Introduction
There are 2 basic techniques for hair transplant, FUT and FUE. FUT is done with a strip harvestation and separation of individual follicular units with implantation one by one manually or with implanters. FUE is the individual extraction of each follicular unit using fine punches and then individual follicular unit implantation either manually or using implanters
Robotic (actually semi-robotic ) hair transplant was introduced a few years back by MEDICAMID in France, marketed as SAFER in India, otherwise known as NEO GRAFT in North America
What is Neo-graft / SAFER
SAFER is suction assisted Follicular unit extraction, it is in actuality a semi robotic device, which relies solely on human efforts to extract follicular unit, and to reimplant them back to recipient area. The features of this machine are
1. Semirobotic
2. Suction built into the extraction hand piece to automatically suck the extracted grafts ( no need to pull them manually, like in conventional FUE) into a canister
3. Canister to collect the extracted grafts in extractor hand piece
4. Special blunt tip punches to reduce wastage
5. Implantation hand piece with suction as well as reverse suction to implant grafts with same handpiece
Downside of using the SAFER device
1. expensive - this device is an expensive device, making the procedures costly and probably not cost effective
2. the blunt punches need to be bigger to achieve the extraction. Since they don't have a sharp edge, they need to be able to apply more force, which is achieved either with higher rpm of the device or with a wider caliber, offsetting the advantage of perceived reduction of wastage. Since wider scars are produced, it does not remain scarless any more
3. suction at the time of extraction only works with punch sizes of 1.2 mm or more. Thus leaving wider scars
4. need to collect more grafts in canister in one time, continuous changing the canister is a time taking process. Larger number of grafts at the one time, tends to dry out the grafts. Some grafts get stuck in the hand piece and the tubing, leading to wastage
5. there is no advantage of the implanter since we have to make manual spaces first anyway
Summary
Robotic Hair transplant is an interesting addition to FUE, however it is neither cost effective nor advantageous in terms of graft protection and reduction of damage. In our experience, we have better results with conventional FUE or modified DHI kind of processes
Content source :- https://www.apsense.com/article/robotic-hair-transplant-truths-and-myths-broken.html
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