Development of an Image-Guided Robotic System for Automated Hair Transplantation

The prevalence of hair implantation surgery is increasing, although its substantial expense and lengthy duration of 3–8 hours require the participation of a minimum of four personnel. In an effort to increase efficiency, this paper proposes an autonomous robotic hair transplantation system that utilizes image guidance. The system comprises of a stereo camera that can accurately locate the position and orientation of hair follicles in donor areas, a robotic arm for motion planning, and an end effector with motors and a needle to perform rotational and translational movements. The proposed system performs surgery in two stages: harvesting and implantation. In the harvesting stage, the vision system identifies each hair follicle, and the robot extracts it along its orientation. In the implantation stage, the vision system plans the implantation sites in the bald area, generates position and orientation of them, and precisely implants the grafts into the skin at the correct depth. Results from animal and phantom tests suggest that the system has significant potential to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of hair transplant surgery.