A system has been developed that will keep the brain alive independently of the body

Scientists have developed a device that can keep a brain alive and functioning independently of the rest of the body. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center managed to isolate the blood flow to the brain of a pig anesthetized with ketamine, while a computerized algorithm kept the brain alive in isolation by maintaining the necessary blood pressure, volume, temperature and nutrients needed by the organ.

The brain worked separately from the body for 5 hours

The team of neurologists reported that brain activity showed minimal changes over a five-hour period, despite receiving no biological input from the rest of the body. According to scientists, the success of the experiment may open new ways to examine the human brain without affecting other body functions, while the technology also reveals the potential to perform brain transplants in the future.

“This new method enables research focused on the brain independent of the body, allowing us to answer physiological questions in a way that has never been done before,” said Juan Pascual, professor of pediatrics and physiology at UT Southwestern.

The first-of-its-kind system, called extracorporeal pulsatile circulatory control (EPCC), is already being used to better understand the effects of hypoglycemia on the brain without having to take external factors into account. These studies normally involve restricting an animal’s food intake or reducing its insulin dose, but animal bodies have their own natural ways to compensate for these factors by altering metabolism.

The device could allow researchers to directly alter the blood glucose pumped to the brain. Pascual said this system, the first of its kind, could also lead to improvements in machines used during heart bypass surgeries that replicate blood flow to the brain. In this way, side effects related to the brain can be prevented by providing a natural blood flow similar to that in the human heart.