Follica
has raised money to begin a human trial of its hair cloning technology.
According to the company’s website, the company has obtained “an
exclusive, worldwide license from the University of Pennsylvania to
develop and commercialise a breakthrough technology that has been
demonstrated to stimulate the genesis and development of new follicles.” It is announced it had completed a $5.5 million Series A financing round.
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Scientists in Berlin have used human adult stem cells to develop hair
follicles using 3 D Biodegradable Scaffold, from which hair then grows naturally. The treatment provides
new hope for people suffering from hair loss.Only a few hair follicles
would need to be taken from the"patient"and used to generate as much new
hair as is needed, which can then be grafted.
check this video:
http://youtu.be/iAS_k1IrJpA
Restoration Robotics, Inc., MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, a medical device company, has on 14th March 2011 announced that they have received 510K clearance from (FDA)
for a ROBOT for harvesting hair follicles from the scalp in men diagnosed with
androgenetic alopecia (male pattern hair loss) with black or brown
straight hair. The name of the Robot for this technology is ARTAS™ System.
ARTAS™ is a physician-controlled, state-of-the-art, interactive,
computer-assisted system that enables harvesting of hair follicles
during hair restoration procedures. It combines several features
including a video image-guided robotic arm, special imaging technologies,
small dermal punches, force sensor, robotic arm,and a computer interface. The ARTAS™ System is
capable of identifying and harvesting individual follicular units to
implement the follicular unit extraction (FUE) technique. The software that runs the instrument helps the surgeon target
follicular units for extraction and also uses stereoscopic video images
to guide the needle mechanism and robotic arm.
The robotic harvesting technique resembles that of
follicular unit extraction ( FUE). The donor area, as in FUE is cropped to
short length to enable the stereo camera system to visualize hair follicles.
The imaging algorithms are capable of identifying follicular unit, determining
their type (1 hair FU, 2 hair FU, 3 hair FU etc.) and calculating the angle,
orientation & location of each follicular unit on the scalp surface. Using
this position & location data,
the imaging system semi autonomously guides the robotic arm & mechanism to
core & extract follicular units one at a time; The punch size is 1mm in ID.
The coring of the follicular units is enabled by a proprietary punch designed
that aims to minimize transaction rate. The system, using a feature called
visual servoing, continuously tracks & adjusts to patient movement so that
harvesting of targeted follicular units is precise. Based on inputs by the
user, the degree of automation can be adjusted, e.g. the system may be
configured to harvest 10-20 grafts sequentially. The harvested follicular unit
may then be automatically transported to a vial where it is kept moist and
cool. It may be possible to achieve harvest speed of up to 1000 grafts in an
hour.
The Benefits
There is growing interest in FUE because of its
many patient benefits, such as less discomfort and a quicker return to
normal activities. The ARTAS™ System solves many of the technical
challenges experienced by physicians currently attempting the FUE
procedure which gives physicians and patients new choice. Rapid healing and lack of a
linear scar, which makes this procedure different from the strip method.
Limitations:
The Robot is approved for only straight back and brown hairs and for those with curly , gray or blond hair may have to wait for some later date.
On a personal communication it was mentioned that the system may harvest up to 1000 grafts in an hour with Transaction rate under 6%.
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Check this research paper: double click the picture to read it in separate view
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Well we can do up to 60 per sq. cm but we do not recommend it because of significantly reduced survival rate if transplanted over 30 per sq. cm. Check the attached pdf file of the research paper:
For example, if grafts are placed at a density of 50 FU/cm2 but only grow at a density of 40 FU/cm2, the results would still look good to the eye because a density of 40 FU/cm2 looks good. However, in reality this represents a loss of 20 percent of the grafts, which is unacceptable in hair transplantation due to the limited donor supply.
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