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The proposal which requires the least advancement of technology goes like this: the patient’s brain (possibly entire head) is made solid, either by perfusing with (for example) paraffin, or by freezing to liquid nitrogen temperatures. Next, the brain is cut into very thin slices. Each slice is scanned by a computer using very high-resolution instruments (e.g., the electron microscope). The computer uses this data to reconstruct the patient’s brain circuitry in an artificial substrate (probably dedicated brain-simulating hardware). The simulation is activated, and the patient finds herself or himself in a shiny new body.

This procedure requires relatively modest extensions of current technology. Anatomical reconstruction from serial sections has been done for many years. Currently, only a very tiny piece of tissue can be scanned in this way at the resolution needed for circuit reconstruction, and the process is both slow and labor-intensive. Researchers are currently working to automate the process, increase the speed, and increase the sample size. Eventually these developments should permit the scanning of an entire brain — but there’s still a long way to go to that point (unless, of course, someone starts pouring lots of money into development).

As a word of caution, it may not be enough to capture just the structure of the neurons and connections; functionally relevant information is undoubtedly contained in, for example, the ratios of chemicals in the synapses and the distribution of ion channels in the cell membrane. Staining techniques will probably permit all relevant variables to be read during the scan, but it’s something to keep in mind.
1/27/97 . . . . . . . Joe Strout
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Its now 2009 And I feel that we could Do all the above without cutting the Brain to get the resolution need to copy the Brain/Mind of ones Brain. Maybe T-Rays or microscope with pico scale.-resolution Laser microtome
Microtome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A microtome is a mechanical instrument used to cut biological specimens into transparent thin sections for microscopic examination. Microtomes use steel, glass, or diamond blades depending upon the specimen being sliced and the desired thickness of the sections being cut. Steel blades are used to prepare sections of animal or plant tissues for light microscopy histology. Glass knives are used to slice sections for light microscopy and to slice very thin sections for electron microscopy. Industrial grade diamond knives are used to slice hard materials such as bone, teeth and plant matter for both light microscopy and for electron microscopy. Gem quality diamond knives are used for slicing thin sections for electron microscopy.

The most common applications of microtomes are:

* Traditional histological technique: tissues are hardened by replacing water with paraffin. The tissue is then cut in the microtome at thicknesses varying from 2 to 25 µm (micrometers) thick. From there the tissue can be mounted on a microscope slide, stained with appropriate aqueous dye(s) after prior removal of the paraffin, and examined using a light microscope. See histology for more details.
* Cryosection: water-rich tissues are hardened by freezing and cut in the frozen state with a freezing microtome or microtome-cryostat; sections are stained and examined with a light microscope. This technique is much faster than traditional histology (5 minutes vs 16 hours) and is used in conjunction with medical procedures to achieve a quick diagnosis. Cryosections can also be used in immunohistochemistry as freezing tissue stops degradation of tissue faster than using a fixative and does not alter or mask its chemical composition as much.
* Electron microscopy: after embedding tissues in epoxy resin, a microtome equipped with a glass or gem grade diamond knife is used to cut very thin sections (typically 60 to 100 nanometers). Sections are stained with an aqueous solution of an appropriate heavy metal salt and examined with a transmission electron microscope. This instrument is often called an ultramicrotome. The ultramicrotome is also used with its glass knife or an industrial grade diamond knife to cut survey sections prior to thin sectioning. These survey sections are generally 0.5 to 1 micrometer thick and are mounted on a glass slide and stained to locate areas of interest under a light microscope prior to thin sectioning for the TEM. Thin sectioning for the TEM is often done with a gem quality diamond knife.
* Botanical microtomy: hard materials like wood, bone and leather require a sledge microtome. These microtomes have heavier blades and cannot cut as thin as a regular microtome.
* Spectroscopy, especially FTIR or infra-red spectroscopy, where thin polymer sections are needed in order that the infra-red beam will penetrate the sample under examination. It is normal to cut samples to between 20 and 100 micrometres in thickness. For more detailed analysis of much smaller areas in a thin section, FTIR microscopy can be used for sample inspection.

Microtome blades are extremely sharp, and should be handled with great care. Safety precautions should be taken in order to avoid any contact with the cutting edge of the blade. If one should accidentally drop NEVER try to catch it with the unprotected hand!

A recent development is the laser microtome, which cuts with a femtosecond laser instead of a mechanical knife. This method is contact-free and does not require sample preparation techniques. The laser microtome has the ability to slice almost every tissue in its native state. Depending on the material being processed, slice thicknesses of 10 to 100 µm are feasible.

Microtome – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org

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microscopy enters the picometer scale
July 24th, 2008 in Physics / Physics
EnlargeUsing electron microscope methods of a hitherto unknown accuracy,
scientists from Forschungszentrum Juelich have succeeded in locally
demonstrating polarization in the ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 and measuring it
atom by atom. The broken line forms the boundary of two areas with different
electrical polarization marked by the arrows. This is due to the fact that the
atoms (Pb: lead; Z: zircon; Ti: titanium; O: oxygen) are displaced from their
positions and therefore their electrical charges cannot compensate for each
other. On the left, the oxygen atoms are displaced 38 pm downwards, and on the
right to the same degree upwards out of the zircon/titanium atomic row. This row
itself is displaced vertically by 10 pm from the center line between the lead
atoms. In order to write information in applications for data storage, the
boundary between these two areas of different polarization directions is
displaced to the left or to the right so that only one polarization direction
exists in the material. Image: Forschungszentrum Juelich
Jülich scientists have succeeded in precisely measuring atomic spacings down to
a few picometres using new methods in ultrahigh-resolution electron microscopy.
This makes it possible to find out decisive parameters determining the physical
properties of materials directly on an atomic level in a microscope. Knut Urban
from Forschungszentrum Jülich, a member of the Helmholtz Association, reports on
this in the latest issue (25 July) of the scientific high-impact journal
Science.
Progress in research in the area of physics is very frequently connected to an
increase in the accuracy of measurements, which help researchers to track
natural phenomena. With the aid of new methods in electron optics, researchers
were able to microscopically measure atomic displacements precisely to a few
picometres. A picometre corresponds to a billionth of a millimetre a distance
that is one hundred times smaller than the diameter of an atom.
This is one of the highlights that Knut Urban, director of the Ernst
Ruska-Centre in Jülich, reports on in Science as part of a review of ten years
of electron microscopy with aberration-corrected lenses.
Jülich scientists investigated, for example, the configuration of atoms in
orthogonal grain boundaries of the oxide superconductor YBa2Cu3O7. These atoms
mark the boundary between two areas of the crystalline material with atomic
structures that are tilted at an angle of exactly 90° to each other. From
microscopic images taken under different conditions, the physicists succeeded in
using computers to calculate the quantum-mechanical wave function of the
electrons, which served as a basis for determining the exact position of the
atoms.
In doing so, it became apparent that the relatively heavy atomic species barium,
copper and yttrium are systematically displaced a few picometres from their
ideal position in the grain boundary and that the leighter oxygen atoms follow
this displacement. This provides an explanation for the attenuation of
superconducting properties, which can be observed when electric current flows
over such a grain boundary. This phenomenon is undesired if the superconductor
is intended to be used for a loss-free current transport. However, it is useful
for the construction of so-called SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference
devices), which exploit the magnetic field dependency of this disturbance to
measure smallest magnetic fields, for example, to measure brain waves
(magnetoencephalography).
Displacements of a few picometres decide on a whole number of physical
properties, which are of eminent importance for technology. Another example is
the ferroelectricity of titanates materials. Here, the electrical charges of the
individual types of atoms inside the building blocks of crystals, the unit
cells, cannot fully compensate for each other as they are not arranged in the
necessary symmetry.
Therefore, electric dipoles are formed inside the unit cells, which add up over
a larger crystal area to form the so-called polarisation. This is used to write
information bits. An example is PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 which is used in chip cards for
data storage. With the aid of new electron optical methods, atomic displacements
can be measured atom by atom thus making it possible to determine local
polarisation for the first time.
Knut Urban explains: “This is the beginning of a new physics of materials which
enables researchers to determine physical parameters and properties in the nano
range through highly precise measurements of the atomic spacings. This will also
provide clues on how these properties may be manipulated in order to gain new
functions and better functional performance.”
Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

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I want to copy My Brain matter and put every scan into a Data Base’

Joseph M. Graham Jr.

I hope someone will set this up for Me.
Because I cant

“The idea that your brain can be “rebooted,” your existential being intact, is by no means a given.”

It may not be a given, but it is a default presumption for the thousands of people who have already survived such rebooting. Brain electrical activity flatlines after about 30 seconds of cardiac arrest, so anyone resuscitated after such an interval has effectively been rebooted. There are other medical examples of ceased electrical activity and subsequent rebooting of the brain, including recovery from barbiturate coma and deep hypothermia. Sometimes hypothermia accompanied by stopping of the heart, lungs and brain is deliberately induced for certain surgical procedures. There is more information about this at

http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/medicaltimetravel.htm

Re:

“legal death means zero brain activity, with the heart and lungs stopped”

Technically, legal death means that a medical authority has deemed that resuscitation efforts on someone in this state are not appropriate. The described state itself can be reversed with present technology if other problems don’t prevent reversal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdJGlYOL0r4