The ARTAS System is a 21st-century technological innovation that was introduced into the hair treatment field in 2011 to treat male pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia. The system is sophisticated, utilizing computer assistance to harvest hair follicles during the actual process of hair replacement. ARTAS incorporates a number of elements in its operation, including an image-guided robotic arm and special imaging technologies that co-ordinate together for the purpose of implementing the “follicular unit extraction (FUE)” technique upon the recipient of the system.

Follicular Unit Extraction

FUE is a minimally invasive technique used in hair restoration procedures to extract individual follicular units from the scalp in preparation for transplantation. Hair restoration or transplantation is used to treat hair loss, a condition that affects 50 million men and 30 million women in the United States. The system, which was developed by Restoration Robotics, features an image-guided robotic arm, small dissection punches and an interactive computer interface.

Benefits

Overall, the ARTAS System enables Dr. Bishara to harvest follicles using FUE more rapidly and with significantly lower transection rates than with traditional methods. Transection rates using ARTAS are reported at 8%, as compared with 20-30% with manual FUE. The ARTAS procedure can be done in half the surgery time compared to manual FUE. A peer reviewed manuscript by showed yield rates over 95%. The system harvests follicular units in a random fashion so that there is no scaring. Patients receiving the ARTAS procedure can return to normal activities in one to two days, compared to weeks or months for strip harvesting procedures.