Bernstein Medical Physicians: We Speak Robotics

Dr. Bernstein Presents ARTAS 9x Overview and Long-Hair Robotic FUE

Restoration Robotics, the device company that developed the ARTAS Robotic Hair Transplant System, held their annual ARTAS Users Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada where over 200 medical professionals met to share their knowledge of and experience with robotic hair restoration. Both Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Wolfeld presented novel robotic FUE techniques including pre-making recipient sites, long-hair robotic FUE and advances of the ARTAS 9x system.

At the 2018 ARTAS Users Meeting, Dr. Robert M. Bernstein discussed the newest iterations of the ARTAS Robotic Hair Transplant System 9x and Long-Hair Robotic FUE.

ARTAS 9x: Software and Hardware Updates

In his presentation, Dr. Bernstein elaborated on the software and hardware updates that were implemented in ARTAS 9x. The upgrades to the ARTAS 9x include: white LED lights that are easier on the users’ eyes, a base extender to increase operating range, smaller size needle options, a more ergonomic headrest, automated scar detection, faster harvesting, and streamlined ARTAS Hair Studio software.

The original ARTAS robot relied on a red LED light optical system but the red light caused eye fatigue in the surgeon and clinical staff. The ARTAS 9x uses a yellow tensioner and white LED lights allowing technicians to extract grafts while the system is still harvesting — without causing eye fatigue. The new tensioner also shortens the time of the procedure and increases accuracy by eliminating the need to center the robot manually and drag it into alignment. This three-step process is minimized to one.

Dr. Bernstein worked with ARTAS engineers in the development of these new advances and tested them in our facility. The ARTAS 9x has the capability of using a very fine 20-gauge harvesting needle and punch that permits grafts to be removed through a smaller incision. Surgeons now have the opportunity to use an 0.8mm needle, smaller than that of older versions (1.0mm and 0.9mm). The 0.8mm needle is useful for patients who want to keep their hair very short and for those that have had multiple procedures in order to minimize scarring.

There are also other important functional changes that have been made to the ARTAS robot, such as an arm break release that allows the robotic arm to be pushed away quickly, a base extender, a smaller robotic head for better reach, and a new headrest and more.

Long-Hair Robotic FUE

Dr. Bernstein also discussed a solution to the short-term cosmetic problem that appears in Follicular Unit “Excision” (the new term for FUE). The solution is Long-Hair Robotic FUE . In traditional FUE procedures, the hair in the entire donor area is clipped close to the scalp leaving a broad swath of the harvested area visible. In Long-Hair FUE, the patient grows his hair longer on the back and sides of the scalp that can be used to cover the harvested area. He explained that before the procedure the surgeon lifts the hair up and clips a long thin band of donor hair, extracts follicular units from this part of the scalp and, after the procedure, the patient combs down his hair to cover the donor area. Dr. Bernstein explained how this can be done through one long band, or when more grafts are needed two parallel bands, to harvest the maximum number of grafts.