Robot technology is used frequently in the field of health, especially liver and heart surgeries. It also has an important place in hair transplant surgery. The most up-to date hair transplantation technology “Robotic Hair Transplant”, which was first used in United States in 2010 and still being developed, is being successfully used by Dr. Servet Terziler in Esteworld Plastic Surgery Group in Turkey, like in the countries such as Japan, United States and Great Britain.
Robotic hair transplantation process covers the steps below;
- The process of collecting hair follicles with an automatic technology by the hair transplantation robot instead of classical methods
- Opening the channels in the transplantation area with an advanced technology
- Manually planting these follicles into the channels opened with minimum error
How is robotic hair transplant done?
In robotic hair transplant with artas, follicles are taken from the nape region that are not lost for life. Artas Robot sees the direction of the follicle under the skin thanks to its optical readers and collects the follicles with near-zero error. The goal is to collect the strongest hair follicles in good quality. While the Artas Robot is processing, the operator at the computer can intervene in the hair transplant robot when deemed necessary. In case the operator does not intervene, the robot automatically detects the hair follicles to be collected and automatically determines which follicle it will collect in the next step. An important advantage of the hair transplant robot is that it does not cause any damage to the existing healthy hair while collecting the hair follicles. The Robot does two important tasks: collecting follicles and opening canals.
It is possible to summarize the channel opening process as follows; everyone has a different hair growing direction and the intensity that needs to be transplanted to appear in a certain volume. With its optical reader, the robot memorizes the hair follicles and opens the channel without harming the existing follicles.
Before the procedure, the photos of the patient are taken from the front, from the back, from the top, and from the side to produce a 3 dimensional structure of the scalp. Thus, how much hair to which region is to be transplanted, how to direct the hair, and at what angle to be transplanted is prepared meticulously, scientifically and professionally just like an architectural project. Patients can go through the process without having any doubts in their mind. The process takes up to 7-8 hours and is completed on the same day. Also, it is a comfortable method for the patient.
What are the things to do after robotic hair transplant?
After the procedure, the tissue in which the hair follicles are taken in the nape region of the patients is closed with a bandage for 48 hours in order to prevent any infection.
In robotic hair transplant surgeries, it is not necessary to inject fluids under the skin. For this reason, since the subcutaneous tissue is not traumatized, edema and swelling in the robotic transplant is very low compared to the FUE method. Wound healing occurs much faster.
According to the patient’s needs, tennis player forehead band is used up to 2 – 3 days. This band prevents the liquid in the forehead from coming down around the eyes and causing a bruised appearance. The patient is given an anti-edema pill for three days. It is recommended to drink 2.5 litres of water per day, make ice compresses every hour to ensure that this edema is quickly recovered. The patient is called for examination the day after the procedure. Necessary checks are carried out to see if there is any bleeding, infection, swelling or edema. Usually everything goes well in almost hundred percent of the procedures.
First washing process
48 hours after robotic hair transplantation, a process called first washing is done. The purpose of this procedure is; While the transplantation is being carried out, it is necessary to open channels, each of those having different angles. When a small incision is made in this angle, the skin gets separated and a cleft occurs. This area gets crusty over time. However, it is desired to slow down this incrustation process. If this incrustation occurs quickly, undesired outcomes such as infection in placed hair follicle may occur. For this reason, hair washing operations start two days after the operation and continue for eight days and are applied once a day.
In hair washing process, a lotion is applied to the skin and left for 20 minutes. Thus, the skin becomes softer. Then washing is carried out. In eighth day, crusts become more prominent. Their color turn brown from red. Finally, these brown spots start to harden. In lotion application carried out in eighth and final day, lotion is kept for 40-50 minutes. Then, crusts are are gently removed one by one. In tenth day, all crusts are shed and the scalp looks like the patient had a short hair cut. Patients are extremely happy when they see their hair in the mirror with the feeling of having it cut short.
After the robotic hair transplant, it is necessary to take good care of hair. Therefore, it would be appropriate to use special shampoos, sprays, tablets that strengthen the hair. This treatment is recommended to patients by Esteworld specialists.
When can patients return to their normal lives?
No problems occur in terms of health and it is possible to return to work a day later. However, in terms of appearance, it takes 10 days for everything to completely recover for redness recovery and shedding of the crusts.
What are the advantages of robotic hair transplant?
- In classical hair transplant methods, the direction of hair growth depends on the attention of the expert who arranges the angle during the operation. In robotic hair transplant, elements such as the direction of hair growth and angle are planned with the instructions and programs given to the robot.
- With its special magnifier, the Artas hair transplantation robot eliminates the margin of error by providing a 10,000X zoom in viewing the follicular unit.
- Another important advantage of the Artas Robot is that it does not cause any damage to existing healthy hair while collecting hair follicles.
- Personal hair design is done before transplantation. In order to create a 3D model, photos are taken from five different angles. With the 3D model created, it is determined how much hair transplantation should be done in which region so that what kind of appearance will occur after the transplantation.
- The healing process is faster when compared to FUE and DHI techniques.
- One of the important advantages of robotic hair transplant is that it provides a natural appearance. Thanks to the robot’s advanced technology, the hair appears to have grown naturally. When we lift our own hair and look at the bottom, we don’t see any hollow, artificial appearance. Hair is whole with skin. With robotic hair surgery, it is possible to achieve the most natural-looking hair growth results. This can be explained as follows: In FUE method, a device called slit, with 1/3 width of a razor, creates a 3 mm depth, however, since the robot only goes down to 1.5 mm depth, it does not cause any hollowed appearance. Thus, it ensures results which satisfies both the patient and the physician.
Conclusion
As a result; robotic hair transplant must be performed by a specialist physician. Especially in the cases with a hair loss area in size of the scalp on the front side of the scalp, the best choice is the robot. When it is necessary to carry out transplantation between the areas with no hair loss, robotic hair transplant should also be the first choice.
As the patients see the successful results of robotic hair transplant in Turkey at Esteworld, patients recommend it to the people around them. Thus, the method becomes more and more preferred day by day.
