Successfully revived the brain of a pig that had been dead for nearly an hour

The advance opens up new research directions on brain injuries and hopes to improve survival and recovery rates for brain-dead patients in the future.

Chinese scientists have achieved an amazing feat by restoring brain function in a pig after its circulatory system had stopped for nearly an hour.

According to experts, this is a major step forward in finding a way to restore brain function in patients after sudden cardiac arrest.

Researchers successfully "revived" a pig's brain that had been dead for nearly an hour (Illustration: Getty).

To do this, researchers initially used a life support system that included an artificial heart and lungs to help pump fluid through the brain. However, this attempt was unsuccessful.

The team then experimented by inserting an undamaged liver into the life support system, which plays a pivotal role in purifying the blood, thereby gradually reviving the dead pig brain.

The team also experimented with different delays, including connecting the brain to the liver support system at intervals of 30 minutes, 50 minutes, 60 minutes, and 240 minutes, respectively.

The longest period of time that showed promise was 50 minutes after the brain was taken off life support. At this time, the brain was still able to 'reboot' and remained in that state for about 6 hours, when the experiment ended.

However, just increasing the time outside by 10 minutes will cause serious damage to the pig's brain system and can only be maintained for about 3 hours after being put into the recovery system.

The results suggest that the liver plays an important role in the development of brain injury after cardiac arrest, the researchers said .

These findings suggest new directions for research into brain injury and may hopefully improve survival rates and recovery outcomes for patients in the future.