Characteristics of robotically harvested hair follicles in Koreans.

Abstract

Recently, an automated robotic hair restoration device was developed and is increasingly being used for hair restoration. We sought to analyze the hair follicles of Korean patients that were harvested by a hair restoration robotic device. Data were reviewed from a total of 22 patients who underwent robotic follicular unit (FU) extraction hair restoration surgery at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Hair follicles collected from 3 grids in the central parts of the safe donor zone of each patient were analyzed. The total number of harvested FUs was 5213, and the total number of collected FUs was 4955. The average yield was 95.1% ± 3.5%. Among the 12,017 harvested hairs, 590 hairs were transected and the average transection rate was 4.91% ± 2.9%. FUs of double hairs made up the majority of harvested FUs (44.1%), followed by triple hairs (31.9%). The transection rate increases in FUs that contain multiple hairs. A relatively small sample size and lack of comparative study with conventional FU extraction modalities are limitations. The robotic system qualifies for use in hair restoration surgery. It efficiently harvests not only single hairs but multiple hairs as well.