Robotic arm – Hairbot
This is the unique, new robot arm equipped with hair transplant tools to perform the entire hair transplant procedure with higher quality, safety, and reliability. It is being developed by our Technological Investigation Team within our Insparya Science and Clinical Institute facilities.
Our goal is to develop and improve all the processes and tools used in the hair transplant procedure. The tools incorporated in the Hairbot arm were developed by our team, and it is different from any other option on the market and offers better results. Why? Because we have combined the R&D team’s expertise with the clinical team’s knowledge to develop solutions to well-known problems, and this symbiotic collaboration offers the best results.
This project was developed alongside the tools mentioned before. As we are working on the tools to improve the clinical team’s performance and results immediately, we are also preparing the robotic arm to incorporate these tools in the future and be able to perform a hair transplant procedure.
In order to achieve this goal, there are many fields we need to investigate and implement, such as the perception and vision system for the robotic arm, as well as full control of its movements. The former lets us gather information, visual data to detect where the follicular units are and their pose, orientation, and position, so we can move the tools on the robotic arm to that location in the correct orientation. This is one of the main steps that requires high precision: the smallest error in this calculation can result in a transected follicular unit. We also need to have full control over the robotic arm movement to perform smooth, precise movements to carry out the extraction and implantation phases. We have support from the University of Coimbra, with their input and collaboration in the development process.
In addition to software development, we also perform hardware design and development internally. This lets us perform all the tests needed to get a better configuration among the parts. KUKA company, one of the world’s leading suppliers of smart robotics, and Real Robotic Systems, a company also identified by KUKA to work with us, are involved in this development process. Along with the University of Coimbra, they are the main partners involved.
Another group that is directly involved in development – probably the most important group – is the clinical team. They have all the knowledge from years of experience; through their work, they know all the needs, problems, and whether a tool is working properly or not. Having this clinical team by our side every day, trying and testing out what we are developing and giving their input, lets us achieve better, faster results. By transposing this knowledge to developing the Hairbot, we can achieve better results in hair transplant procedures:
- Faster procedures.
- Less handling of the follicular units.
- The same quality as the procedure performed by our non-robotic specialised teams.
The robotic arm will never perform a hair transplant procedure without human control. A team will always operate the robotic arm, led by an expert doctor controlling all the features and steps to ensure that it is working properly and achieving the best results.