Robotics in Hair Transplantation: Coming Soon to a Clinic Near You?

Robotic assisted devices and computers are now used in many different types of surgerical procedures. It is likely that the same trend may be seen in hair restoration over the next decade.

Restoration Robotics, a privately held medical device company in the United States, created a robotic device to assist hair transplant surgeons.  The so called ARTAS system consists of a chair where a patient having a hair transplant would sit and a robotic arm that a hair transplant surgeon would control using a computer interface.  The robotic arm would dissect hair follicles from the back and sides of the scalp. The hope is that the quality of hair follicle harvesting may be enhanced by the ARTAS system. The device received FDA clearance in April 2011 for men with brown or black straight hair.

The company announced last week that they have raised 41 million dollars in venture capitalist funding and will begin now to focus on how the technology can be marketed in the United States.