WO2018000058A1

WO2018000058A1 - Surgical tool for the removal of long hairs and connecting structures for hair transplant

Info

Publication number: WO2018000058A1
Application number: PCT/BR2016/050149
Authority: WO
Inventors: Otavio Augusto SILVA BOAVENTURA LIMA
Original assignee: Silva Boaventura Lima Otavio Augusto
Priority date: 2016-06-30
Filing date: 2016-06-30
Publication date: 2018-01-04

Abstract

Surgical tool for removal of long hair comprising a hollow punch (2) with a lower and functional terminal (3) having an aperture (4) extending upwards from the lowest portion of the lower and functional terminal (3). Because of the aperture (4) the punch is not provided with a complete and totally cutting edge of 360 degrees circumference. An incomplete cutting edge reduces hair transection while harvesting singular follicular units. The cutting edge circumference varies from 275 to 315 degrees.

Description

SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT

Applications of the present patent

- Surgical tool capable of removing long and/or coarse hairs and their connecting structures for transplant.

State of the Art

Hair loss on the scalp and eyebrows, in both men an women, usually leads to low self-esteem and self-confidence, and, in some cases, may even trigger depressive episodes. In the present Patent Report, the approach shall focus only on surgical procedures aimed at treating hair loss on the scalp; the techniques presented hereby may be applied to other areas of the body, such as eyebrows, to both men and women, and may also use hair taken from other parts of the body.

Since the nineteenth century, a number of hair transplant surgical techniques have been developed, by harvesting hair from one's own scalp to the balding area, which can be clearly seen when men start losing hair.

Basic technologies for grafting one's own hair - or autogenous transplantation -, from resisting follicular units to thinning areas are as follows:

1 ^st - Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). This technique involves removing a strip of follicular units from the donor area of the scalp. This strip contains hairs and skin and is micro-dissecated, through which hairs are separated from the skin before they are inserted into the recipient area.

With the FUT procedure, there is no need to completely trim the patients hair, as only the elliptical area from which the hair will be removed is trimmed with hairs being cut short before transplantation. Innovations have been introduced to this technique by Marcelo Pitchon, a Brazilian surgeon, through which he implemented the transplantation of long hairs using the FUT procedure. According to this technique, published in 2006, Mr. Pitchon describes some advantages of grafting long hairs as a better way to control the angle of hair strands, better scar and scab camouflage, and also to let the patient have a notion, following the procedure, of how he will look with fully-grown hair.

Although being an established traditional technique, FUT has some disadvantages. What patients fear the most in relation to this technique is the linear donor scar on the scalp - both on the back and on the sides of the head -, as result of the incision made by the surgeon.

2^nd - Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). This technique was developed more recently, through which grafts are extracted as individual follicular units using micropunches of size 1 .25 to 0.75 mm. As these punches penetrate about 2 to 3 mm into the skin, the hairs can be separated from the surrounding dermis. The hairs are then extracted by being pulled out using special surgical forceps. The bulb, sebaceous glands, and the arrector pili muscle also come out together with the hair. This technique does not require incisions, thereby leaving no linear scar behind. Being less invasive and aggressive, there is also less post-operative discomfort. Trimming the donor hair is required as the hair must be short to be punched, which poses a problem to most patients as it may keep them from performing their normal social and professional activities. However, new advances to this technique have been developed that allow surgeons to perform this procedure without having to trim the whole head. Most of these advances allow for the surgeon to trim only the donor areas which are not observable as they are covered by adjoining non-trimmed areas.

The tool, object of the present invention, is groundbreaking as it allows the surgeon to perform the FUE procedure without having to trim any part of the head whatsoever. Further, it allows for the extraction of long hairs using the FUE technique, a procedure never before achieved. This new tool, therefore, may be used in patients who prefer the FUE method for the transplantation of long hairs. This Patent Report presents, simultaneously, the techniques and related criticism. It is worth mentioning that the surgical tools used in patients have hair-size dimensions.

Improvements in the State of the Art. In order to report the advances brought to the State of the Art, object of the present patent application, namely, a SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, comprising a millimeter-sized surgical tool, figure 1 and the appendices will previously describe and depict hairs and their connecting structures, as well as tools and surgical instruments as per the State of the Art.

Figure 1 shows a cross view of a piece of dermis (D) with a single hair strand, whether from the head or not, from a follicular unit, in which one can see the hair (P), the bulb (B), and its connecting structures, namely, the sebaceous gland (G), the irrigation vessels (I), and the arrector pili muscle (M). The removal of cylinder-shaped tissues with depths ranging from 2 mm to 3 mm, and varying in size between 0.75 mm and 1 .25 mm, is necessary for the total extraction and survival of the hair (P) and its connecting structures. This is performed using a surgical instrument that is attached to the end of a similar instrument that is a little smaller in size than a dental handpiece or drill shank, said tool being used to twist the punch as per figure 2.

Figure 2 shows a front view of the punch (PU), which plays an important role in the State of the Art as its dimensions are compatible with those of the anatomical surgery target, ranging from 2 to 3 mm in length (d), with a diameter of up to 1 .25 mm.

Figure 3 shows a front view with lower scalpriform and cutting edges (C) of the punch (PU). This tool fits the rotary handpiece, whose rotation is computer- controlled as it responds to the surgeon's pedal-pressing commands. Once the underlying follicular unit and its connecting structures are extracted with precision and skillfulness from the scalp by the surgeon, a forceps is subsequently used to remove them from the punch (PU).

Improvements in the State of the Art brought by the SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, object of this patent.

The object of this patent advances the State of the Art because it comprises a tool called open punch (2) that makes it possible to extract follicular units from donor areas for transplantation. These hairs can be:

1 - Long, 2 - Coarse,

3 - Long and coarse concomitantly.

In addition to allowing the surgeon to extract long hairs using the FUE method, an open punch also enables the surgeon to extract curly coarse hairs, which are typically more difficult to be extracted using the FUE method as they describe a curve.

This curve is not followed by the punch due to its straight format, and as the punch's round cutting end touches the hairs in the dermis it cuts them. This round cutting end of the punch is responsible for the phenomenon called hair transection that takes place the moment the punch penetrates the skin and accidentally hits the hairs of the follicular units.

The open punch, object of the present patent, is not provided with a complete and totally cutting 360 degrees circumference. Because it is open on one of its portion and lacks a complete circumference it reduces hair transection as its cutting circumference varies from 275 to 315 degrees. Illustrations and functional aspects of the SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, object of this patent. Figure 4 shows an schematic view that does not reflect the actual size of an open punch (2) in its sui generis format, comprising a 20 mm long hollow cylinder, made of surgical metal, along with its 12.5 mm long upper terminal (5) with an external diameter of about 2 mm, which can be coupled to a rotary dental handpiece as cited above, as well as a 7.5 mm long lower terminal with an external diameter varying from 0.9 to 1 mm and an internal diameter ranging from 0.7 to 0.8 mm.

Figure 5 shows a schematic view that does not reflect the actual size of the lower and functional terminal (3) aperture (4) of the open punch (2), which extends upwards as per figure 5, for about 3 to 4 mm in extension from the lower portion of the lower and functional terminal (3).

Figure 6 shows and aerial and schematic view of the open punch's (2) lower and functional terminal (3) in order to show its aperture (4), aimed at extracting material, so as to allow the hollow cylinder to have a missing edge, or open, of about 45°, that is to say, the cylinder perimeter occupies only 315° of the circumference, and the aperture may be of up to 90°, so that the perimeter occupied by the cylinder may vary from 270° and 315°.

Owing to its format as a hollow cylinder, the SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT (1 ) is functionally capable of extracting only part of the material encompassed by the cylinder perimeter, thereby allowing the open punch (2) to penetrate laterally in relation to the hair that, subsequently, occupies the lower and functional terminal (3) hollow portion of the aperture (4) of the open punch (2), which may then be used to extract either long follicular units or units that have not been trimmed flush with the scalp.

Claims

1 ) SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, characterized by an open punch (2) comprising a 20 mm long hollow cylinder, made of surgical metal, along with its 12.5 mm long upper terminal (5) with an external diameter of about 2 mm, which can be coupled to a rotary dental handpiece, a lower and functional terminal (3), and also by the fact that the aperture (4) of the lower and functional terminal (3) of the open punch (2) extends upwards for about 3 to 4 mm from the lowest portion of said terminal (3).

2) SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, as per claim 1 , characterized by the fact that the lower and functional terminal (3) is a hollow cylinder measuring about 7.5 mm in length, with an external diameter ranging from 0.9 to 1 mm and an internal diameter ranging from 0.7 to 0.8 mm.

3) SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, as per claim 1 , characterized by the fact that the aperture (4) is a 45° aperture, with the cylinder perimeter covering preferably 315° of the circumference.

4) SURGICAL TOOL FOR THE REMOVAL OF LONG HAIRS AND CONNECTING STRUCTURES FOR HAIR TRANSPLANT, as per claim 1 , characterized by the fact that the aperture (4) may range from 45° to 90°, thereby creating an open cylinder that may vary from 270° to 315°.