Follicular Unit Extraction Is a Bit of a Mouthful. Say Artas Instead!

Follicular unit extraction is quite a mouthful, but what it actually means is a hair transplantation that is done by a robot, or a computerized machine. It is also known as an FUE hair transplant and an ARTAS transplant, ARTAS being the name of the robotic procedure.

At Silicon Valley Hair Institute, we are lucky to have two of the few ARTAS machines in the Bay Area, but then again we should have. The reason is that our director, Dr Miguel Canales was the man who led the team that invented the robot in the first place. For ten years he was the Medical Director of Restoration Robotics which was the company that introduced the robot in 2011. If you are considering an FUE hair transplant in the Bay Area you couldn’t find a doctor who knows more about it than Dr Canales.

We now have two offices in the Bay Area, our original one in Foster City and one that we have recently opened in Palo Alto. The ARTAS Robotic System uses artificial intelligence, 3D treatment planning software, and sophisticated precision robotics to harvest follicular units and create aesthetic personalized recipient sites for follicular unit implantation.

One big advantage of an FUE hair transplant in the Bay Area is that it leaves no scar. When you have what is known as an FUT transplant, the surgeon removes a strip of hair from the back of your head in order to provide the hair follicles for transplantation. Unfortunately, this procedure leaves a scar and there is nothing that you can do about that. What it means is that you then can’t really wear your hair short if you want to because it will look embarrassing.

No Scar

However, the FUE hair transplant in the Bay Area leaves no scar that is visible. The robot selects minute groups of between one and four hair follicles which are very tiny and extracts them from the donor area leaving an extremely small hole which heals up and cannot be seen.

That is just one advantage of the robot system. Another is that the robot implants the tiny hair follicles in the recipient site at exactly the same angle and elevation of any existing hair that is growing there, so when the follicle grows it will appear completely natural. The ARTAS procedure also does this without causing any damage to existing hairs because it detects them and inserts the transplant follicles next to them.

The robot also makes it possible to extract hair follicles from patients from different ethnic communities, such as thick curly hair from patients of African descent.

If you are considering a hair transplant you will be delighted to know that Dr Canales offers all patients a completely free consult when he can answer all your questions. Click on the Free Consult link at the top of the page.