If Dr Canavero and Valery agree to go ahead with the procedure, it could happen in 2017.
The pair are speaking at the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons in Annapolis, Maryland.
But not everyone feels that the operation is a good idea - with some even labelling it a hoax.
Valery said in an interview with MailOnline last week: "I am not going crazy here and rushing to cut off my head, believe me.
"The surgery will take place only when all believe that the success is 99 per cent possible."
Writing in the scientific journal Surgical Neurology International, Dr Canavero revealed that the patient's head would be packed in ice to help it survive once it is detached to keep the brain cool.
It
will then be reattached to a donor body in stages, although fusing
spinal cords is something which has never been done successfully.
According
to reports, Dr Canavero plans to douse the ends of the cord in
polyethylene glycol to boost the changes of the nerve cells sticking
together via their fatty tissue.
There will then be an induced coma of up to a month to allow the head to heal in absolute stillness.
Confident
of his claims, Dr Canavero says that his patient should be able to walk
within 12 months, and he's testing his technique on brain-dead organ
donors.
He is however aware that ethical considerations may prevent the operation from going ahead in the West.
