Is there a way to sign up for cryonics and sign up to be an organ donor?
I know that some people opt to cryo-preserve only their brain. Is there a way to preserve the whole body, with the exception of the harvested organs ? Is there any reason to? Does the time spent harvesting make a difference to how thoroughly the body is preserved?
But all the organ donor people need is for the body to be kept cold. I get that there’s a legal conflict, but couldn’t you leave your body to Alcor with instructions for them to hand it over to the organ donor people after they remove the head?
I believe it doesn’t work like this; you need the circulatory system in order to perfuse the head, and in doing so the other organs are compromised. This could probably be avoided, but not without more surgical expertise/equipment than today’s perfusion teams have, I think.
Oh, because the cryoprotectant is toxic. I forgot about that. I suppose other internal organs apart form the heart could be removed before perfusion starts, but the Alcor people are not qualified to officially do this. All in all it seems like the sort of problem which would be solved if cryonics ever became big enough that it created a sufficient shortage of organs that hospitals actually dedicated some resources to solving the problem.
Is there a way to sign up for cryonics and sign up to be an organ donor?
I know that some people opt to cryo-preserve only their brain. Is there a way to preserve the whole body, with the exception of the harvested organs ? Is there any reason to? Does the time spent harvesting make a difference to how thoroughly the body is preserved?
No, because the folks responsible for each process need custody of the body in the same time frame after legal death.
But all the organ donor people need is for the body to be kept cold. I get that there’s a legal conflict, but couldn’t you leave your body to Alcor with instructions for them to hand it over to the organ donor people after they remove the head?
I believe it doesn’t work like this; you need the circulatory system in order to perfuse the head, and in doing so the other organs are compromised. This could probably be avoided, but not without more surgical expertise/equipment than today’s perfusion teams have, I think.
Oh, because the cryoprotectant is toxic. I forgot about that. I suppose other internal organs apart form the heart could be removed before perfusion starts, but the Alcor people are not qualified to officially do this. All in all it seems like the sort of problem which would be solved if cryonics ever became big enough that it created a sufficient shortage of organs that hospitals actually dedicated some resources to solving the problem.