Systems and methods for harvesting, storing, and implanting hair grafts
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.
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.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tracking system counts and/or classifies follicular units that pass along the pathway based on the signals generated by the inspection device.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inspection device comprises a transparent inspection tube through which the follicular unit passes.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the imaging system is coupled to a controller that triggers the imaging system in response to signals generated by the one or more sensors.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pathway comprises an open channel through the removal tool and the system includes means for creating a pressure differential in the open channel for transferring the follicular unit therethrough.
6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising a structure along the pathway to reduce the pressure differential and a speed of the follicular unit along the pathway.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inspection device comprises a light source and light detector positioned to detect said movement of the follicular unit.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inspection device comprises first and second sensors that are spaced apart from each other along the pathway, and wherein the system further comprises a controller that uses signals generated by the first and second sensors to calculate a velocity of the follicular unit, said controller configured to use the calculated velocity to control a timing with which the imaging system generates said image.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the removal tool is connected to and manipulated by a robotic arm.
10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a storage cartridge having a plurality of receptacles, and comprising a mechanism that moves the cartridge to align individual receptacles with the pathway such that follicular units are automatically inserted into respective receptacles.
11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a follicular unit tracking system configured to use information generated by the inspection device to record, in association with particular receptacles, information about follicular units stored in the receptacles.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the follicular unit tracking system is further configured to record an absence of a follicular unit in a selected receptacle of the storage cartridge if transfer of the follicular unit into the selected receptacle was not successful based on information generated by the inspection device.
13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a follicular unit selection module that uses the information recorded in association with particular receptacles to select follicular units therefrom for implantation.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the system is further configured to substantially stop or slow down the follicular unit's motion for imaging based on the sensed movement.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the imaging system comprises a strobe light, and the system further comprises a controller that controls a timing with which the strobe light is activated based on the sensed motion.
16. A method for managing follicular units, comprising:
receiving a follicular unit removed from a body surface with a removal tool, and transferring the follicular unit along a pathway from one location to another;
automatically inspecting the follicular unit as the follicular unit passes along the pathway, wherein automatically inspecting the follicular unit comprises generating signals with an inspection device that inspects the follicular unit at one or more checkpoints along the pathway; and
registering passage of the follicular unit through one or more points along the pathway, said registering performed automatically by a processor based on the signals generated by the inspection device.
17. The method of claim 16 , further including automatically counting a number of follicular units inspected.
18. The method of claim 16 , further including automatically classifying each follicular unit inspected and/or automatically displaying the results of classification.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the pathway comprises an open channel through the removal tool and the method includes creating a pressure differential in the open channel for transferring the follicular unit therethrough.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein automatically inspecting the follicular unit comprises imaging the follicular unit.
21. The method of claim 16 , the method further including aligning the pathway with a selected receptacle of a storage cartridge, the storage cartridge comprising a plurality of receptacles, and urging the follicular unit into the selected cartridge receptacle.
22. The method of claim 21 , the method further comprising recording an absence of the follicular unit in the selected receptacle of the storage cartridge if the urging of the follicular unit into the selected receptacle was not successful.
23. The method of claim 21 , the method further comprising recording a presence of the follicular unit in the selected receptacle and information about the follicular unit obtained from the inspection.
24. The method of claim 23 , the method further comprising selectively retrieving the inspected follicular unit from the selected receptacle based on the recorded information.
25. The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising recording information about the follicular unit obtained from the inspection and using the recorded information in hair harvesting and/or hair implantation procedure.
26. The method of claim 16 , wherein automatically inspecting the follicular unit comprises slowing down and/or pausing the follicular unit for the inspection.
27. The method of claim 16 , further comprising reducing a speed of travel of the follicular unit as it is transferred along the pathway.
28. The method of claim 16 , wherein at least one step of the method is performed using a robotic system.
29. The method of claim 16 , wherein automatically inspecting the follicular unit comprises sensing a speed of the follicular unit along the pathway, and using the sensed speed to control a timing with which an imaging system is activated.
30. The method of claim 16 , wherein automatically inspecting the follicular unit comprises inspecting the follicular unit as it passes through a transparent inspection tube.
31. A system for managing follicular units, comprising:
a follicular unit removal tool configured to remove follicular units from a body surface of a patient;
a pathway along which the follicular units are moved by a follicular unit shuttle system following removal;
an imaging system positioned along the pathway configured to capture images of the follicular units during passage of the follicular units along the pathway; and
a tracking system configured to monitor movement of the follicular units along the pathway, the tracking system comprising a controller configured to use the tracked movement to control a timing with which the imaging system captures the images.
32. The system of claim 31 , wherein the tracking system comprises a plurality of sensors positioned along the pathway upstream from the imaging system, and the controller uses the plurality of sensors to calculate a velocity of a follicular unit along the pathway.
33. The system of claim 31 , wherein the pathway comprises a transparent inspection tube.
34. The system of claim 31 , further comprising:
an image processing system configured to generate counting and/or classification information about particular follicular units based on the images generated by the imaging system; and
a data storage subsystem configured to store the counting and/or classification information.
35. The system of claim 34 , further comprising a storage device, wherein the data storage subsystem stores classification information that classifies a follicular unit based on a number of hairs in the follicular unit and associates the classification information with a particular receptacle of the storage device, wherein the system further comprises a selection subsystem configured to select particular follicular units from the storage device for implantation based on the classification information.
36. A machine-implemented method of managing harvested follicular units, comprising:
detecting, via one or more sensors, movement of a follicular unit through a channel of a follicular unit shuttle subsystem, said follicular unit shuttle subsystem configured to move follicular units into storage receptacles;
in response to the detected movement, activating an imaging system that generates an image of the follicular unit; and
registering passage of the follicular unit into a storage receptacle.
37. The method of claim 36 , further comprising generating follicular unit classification information based on the image, and storing the classification information in association with the storage receptacle.
38. The method of claim 36 , wherein detecting the movement comprises calculating a velocity of the follicular unit.
39. The method of claim 38 , wherein the method comprises using the calculated velocity to control a timing with which the imaging system is activated.