Systems and methods for harvesting, storing, and implanting hair grafts

摘要

A system and method for harvesting, storing, and implanting biological units, in particular hair follicular units (FUs). The system is particularly useful to facilitate hair transplant procedures. FUs are harvested from a body surface, either attached to a patient or in a strip of removed tissue, and shuttled into a cartridge having a plurality of receptacles. The receptacles are open in a distal direction toward a removal tool, but a cover over the proximal ends of the receptacles prevents the FUs from continuing out of the cartridge. The cover is made of a permissible medium, which may be fluid permeable and/or puncturable. One way to shuttle the FUs is to provide a pressure differential, such as by applying suction to the proximal end of a receptacle. The shuttle subsystem may be incorporated within an overall automated or robotic system, or the shuttle subsystem may form part of a semi-automated or even manual apparatus.

主权项

1. A system for managing follicular units, comprising:
a removal tool for removing follicular units from a body surface, the removed follicular units being transferred along a pathway from one location to another; an inspection device located along the pathway to allow automatic inspection of a follicular unit that passes thereby, said inspection device comprising at least one sensor that senses movement of the follicular unit along the pathway, said inspection device further comprising an imaging system that is configured to respond to the sensed movement by generating an image of the follicular unit; and a tracking system configured to use signals generated by the inspection device to register passage of the follicular units along the pathway.