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'Device for perfusing an animal head'

The Device for perfusing an animal head is a 'prophetic patent' filed in 1985, and published in 1987, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Chet Fleming under patent US 4666425A, which claims to support the continued metabolic and cognitive functioning of a decapitated animal head featuring a device referred to as a “cabinet”, which connects to a variety of existing and hypothetical machinery designed to replace biochemical and physiological processes which would otherwise be carried out by vital organs elsewhere in the body.

Design

Cardio-Pulmonary Bypass

The means through which blood would pass through the ‘discorp’ (Fleming’s term for a severed head) and undergo oxygenation, normally fulfilled by the heart and lungs, must be adopted by machines external to it.  This aspect of the head’s life support is not so out of the ordinary; in fact, by the time the patent was written, several cardiac and pulmonary bypass devices were already patented and utilized in the medical sphere (typically for use during surgery involving the heart or lungs).  As such, this section of the patent needs only to cite existing patents for cardiac and pulmonary bypass devices (Fleming 1987) and provide a brief description of their functions.  The blood is cooled, becomes oxygenated through a membrane or with bubbled oxygen, and is heated again before being passed back into the head.

Biochemical Processes and Waste Products

 In order for the discorp to maintain biochemical equilibrium and obtain fuel with which to continue its physical, sensory, and cognitive processes, there must exist compartments in the device which allow metabolic processes to occur outside of their traditional vital organs.  Additionally, there must be some way to dispose of the waste of these metabolic processes. Fleming proposes the solution to this problem with a mixture of existing and hypothetical technologies: biochemical processes could occur in what he calls ‘immobilized enzyme section vessels’, which house all of the enzymes needed to metabolize fuel and break down waste products, while wastes are also filtered from the blood using affinity columns and hemodialysis machines, both of which exist in medical and lab settings.

Nutrients

Defining nutrients as “all molecules which help to maintain or restore metabolic activity”, Fleming proposes that they be delivered to the circulation of the device either by pumping them directly into the circulatory system of the device, or by filtering them through a membrane.  He leaves things in these relatively vague terms.

Tissue Culture

 Fleming effectively separates tissue, or living cells, into two categories: suspension, in which the cells freely float in solution, and anchorage dependent, which requires stabilization in order to work effectively in a system.  Cells grow and replicate on their own as long as they have fuel present and functional metabolisms, so Fleming doesn’t go into depth regarding the maintenance of those cultures.  They do, however, cite collagen lattices utilized in US Patents 4060081 and 4280954, which effectively hold together tissue and could stabilize it for strength, or for the growth of new tissue.  

Associated Book

In February 1988, Chet Fleming published a novel concerning the development and filing of patent US466425 with the title, "If We Can Keep a Severed Head Alive...Discorporation and U.S. Patent 4,666,425". The novel provides a comprehensive description of various fictional and scientific proposals concerning the biochemical support of a severed head, and elaborates upon the process and motivation behind his filing of this prophetic patent in particular.

The use of 'polinym'

'Fleming' reveals that Chet Fleming is not his legal given name. Intentionally avoiding the term 'pseudonym', Fleming elaborates upon his choice of a 'polinym', which hides his identity distinctly for the purpose of hiding his personal life from those who read his patent and those with whom he works. Additionally, the use of a polinym allows Chet Fleming to avoid the potential stigma associated with publishing works regarding the living maintenance of a severed head.

Intentions in filing the patent

The Device for perfusing an animal head is described by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a 'prophetic patent', or "an embodiment of the invention based on predicted results rather than work actually conducted or results actually achieved." Given that the technology needed to create the cabinet patented does not yet exist, Fleming elaborates upon his anxiety concerning the possible lack of ethical regulation in the creation said technology, and claims that his primary concern and motivation in filing patent 4666425 is to necessitate review by animal care committees, institutional review boards, and institutional biosafety committees in developing the technology necessary to create the device patented. Particularly, he worries about the potential use of his device to prolong the lives of powerful and malicious figures.

In response to criticism regarding his choice to take ownership over the concept of the device, Fleming responded:

“It is far more difficult to obtain a prophetic patent in America than Professor Hamblin suggest.s Such patents usually must be limited to mechanical systems, since mechanical components are more predictable than chemical reactions or experimental drugs. Every component must be publicly available and the inventor must describe explicitly how to assemble and use them. If I hadn’t been a patent attorney specialising in biochemistry and medical technology and if I hadn’t spent hundreds of hours researching each component and consulting surgeons and biochemists I couldn’t have obtained the patent.”

— Chet Fleming, British Journal of Medicine

References

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b [1], Fleming, Chet, "Device for perfusing an animal head"  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. Jump up^ [2], Mortensen, J. D., "Apparatus and method for in vivo extrapulmonary blood gas exchange"
3. Jump up^ [3], Litzie, Ken & Craig P. Roberts, "Emergency bypass system"
4. Jump up^ [4], Boddie, Arthur W., "Hepatic isolation and perfusion circuit assembly"
5. Jump up^ [5], Rishton, Michael L., "Extracorporeal pulsatile blood pump comprised of side by side bladders"
6. Jump up^ Fleming, Chet. "" If we can keep a severed head alive..."." BMJ: British Medical Journal 297.6655 (1988): 1048.