By: Bryan Li

Last week, researchers at Yale University filled the bodies of dead pigs with artificial fluids. After a couple of hours, a distinct heartbeat was discovered.

The team of researchers used two sets of deceased pigs; one group was put on ECMO, a technique used to provide cardiac and respiratory support, and the other used OrganEx, a device that helps with your overall health and brings down inflammation.

Towards the end of the sixth hour, the group of pigs that were put on OrganEx had a decent amount of oxygen circulating in their bodies. “Under the microscope, it was difficult to tell the difference between a healthy organ and one which had been treated with OrganEx technology after death,” Zvonimir Vrselja of Yale said.

On the other hand, the pigs put on ECMO failed to have their bodies oxygenated and remained dead.

Interestingly, the researchers noticed that the pigs using OrganEx had sudden, unconscious head and neck movements. This allows us to understand that although the pigs are deceased, some basic motor functions didn’t vanish.

“What research like this suggests is that death does not occur at a particular time,” says Nathan Emmerich of the Australian National University, “The fruits of this research are unlikely to enable us to revive just anyone but may help us save a limited number of people in certain circumstances.”

This doesn’t mean that we can automatically start reviving humans with OrganEx; there will still be some hurdles to face. For example, all the living organisms in the body must be revived as well.

Regardless, we have a start for the future, and if this machine shows much success in humans, possibilities are endless.