(Yicai Global) Nov. 20 -- Sergio Canavero, a neurosurgeon from an advanced neuromodulation team from the Italian city of Turin, announced that he rehearsed the human head transplant procedure using two cadavers in China.

Prof. Ren Xiaoping from the Harbin Medical University in China said that he and Canavero practiced connecting the spinal cord and blood vessels on the head of one corpse with the body of another in an 18-hour operation.

Experts will publish a full report on the experiment in a medical journal in the coming days, Ren said.

The team plans to apply to attempt a similar surgery on a live patient soon, Canavero said.