Robotic hair transplant surgery is a major development in the technology of the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) procedure.
The Artas robotic system automates two vital steps in FUE hair transplant, namely, follicular unit graft harvesting and recipient site creation.
Vinings Surgery Center, led by board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Colgrove, provides Artas robotic hair restoration to patients in Atlanta, Marietta, Georgia, and surrounding communities.
Procedure
In this procedure, the patient is initially administered local anesthesia in the area to be harvested. They are seated in the robotic chair, and the doctor applies the tensioner, which is a tiny rectangular photo frame-like device, to the back of the scalp. The robotic arm automatically positions itself to the donor site.
After this, the system orients the punch tool to the scalp and scans the skin for a follicular unit to extract. After the robot identifies a follicular unit for extraction, a dual punch mechanism is deployed with the inner sharp tool scoring the skin surrounding the follicular unit and the outer blunt tool extracting the graft from the adjacent tissue.
Subsequently, the optical system scans for the next follicular unit to be extracted. The arm places the tool over the next unit and aligns the instrument with the follicles. The extraction step is repeated. This sequence continues until the robot completes harvesting from within the site demarcated by the tensioner.
Once the harvesting from the site is complete, technicians manually extract the grafts from the scalp, and the tensioner is shifted to a virgin site for another round of harvesting. This process is repeated until an appropriate number of grafts are harvested for hair restoration.
The sequence is similar to robotic recipient site creation. However, rather than the punch tool dissecting follicular units in the skin, it is used to develop recipient sites according to the precise specifications programmed by the surgeon.
Efficient Graft Harvesting with Artas System
In this procedure, the robot’s optical guidance system identifies the follicular unit for extraction while the robotic arm positions the punch tool at an appropriate angle.
The two-step sharp/blunt punch scores the skin and then goes deeper into the tissue at the correct depth to make sure that the integrity of the follicular unit remains intact.
This process is repeated with microscopic precision. The robot’s graft selection algorithm improves the harvesting efficiency by increasing the number of hairs removed on every harvest attempt.
Recipient Site Creation with Artas System
The robotic recipient site creation involves the surgeon programming the design plan and other specifications into the Artas robot. Then the computer-driven guidance system positions the robotic arm.
In a microsecond, the robot identifies an area of the bald scalp at a particular distance from surrounding follicles and deploys the cutting tool to develop the site at the exact depth and angle programmed by the surgeon.
As it progresses, it calculates the number of recipient sites that it needs to develop to accomplish the ideal density of transplanted hairs. All this takes place at such a rapid pace and with such 3-D accuracy that the Artas system can create more than 1,000 sites per hour without fatigue, loss of focus, or damage to existing hairs.
Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robert Colgrove receives patients from Atlanta, Marietta, Georgia, and nearby areas for Artas robotic hair transplant treatment.
For more information about treatments and procedures by Board Certified Atlanta Plastic Surgeon, Robert A. Colgrove, Jr., M.D. at Vinings Surgery Center please visit us at www.colgrove.com
Vinings Surgery Center is taking patients from Greater Atlanta Georgia, Buckhead, Marietta, Roswell, Dunwoody and surrounding areas.