Is the ARTAS robotic hair restoration safe?

There are multiple, redundant safety mechanisms on the ARTAS System.  When the patient is in the robot, the patient is rather sedated; I have not seen someone sneeze while sedated, but I suppose it could happen.  The ARTAS is a two-staged punch system, in which the initial punch comes out of the machine at 2 meters per second; you can run faster than that.  This initial punch is sharp, and pierces the first 1.5 mm of the skin.  Or less than 1/16 of an inch.  Then a dull punch comes out and slowly goes deeper, to collect the hair bulbs under the skin.  The safety mechanisms are as follows:1) there are 4 emergency kill switch buttons in reach of the operating surgeon during the procedure2) there is a pressure meter on the punch itself, such that if more than a few Newtons of force is sensed on the punch, the system immediately retracts the punch and the robot arm moves away quickly3) there is a pressure plate on the bottom of the ARTAS robotic head, and the slightest of touches and the machine immediately and rapidly retracts the punch, and the robot arm moves away quickly.During the procedure, a tensioner is applied to the scalp with 4 elastic bands, one on each corner. These are inserted into the grooves on the halo around the patient's head, which gently put pressure on the head to keep it in the padded halo rest.  In the case of someone sneezing while the robot was working, the surgeon would be paying attention to the patient and the irregular breathing right before a sneeze, and just stop the machine.  But if the surgeon misses the cue, or the sneeze happens without warning, and the patient's head bucks, it won't buck that far because of the 4 elastic bands (medical silastic bands, no the elastic bands in your desk drawer) holding the patient's head in the cradle.  If it does go an inch or so, the patient will either trigger the punch pressure sensor, the plate pressure sensor on the bottom, or both, and the machine will immediately withdraw the punch, and the robot head will quickly move away from the patient.

Hello, Yes, the ARTAS robotic hair restoration safe. The original ARTAS was slow and took as long as 1 hour to harvest 50 grafts!!  The original iPhone had a 2 megapixel camera and 4gb storage.Since then, the ARTAS is on its 9th version- called the 9x.  With this version, up to 1500 grafts can be harvested in 1 hour!!  The iPhone X has a 12 megapixel camera and a processing chip faster than a high end Macbook pro did in 2007.The point here is that not all robots are the same- it is a piece of technology that has been updated and improved over time just as your iphone has.  Not all robots are 9x (latest version) and their features will be quite different!!In my experience with FUE, the quality of the graft and the graft yield was low.  I believe most handheld FUE are probably in the 60% quality range rather than the 90% being reported.  With the ARTAS, our graft yield has been high 90s which is a huge difference.The ARTAS can actually make sites which is important in patients seeking higher density.  When the ARTAS makes sites it can avoid other hairs preventing 1 type of shock loss.The ARTAS as described is one important tool in the hair making decision.  In my practice, every patient receives regenerative technique (PRP or growth factors), because it makes the results so much better.  In some cases, miniaturized hairs can actually become terminal.  The quality of the hair is also better in our experience (using quantitative software with trichoscope, our data) Best Dr. Anil Shah

ARTAS is an FUE (follicular unit extraction) hair transplant technique, and as such, has similar risks as other FUE hair transplant methods.
Risks include bleeding, bruising, infection, swelling, pain, numbness, shock loss, need for future surgery, dissatisfaction with results, and scarring (not linear scarring, but pinpoint scarring). Overall, hair restoration procedures are quite safe with low complication rates and high patient satisfaction rates regardless of the harvest technique employed.
All the best,

The ARTAS is safe when used by Physicians who are experienced as well as have an experienced staff. A lot of time you run into the ARTAS being used by technicians with minimal knowledge and experience with the ARTAS and this is Unsafe. However, safe is one category.  The other is whether the ARTAS is a good tool to achieve excellent, natural looking results using it for an FUE procedure. The biggest issue I find with the ARTAS is the large punch size to extract the follicles.  Its about a 1.3mm punch which is fairly large when compared to a skilled FUE surgeon performing the procedure by hand.  In our practice we generally use 0.8mm punches and we measure the punch diameter in front of patients before we start so they can verify that. There are many other downfalls to the ARTAS. I would recommend finding a physician who has performed hundreds of surgeries using the ARTAS before having this type of procedure done.

The ARTAS robotic system is very safe. There are multiple safety systems that monitor the safe operation and retract the needle mechanism in the event of any problems. The system is well designed. The company constantly makes improvements to fine tune the system's operation.Sincerely,Bernardino A. Arocha, MD

That was my first question when I heard about ARTAS robotic system I was one of the first in the world to adopt this technology and from the begging was focused on safety and results. Now , after hundreds of patients treatged in my center I can say with confidence : it is safe and it works - and it works great. We have never encounter safety issue and the results speak for themselves - just check our before/after gallery which is probably the most extensive in the world

ARTAS surgery is basically a robot harvesting the grafts.  It is basically a FUE performed by a robot.ARTAS surgery carry the same risks as any other FUE surgery or hair transplant surgery.I guess the only additional risk is if the robot goes out of control.  There are safety mechanisms built in with a large abort RED button with humans near by to stop the machine.  All kidding aside, it is a safe system.  (The large abort RED button does exist)

The adoption of robotic technology for various forms of medical surgeries has increased tremendously in recent years. However, there are potential risks that patients need to be aware of. Within the context of hair transplant surgeries, robotic systems used for FUE employ the two punch method for harvesting follicles. This involves a dull initial punch followed by a sharp one, a technique that is associated with a high risk for graft burial which reduces the number of donor follicles available for the patient’s final coverage.Furthermore, while FUE punches are 1mm or smaller, only the inner punch circle is 1mm. The outer punch is larger and determines the final size of the donor wounds that are formed. Thus the resulting scars can be expected to be much larger than those created in regular Follicular Unit Extraction procedures.The surgeon starts and stops the robotic extraction process using a hand held remote device while watching the surgery on a screen. However, this considerably hands off approach limits the degree of control that the doctor has over the extraction phase of the procedure. Patients should be wary of this, as it can be quite risky.There are quite a few articles about the general concerns over using robotic technology for various surgical purposes. If you look up terms like: robotic surgery risks, you will find articles by John’s Hopkins and Wall Street Journal

The ARTAS system is a safe and effective option for addressing hair loss, but as with other FUE hair transplant alternatives or the strip method, there are certain risks associated with the procedure. These include swelling, bleeding, numbness, bruising, and if results are not as desired for the patient, a second procedure may be needed. 

The ARTAS system is a very safe procedure.  During harvesting the robot will only punch the hairs if the patient is still.  If they were to move or sneeze or shake, the robot will pause.  Another doc notes here that patients are sedated during the ARTAS procedure which may prevent them from sneezing.  That may be his preference, but be advised not everyone sedates their patients.  I chose not to and find local numbing is sufficient.  I don't like the risk of nausea and lack of stability durning the procedure with sedation.  During the procedure you will be moving between chairs and using the restroom and if you fall from being sedated its not only dangerous but also a risk to your grafts.  In addition, sedation can continue upon discharge leading to similar issues at home.  My patient may drive to their procedures and drive home after.  This is personal preference of course, but something you can consider when comparing practices.  Overall, the procedure itself is very low impact and complications such as infection are extremely rare.  Hope this is helpful.  Very Best, Dr Rome