Italian surgeon Dr. Sergio Canavero has come forth with the remarkable claim that he will be able to carry out a head transplant procedure within two years. Dr. Canavero proposed a procedure that would give a person a healthy new body – while getting to keep their own head.

Canavero works with the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group in Italy, and first proposed the theory of the operation in 2013. He has recently published a summary of the scientific techniques he believes would allow doctors to perform the radical surgery in the journal Surgical Neurology International.

The procedure would begin with cooling the recipient’s head and the donor’s body to extend the amount of time the cell tissue could survive without oxygen. Then, the major blood vessels would be linked up with tiny tubes. The spinal cords would need to be cut extremely cleanly, according to Canavero. The ends of the spinal cords would be fused together using a chemical called polyethylene glycol, which would encourage the fat in the cell membranes to mesh together. After suturing the muscles and replenishing the blood supply, the patient would be kept in a coma for up to four weeks to ensure that the body’s healing is not interrupted by movement. While in the coma, electrodes would provide regular spinal cord stimulation in order to encourage and strengthen the new nerve connections.

Canavero has said that using this medical process, transplant patients would still be able to speak with their same voice when they awaken from the healing coma. He also thinks that a steady physiotherapy regimen would enable the patient to walk within a year. Several people have already volunteered for the chance to get a new body, he said.

Canavero insists that the treatment could benefit many different people, including patients who have cancer-infected organs, suffer from muscle and nerve degeneration, or are afflicted with gender dysmorphia. However, many others doubt either the reality or the practicality of performing head transplant procedures.

“He [Canavero] thinks it’s ready, I think it’s far into the future,” said William Matthews, chairman of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons. Harry Goldsmith, a California doctor, said, “I don’t believe it will ever happen.”

Bruno Freguelli, the current secretary of the British Neuroscience Association, brought up the ethical question of monetary privilege, emphasizing the fact that it would be an extremely expensive surgery. “I can’t imagine it being available on the NHS. It would be the preserve of rich individuals,” he said. “Is that a good use of that sophistication of surgery? I’m not convinced at this stage and I just don’t know how feasible it would be.”

Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center, simply said that the head transplant idea is “both rotten scientifically and lousy ethically.”

Canavero intends to fund his first transplant operation with sales of his book, Head Transplantation and the Quest for Immortality.