A group of North American scientists managed to keep a pig's brain functioning outside of its body for five hours.
To achieve this objective and be able to study the organ better, it was necessary to separate the blood flow in the animal's head from the rest of the flow that passes through the nervous system.
“Blood flow to the head was surgically separated from the systemic circulation and complete extracorporeal pulsatile circulatory control (EPCC) was administered through a modified aorta or brachiocephalic artery,” says the abstract of the work.
“This control relied on a computerized algorithm that maintained, for several hours, blood pressure, flow and pulsatility at close values”, continues the text.
Furthermore, cerebral oxygenation, pressure, temperature and the microscopic structure of the organ were also maintained as if it were inside the animal.
The expectation is that this experiment will contribute to advances in studies on the human brain, in the sense that they can be carried out without affecting other functions of the body.
The study was published in the journal Nature on August 25 last year and can be accessed in full in this link.
See also: Neuralink makes 1st brain chip implant in human, says Elon Musk
*Published by Pedro Jordão, from CNN in Sao Paulo
Source: CNN Brasil
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