Dr Hasan Alam, at Massachusetts General Hospital, says patients could soon be put into a state of suspended animation (no pulse, no blood, no electrical activity in the brain, and tissues consume no oxygen) while doctors drain their blood to carry out emergency surgery.

Patients would be hovering in a twilight zone between life and death for hours before being revived. Once repairs are complete their blood would be warmed up and pumped back into their bodies, bringing them “back to life”.

The experiment has already been successful in pigs and it is hoped human trials will start soon. His experiments have involved cooling the body to such temperatures that it needs less oxygen, curbing the key risk of blood loss – organ failure due to a lack of oxygen.

Via Scotsman and New Scientist.

US researchers have also experimented with the same concept: they put mice in a state of near suspended animation, raising the possibility that hibernation could one day be induced in humans.

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