WO2002096321A1

WO2002096321A1 - Hair transplant device

Info

Publication number: WO2002096321A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/001006
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hoon Bum Lee
Original assignee: Hb Medicals Corporation
Priority date: 2001-05-28
Filing date: 2002-05-28
Publication date: 2002-12-05

Abstract

The present invention provides a hair transplant device, capable of harvesting a hair graft from a hairy area in the scalp and then implanting the hair graft into a bald area in series, which comprises a housing forming an exterior of the device, a cylinder protruding from the proximal plane of the housing by a certain length and including a piston and a guiding road, a flexible cutter moving along the guiding road, and an operating shaft being connected to the flexible cutter.

Description

HAIR TRANSPLANT DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a hair transplant device, and in particular to the device capable of harvesting a hair graft from a hairy area of the scalp and then implanting it into a bald area thereof in series.

BACKGROUND ART

Hair of the scalp is one of important factors for expressing a human appearance. Bald areas of the scalp may increase with age, and the number of hair may decrease due to scars of the head skin resulted from operations or diseases.

Conventional methods to solve such problems, as having been currently used, are one by a medicinal therapy and one by an operation. A representative example of the medicinal therapy is to apply a certain topical medicine such as "ROGAINE" (trademark of Upjohn) or to take a certain medicine such as "PROPECIA" (trademark of Merck). The former should be applied to bald areas or hair falling-out areas (hereinafter, referring to as "bald area") at the specific time about two times a day. However, it is very high at the price and very viscous substance, whereas the efficacy of the medicine is not more than about 5%. Furthermore, when not applied regularly, it is not efficacious. Meanwhile, the latter shows a little higher efficacy than "ROGAINE", but it should be taken everyday and causes harmful side effects; for example, it has been reported that about 15% of men, who had took them, suffered from impotentia generandi and women cannot even take them.

Accordingly, as an essential method, the operative method for directly transplanting some hairs from a hairy area into a bald area has been used. This method allows a human appearance to become beautiful by growing hairs which stem from areas not showing depilation symptoms (hereinafter, referred to as "hairy area"). A conventional procedure of such a transplantation operation can be briefly illustrated as the following: cutting hairs of a hairy area for operation, harvesting a piece of scalp of the hairy area by about 1 cm x 10 cm size to obtain a transplanting skin (so called, "donor scalp"), pulling and suturing a remaining portion after harvest, separating each of hairs (including hair roots) from the donor scalp, making incisions in a bald area, and then implanting the separated hairs into the incisions one by one. These transplanting method can be classified into three types according to an amount of hairs to be transplanted at one time: "micro-graft method" of transplanting one hair follicles, "mini-graft method" of transplanting two or three hairs follicles, and "composite-graft method" of transplanting a tissue containing more than three hairs. In the case of composite-graft method, it is very difficult to transplant the desirable number of hairs and further the falling-out of hair can readily occur after transplantation; therefore, the micro-graft method and the mini-graft method have been mainly used. However, in the case of the two methods, a possibility of injuring the hair follicles is very high and it takes much time to separate the hair follicles, whereby the operation time is generally long. In the case of the micro-graft method, it is difficult to pick hairs by two or three units.

In the meantime, devices used in the hair transplanting operation include one for cutting the scalp of hairy areas, one for separating the cut scalp to hair units for transplantation containing at least one hair (hereinafter, referring to "hair graft"), one for making an incision in bald areas, one for implanting the hair graft into the incision, and so on. Herein, the step of harvesting the hair units and the step of implanting them are very elaborate and time-consuming; therefore, in order to address these problems, various advanced devises have been developed.

For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,611,811 discloses a device comprising a part for puncturing the scalp, a part for containing the hair grafts to be transplanted, a part for ejecting the hair grafts from the containing means, a part for actuating the ejecting means, and a part for delivering the hair grafts into the transplant site. U.S. Patent No. 5,693,064 discloses a dermal punch comprising a concentric shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, and an axis extending therebetween. U.S. Patent No. 5,817,120 discloses a device comprising an elongate housing adapted to be manipulated by a surgeon during implanting of the hair grafts, a cutting device affixed to the first end of the elongate housing, and an implanting member disposed axially movably within the throughbore of the elongate housing. U.S. Patent No. 5,873,888 discloses a device comprising a cartridge adapted to hold at least two micrografts, having an elongated housing and a lid, and a housing member adapted to be grasped by a surgeon, having a barrel portion, the scalpel blade, indexing means and a plunger mechanism.

The devices disclosed in these patents were based upon the concept that the step of harvesting one, two or three hairs units ("hair graft") from a hairy area and the step of implanting these hair units into incisions in a bald area are carried out separately, and thus were developed to execute efficiently one of both steps.

However, in the case that the hair unit-harvesting step and the hair unit- implanting step are executed separately as in the above patents, operation itself becomes very time-consuming and elaborate; therefore, a patient suffers pain and it costs a great deal. Furthermore, as described above, for harvest of the hair units, it is necessary to cut off the scalp for transplantation by about 1 cm x 10 cm and then suture the remaining portion after cut-off; however, the suture portion cracks to about 5 to 7 mm at the width after an elapse of about two months, thereby new scar being left without hairs.

It would therefore be desirable to provide devices capable of executing the two steps, i.e., both the step of harvesting the hair units from a hairy area and the step of implanting them into a bald area, in series. In addition, it would be more desirable to provide devices capable of pinching only a small hair graft without cutting off a relatively large scalp, thereby leaving no scar and reducing patients' pain. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention addresses the foregoing need by providing a hair transplant device that can harvest a hair graft from a hairy area in the scalp and then implant it into a bald area in series, which comprises: a housing forming an exterior of the device, the proximal plane of the housing being opened, wherein the upper portion of the housing is perforated for movement of an operating shaft; a cylinder protruding from the proximal plane of the housing by a certain length, the cylinder including a piston supported by a spring in its middle and having a guiding road for movement of a flexible cutter at its front part and upper portion, wherein on the open front part of the cylinder, a blade is formed to cut the scalp; a flexible cutter moving along the guiding road, the flexible cutter being positioned on the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder in a resting mode and moving toward the guiding road of the front part of cylinder in an operating mode, whereby shutting the open front part of cylinder; and an operating shaft being connected to the flexible cutter, the operating shaft moving through the perforated upper portion of the housing. The term "resting mode" used in the present specification means the state that a forward force is not applied to the operating shaft, whereas the term "operating mode" means the stat that the forward force is applied to the operating shaft.

Accordingly, as the device of the present invention being in the resting mode is inserted to a hairy area of the scalp, a hair graft is cut by the blade of the front part of cylinder and then introduced into the cylinder, whereby the piston moves backward. The backward movement of piston causes compression of the spring installed at the rear of piston. When the introduction of hair graft is completed, the flexible cutter moves toward the guiding road of the front part by pushing the operating shaft forward, thereby cutting the bottom of the hair graft. Accordingly, the procedure of harvesting the hair graft from the hairy area is completed.

Then, the cylinder containing the hair graft is inserted into a bald area, wherein insertion of the cylinder can be readily carried out because the front part of cylinder has shut by the flexible cutter. In this state, when the flexible cutter moves toward the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder by pulling the operating shaft backward, the front part of the cylinder is opened and the piston moves forward by an elastic recovering force of the compressed spring, whereby the hair graft which has been inside the cylinder is pushed out. Accordingly, the procedure of implanting the hair graft into the bald area is completed.

As described above, the cylinder protrudes from the proximal plane by a certain length and the piston installed in the cylinder also protrude from the proximal plane by a certain length. The protruding length of the piston conforms approximately to the length of a hair graft to be harvested and implanted. That is because the moving distance of piston in the implanting procedure corresponds approximately to the length of the hair graft to be pushed into the bald area.

Regarding the front part of cylinder, the length of its bottom is preferably longer than that of its top, whereby the proximal plane of cylinder is inclined downward. This configure makes insertion of the cylinder into the bald area easier and, when the flexible cutter moves from the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder toward the guiding road of the front part of cylinder, also diminishes the fatigue of flexible cutter by making the two guiding roads connected curvilinearly.

More preferably, a protecting needle of a certain length extends from the bottom of the front part of cylinder. The protecting needle serves as defining the length of the hair graft to be harvested from the hairy area so that it can prevent an unnecessary scalp tissue from being harvested together with the hair graft. The hair graft to be harvested needs to contain a hair root but not a tissue below the subcutaneous fatty layer because harvesting the tissue below the subcutaneous fatty layer can cause the scalp injury. However, the protecting needle has the length to arrive at the skull so that the front part of the cylinder arrives only at the subcutaneous fatty layer; therefore, a surgeon can confirm the appropriate position of insertion by feeling that the needle arrives at the surface of skull. Accordingly, the length of needle preferably conforms to the length from the subcutaneous fatty layer to the skull. The shape of protecting needle is not particularly limited if such function can be carried out, and includes, for example, the shape of a pen point of which both sides are tapered toward.

The flexible cutter must have, at least in a partial section, the flexibility for repeated curvilinear motion along the guiding road of the front part of cylinder and be of a longitudinal panel. If the flexible cutter is not of the longitudinal panel, i.e., its cross-section view being not a " — " shape but being a curvilinear shape, the curvilinear motion cannot take place. Materials for the flexible cutter include tungsten, stainless steel, plastics having a high strength and resilience together, etc.

The front part of cylinder can be made of a diversity of configurations, but the vertical cross-section of the guiding road, on which the flexible cutter moves, must be flat. For instance, the outer and inner shapes of the front part are a circle, or the outer shape is a circle and the inner shape is a square, or the outer and inner shapes are a square.

A head of the piston is generally made of the configuration being vertical to the axis of the cylinder or, in another embodiment, the inclined configuration conforming to the inclined front part of cylinder. In the harvesting procedure, the hair graft is cut by the flexible cutter as the shape of the guiding road of the front part and, in the implanting procedure, the hair graft is compressed by the piston, so that the inclined configuration is preferable for equal compression to the severed hair graft. The operating shaft can be made of a diversity of configurations and representative configurations thereof are illustrated as below.

The first exemplary configuration (1) is that a right triangle member (A) is attached on the flexible cutter, a vertical plane of the member (A) facing forward, and a spring is installed between the vertical plane of the member (A) and the inner surface of housing, and another right triangle member (B) corresponding to the member (A) is attached on a button, an inclined plane of the member (B) coming into contact with an inclined plane of the member (A). Accordingly, in the harvesting procedure, as the cylinder is inserted into a hairy area, a hair graft is introduced into the cylinder and the piston is compressed, thereby the spring (A) installed at the rear thereof being compressed. Herein, when the button is pressed, the right triangle member (B) attached on the button descends and the inclined plane of the member (B) compresses the inclined plane of the right triangle member (A). In order to release the compression, the member (A) moves forward and the flexible cutter incorporated with the member (A) also moves forward, whereby the proximal end of the flexible cutter moves toward the guiding road of the front part of cylinder. Herein, another spring (B) installed in front of the inclined plane of the member (B) is compressed, thereby making the elastic recovering force. In the implanting procedure, when the pressure applied to the button is removed, the flexible cutter moves backward by the recovering force of the spring (B), thereby the front part of cylinder being opened, and the piston moves forward by the recovering force of the spring (A), thereby the hair graft contained inside the cylinder being pushed out. The second exemplary configuration (2) is that the operating shaft attached to the flexible cutter is incorporated with an operating handle, wherein a spring is installed at the rear of the shaft and a groove is formed at the bottom of shaft; a seesaw member having a central axis is positioned below the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder, the seesaw member having projections on the lower surface of a proximal end and on the upper surface of a distal end, respectively, wherein a resilient member is positioned on the lower surface of the distal end.

Accordingly, in the resting mode, the projection formed on the upper surface of the distal end of seesaw member is engaged to the groove formed below the bottom of operating shaft, thereby compressing the spring (B) placed at the rear of operating shaft. In the harvesting procedure, as the cylinder is inserted into a hairy area, a hair graft is introduced into the cylinder and the piston moves backward. Herein, the projection of the lower surface of proximal end is lift by the piston, whereby the projection of the upper surface of distal end is disengaged from the groove and the operating shaft moves forward by the recovering force of the spring (B). The piston is caught to the projection of the lower surface of proximal end, and the spring (A) positioned at the rear thereof is compressed.

In the implanting procedure, as the operating handle is pulled backward, the bottom of operating shaft pushes the projection of the upper surface of distal end downward, whereby the piston moves forward by the recovering force of spring (A). When the projection of the upper surface of distal end is caught to the groove, the device returns to the resting mode.

The third exemplary configuration is that a liquid is sealed in the rear space of the housing, and a piston (B) sealing the liquid extends from the distal end of a piston (A), wherein a spring is installed at the rear of the piston (A) and supported by a barrier installed between the two pistons (A), (B); a flat operating handle is incorporated with the top of operating shaft attached to the flexible cutter, wherein a piston (C), moving by the pressure of the liquid, extends from the operating shaft. In this configuration, different from the above configures (the first and second exemplary configurations), the flexible cutter in the resting mode is on the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder, with being spaced from the front part of cylinder to the considerable extent.

In the harvesting procedure, as a hair graft is introduced into the cylinder and the piston (A) is compressed, the piston (B) extending from the piston (A) compresses the liquid, and the pressure of the compressed liquid pushes the piston (C) forward, whereby the operating shaft connected to the piston (C) moves forward and the flexible cutter attached to the operating shaft also moves forward. Herein, the proximal end of flexible cutter arrives at the entrance of the guiding road of the front part of cylinder. In this step, as the operating handle is further pushed forward, the proximal end of flexible cutter descends along the guiding road of the front part.

In the implanting procedure, as the operating handle is pulled backward, the front part of cylinder is opened and the piston (A) moves forward by the elastic recovering force of the spring. The piston (B) also moves forward and the pressure of liquid decreases. In order to compensate the decreased liquid pressure, the piston (C) moves backward, whereby the operating shaft and flexible cutter attached thereto move further backward.

In the hair transplant device of the present invention, configurations of the piston and the operating shaft can be diversified according to the ways of operating them. One exemplary configuration of them is illustrated as below.

The flexible cutter is bent along an U-turn member installed in the housing and then its distal end is connected to the piston, and the operating shaft is configured to form a "T"- shaped handle connected to the flexible cutter. As a result, one flexible cutter consists of an upper extending part and a lower extending part, and the movements of upper and lower extending parts become reverse by the U-turn member installed in the housing. Accordingly, as the T-shaped handle is pushed forward, the upper extending part connected thereto moves forward and simultaneously the lower extending part moves backward. To the contrary, as the T- shaped handle is pulled backward, the upper extending part connected thereto moves backward and simultaneously the lower extending part moves forward. When the handle is in the forward-movement state, the spring is compressed by the backward movement of the lower extending part, so that the backward movement of the handle can be automatically carried out by an elastic recovering force of the spring without a separate force being applied.

As shown below, the description refers to the drawing in order to describe the present invention more in detail, thereby, the scope of the invention is however not to be interpreted as a limitation of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a hair transplant device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2A to 2C shows vertical cross-sectional views taken along three lines of FIG. 1. In the hair transplant device 100 of this embodiment, a "T"-shaped handle is employed and a protecting needle extends from the front part of cylinder.

Referring to these drawings, the hair transplant device 100 generally comprises a housing 200, a cylinder 300, a piston 400, a U-turn member 500, a flexible cutter 600, a spring 700, etc.

The housing 200 is of a cylinder in which the rear thereof is closed or in which a bar is jointed at the rear thereof, or of a pairs of symmetrical semi-cylinders in which these semi-cylinders are interlocked to form the housing 200. At the upper portion of the housing 200, a longitudinal aperture 220 is formed for forward-backward movement of a T-shaped handle 210 constituting an operating shaft.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the cylinder 300 consists of an exterior portion 310 contacted with the housing 200 and an interior portion 320 inside which the piston 400 moves, and the U-turn member 500 is installed at the rear of the cylinder 300. Although the hair transplant device 100 in FIG. 1 comprises the cylinder 300, the exterior portion 310 thereof being of a circular cross-section and the interior portion 320 being of a tetragonal cross-section, cylinders having a diversity of configurations can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 3 A to 3C.

Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2A to 2C, at the upper portion and front part of the cylinder 300, a guiding road 330 is formed as a passage for forward-backward movement of the flexible cutter 600. The front part 340 of cylinder protrudes from the proximal plane of housing 200, and a blade 360 is formed at the front part 340. The front part 350 is inclined downward so that the bottom thereof protrudes longer than the top. In particular, on the bottom of the front part 340, a slot 370 is formed for introduction of the proximal end 610 of flexible cutter 600. The blade 360 in the hair transplant device 100 of FIG. 1 is of a circle or a shape close thereto in the front view, wherein the blade 360 corresponds to an outer part 310 of cylinder, as shown in FIG. 2A. It allows the front part of cylinder to be easily inserted into a bald area of the scalp for transplant of a hair graft. In order to easily cut the bottom of a hair graft with the proximal end of flexible cutter wherein the hair graft has been cut as a cylindrical pillar, the inside of the cylinder 300 is of the square shape. Furthermore, a protecting needle 380 extends from the bottom of the front part. The piston 400 is connected to the distal end of the flexible cutter 600 which is bent as an "U" shape, and the head of piston 400 may be configured to conform with the inclined front part 360 of cylinder 300, different from that illustrated in FIG. 1. It allows an even pressure to be applied to the hair graft which has been inserted into the cylinder 300. The U-turn member 500 is connected to the housing 200 to provide a passage for forward-backward movement of the flexible cutter 600. The distal end 510 of U-turn member 500 is of a curvilinear U-shape so that, when the flexible cutter 600 moves forward and backward, the curvature movement of the flexible cutter 600 can take place around the distal end 510, thereby decreasing the fatigue of material. Also, the U-turn member 500 transfers a reverse force to the piston 400. For a reference, the flexible cutter 600 can be divided to an upper extending part 602 connected to an operating handle 210 and a lower extending part 604 connected to the piston 400, and the movement directions of the upper and lower extending parts 602, 604 are reversed by the U-turn member 500 being a two-dimensional flat panel as shown in FIG. 1; however, as mentioned earlier, the U-turn member is not restricted to such configuration.

The proximal end 610 of the flexible cutter 600 is of a blade, and the proximal end 610 is positioned, in the resting mode, on an upper guiding road 332 of the cylinder 300 and moves, in the operating mode, forward the front guiding road 334, i.e., the guiding road of the front part of cylinder. The proximal end 610 is spaced from the front part 350 by the length that the piston 400 moves backward in the resting mode. In order to minimize the fatigue of the proximal end 610, the upper guiding road 332 and the front guiding road 334 are connected curvilinearly.

FIGS. 3A to 3C shows several configurations of the front part 350 of cylinder according to the present invention. The front part 350 of cylinder comprises a cut surface 352 which serves as cutting the scalp tissue to make a hair graft and forms the exterior, an insert surface 354 into which the cut hair graft is inserted, an upper guiding road 332 and a front guiding road 334 on which the proximal end 610 of the flexible cutter 600 moves, wherein the two guiding roads 332, 334 are positioned between the cut surface 352 and the insert surface 354, respectively. Therefore, a hair graft cut by the cut surface 352 is introduced along the insert surface 354 into the cylinder. The shapes of the cut surface 352 and insert surface 354 may representatively be a circle or square, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3C, of which the combination forms the front part 350. The combination of FIG. 3A, in which each shape of the surfaces is a circle, is particularly preferable because such combination can be easily made by inserting a cylinder member of the relatively small diameter into a cylinder member of the relatively big diameter, in which the former forms the cut surface 352 and the latter forms the insert surface 354, and then brazing the front part, and a even pressure is furthermore applied to the hair graft inserted into the cylinder due to its circular inner surface. However, in addition to these shapes, other modified shapes can also be used for improving the effect of the present invention.

FIGS. 4 A and 4B show magnified views of the connecting portion of the front guiding road 332 and the upper guiding road 334 in the cylinder 300. The above connecting portion is the site that the curvature movement of the flexible cutter 600 takes place so that, as in FIG. 4A, it is desirable to make the track of guiding road curvilinear. More desirably, as in FIG. 4B, the radius (r) of curvature of the guiding road is larger than the height (h) from the center of curvature to the upper guiding road 334 so that it is possible to reduce the fatigue of flexible cutter 600 in the curvature movement.

FIGS. 5A to 5C and FIGS. 6A to 6D show the procedures of harvesting a hair graft and implanting it in series by using the hair transplant device 100 of FIG 1, respectively. In this embodiment, the hair graft contains three (3) hairs per one.

Referring to FIGS. 5A to 5C, the procedure of harvesting a hair graft is illustrated.

The scalp 800 includes a skin 810 of epidermis and dermis, a subcutaneous fatty layer 820, a pisiform aponeurotic layer 830, a soft tissue layer 840 and a periosteal lamella 850, and covers the skull 900. A hair 860 penetrates the skin 810 and the subcutaneous fatty layer 820, and main vessels providing the blood with these tissues is positioned in the pisiform aponeurotic layer 830. The hair graft for transplant desirably contains from the skin 810 only to the subcutaneous fatty layer 820. In the step of FIG. 5A, as a hair transplant device 100 is inserted into a hairy area 802 of the scalp 800, a blade 360 of a cylinder 300 is inserted into the skin 810 and the subcutaneous fatty layer 820. Herein, the scalp tissue is cut as a hair graft. Insertion of the blade 360 stops when a protecting needle 380 arrives at the skull 900. A surgeon can feel the arrival of the needle 380 at the skull 900. In this step, a piston 400 almost comes in contact with the skin 810. When the hair transplant device 100 is inserted into the scalp 800, the air inside the cylinder 300 may be undesirably compressed so that it is preferable to make an aperture (not shown) for inflow-outflow of the air on a portion of the front part 340 which the piston 400 cannot reach, or make perforating holes (not shown) in the piston 400, or deform the outer surface of piston 400 not to conform with the inner surface of cylinder. In the resting mode, the length from the proximal end of piston 400 to the proximal end of needle 380 is shorter than the length of insertion when the needle 380 arrives at the skull 900, so that the cut scalp is rather compressed in the procedure of inserting the hair transplant device 100. In the step of FIG. 5B, as an operating handle 210 is pushed forward after completion of the insertion procedure, a flexible cutter 600 moves forward, and the proximal end of flexible cutter 600 which has been on the upper guiding road 332 of the cylinder 300 moves toward the front guiding road 334, thereby cutting the subcutaneous fatty layer 820. Herein, the piston 400 moves backward so that the cut tissue which has been rather compressed recovers. Only cylinder 300 is inserted into the scalp; however, as seen in FIG. 5B, in the case that the hair transplant device 100 is inserted in the rather leaned position, a portion of the front part may compress the scalp.

After completion of cutting, in the step of FIG. 5C, the hair transplant device 100, with the operating handle 210 pushed forward, is removed from the scalp 800. The hair graft 870 is contained in the cylinder 300. In the scalp 800 from which the hair graft 870 was removed, a cylindrical incision 880 is made. In the prior art, as mentioned earlier, a big incision of 10 cm x 1 cm (100 mm²) is made and, after suturing, a new scar is left. However, in the present invention, a small incision of about 2.25 to 9 mm is made and the small incision 880 can heal completely without a separate suturing. In particular, the circular incision can hear quickly than the square incision.

Referring to FIGS. 6A to 6D, the procedure of implanting a hair graft is illustrated. The implanting procedure is carried out reverse to the harvesting procedure.

In the step of FIG. 6A, a hair transplant device 100 containing a hair graft 870 is placed over a certain bald area 804 of scalp and a cylinder 300 is inserted into the scalp.

In the step of FIG. 6B, a front part 350 of the cylinder 300 has been shut by a flexible cutter 600 and the front part 350 is inclined, so that the cylinder 300 containing the hair graft 870 can be easily inserted into with the scalp being spread, which does not require to puncture the scalp. Such configuration is one of the features of the present invention. In other words, the prior art needs to puncture the bald area to make an incision for harvest of a hair graft, whereas the present invention needs not so. Furthermore, as will be illustrated in the below steps, the present invention includes the procedure of spreading the skin of a bald area and then implanting a hair graft thereinto so that a possibility of the falling-out of hairs after operation is very low. Meanwhile, a surgeon can decide the depth of insertion by feeling that a protecting needle 380 arrives at the skull 900.

In the step of FIG. 6C, after the depth of insertion was decided, the forward- pushing force which has been applied to an operating handle 210 is removed, whereby a piston moves forward by the elastic recovering force of a spring 700 and the flexible cutter 600 moves backward. By backward movement of the flexible cutter 600, the front part 350 of cylinder 300 is opened, and then, while the hair transplant device is pulled out, the hair graft 870 is pushed out from the interior of cylinder 300 into bald area 804 by the forward-movement of the piston 400.

In the step of FIG. 6D, after completion of implanting, the hair transplant device 100 is removed from the scalp, the spring 700 is recovered to the resting mode, and the transplanted hair graft is left on the bald area 804.

FIGS. 7 to 9 shows a diversity of exemplary configurations according to the modification of an operating shaft.

In FIGS. 7 A and 7B, illustrated is a hair transplant device of the first configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. The hair transplant device 110 of FIGS. 7A and 7B operates in a button manner, and a force applied to a cylinder 1110 is not associated with a force applied to a button 1156. A piston 1120 is positioned inside the cylinder 1110, and the head of piston 1120 is configured to conform to a front part 1112 of cylinder, and a spring 1130 is installed at the rear of piston 1120. A guiding road 1114, which a flexible cutter 1140 moves, is positioned on the front part 1112 and an upper portion of the cylinder 1110, respectively. A proximal blade 1116 is formed on the front part 1112 and a protecting needle 1118 extends from the bottom of the front part 1112. On an operating shaft 1150 connected to the flexible cutter 1140, formed are two right-triangle members 1152 of which the vertical planes face forward. Another two right-triangle members 1154 corresponding to the members 1152 is incorporated with the button 1156, with the inclined planes of the members 1154 coming into contact with the inclined planes of the members 1152. A spring 1132 is installed between the proximal end of a housing 1160 and the foremost member of right-triangle members 1152. Accordingly, in the resting mode that the button 1156 is not pushed downward, the right-triangle member 1152 on the flexible cutter 1140 recedes by the spring 1132.

In the operating mode which is illustrated in FIG. 7B, when the piston 1120 moves backward by the certain length by insertion of a hair graft (not shown) in the harvesting procedure, the button 1156 is pushed down, which is expressed in more detail as below. As the button 1156 is pushed down, the right-triangle member 1154 incorporated with the button 1156 descends, whereby the inclined plane of the member 1154 compresses the inclined plane of the right-triangle member 1152 attached to the flexible cutter 1140. Therefore, in order to relieve the compression, the right-triangle members 1152 move forward and thereby the flexible cutter 1140 also moves forward. Herein, the proximal end 1142 of the flexible cutter 1140 moves toward the front guiding road 1115 and then cuts the bottom of a hair graft which has been introduced into the cylinder 1110. The implanting procedure starts by inserting the device 110, with the button 1156 pushed down, into a bald area, in which the insertion of the device 110 can be easily carried out because the front part 1112 is shut by the flexible cutter 1114. The upper end of the front part 1112 protrudes a little forward; however, when the front part 1112 is inserted into the scalp, the protruding upper end does not become an obstacle because the hair graft is generally below 4 mm. After completion of insertion, as the pushing force applied on the button 1156 is removed, the flexible cutter moves backward by the elastic recovering force of the spring 1132 and thereby the front part 1112 of cylinder 1110 is opened. Accordingly, the piston 1120 moves forward also by the recovering force of the spring 1130 so that the hair graft which has been in the cylinder 1110 is pushed out through the open front part 1112. The members 1152, 1154, attached to he button 1156 and flexible cutter 1140 respectively, are not limited to the above configuration but other configurations can be used if they can transfer the force in the above manner.

In FIGS. 8 A and 8B, illustrated is a hair transplant device of the second configuration according to further embodiment of the present invention. The most feature of the hair transplant device 120 in FIGS. 8 A and 8B is that a seesaw member 1270 is installed in the space in which a flexible cutter 1240 and a piston 1220 move. Accordingly, a front part 1212 of a cylinder 1210 is automatically shut in the harvesting procedure.

The seesaw member 1270 having an axis 1272 in its central position moves symmetrically in its proximal end and distal end. A projection 1274 is formed on the lower surface of the proximal end of seesaw member 1270 so that the proximal end can ascend by the forward movement of a piston 1220 during operation of the device 120. Moreover, a projection 1275 is also formed on the upper surface of the distal end so that the distal end can be engaged with a groove 1252 formed on the bottom of an operating shaft 1250 during operation of the device 120. A resilient member 1276, installed on the lower surface of the distal end, supports the engagement of the projection 1275 to the groove 1252. As such, the resilient member 1276 may be of a small spring or a resilient plastic. A spring 1232 is installed at the rear of the operating shaft 1250.

The harvesting procedure can be illustrated as the resting and operating modes. In the resting mode, the spring 1232 placed at the rear of the vertical operating shaft 1250 is compressed; however, the flexible cutter 1240 does not move forward because the distal upper surface projection 1275 is engaged with the groove 1252 of the shaft 1250. In the operating mode, as a hair graft is introduced into a cylinder 1210, the piston 1220 moves backward and a head 1222 of the piston 1220 pushes the proximal lower surface projection 1274 upward, whereby the distal upper surface projection 1275 is separated from the groove 1252, and resultantly, the operating shaft 1250 moves forward by the elastic recovering force of spring 1232. Accordingly, the flexible cutter 1240, attached to the operating shaft 1250, also moves forward.

In the implanting procedure, as a handle 1254 connected to the operating shaft 1250 is pulled backward, the front part 1212 of the cylinder 1210 is opened and a hair graft is pushed out by forward-movement of the piston 1220, which progresses in the same manner as in FIG. 7B. It is only different in that the device 120 returns to the resting mode by engaging the distal upper surface projection 1275 with the groove 1252. As mentioned above, the engagement of the groove 1252 and distal upper surface projection 1275 is supported by the resilient member 1276 placed on the distal lower surface.

In FIGS. 9A and 9B, illustrated is a hair transplant device of the third configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention. The hair transplant device 130 of FIGS. 9A and 9B is operated in a hydraulic manner.

The hair transplant device 130 includes three (3) pistons, wherein a first piston 1320 is the piston coming into contact with a hair graft introduced into a cylinder 1300, a second piston 1322 is the piston extending from the rear of the first piston 1320 and being contacted to a liquid 1380 sealed in a housing 1360, and a third piston 1324 is the piston extending from the rear of an operating shaft 1350 and being contacted to the liquid 1380 as in the second piston 1322. When the liquid is compressed by backward- movement of the second piston 1322, the hydraulic pressure is transferred to the third piston 1324 and thereby the third piston 1324 moves forward. To the contrary, when the liquid is decompressed by forward-movement of the second piston 1322, the third piston 1324 moves backward in the same manner. These three pistons need not to have the same diameters; however, it should be noted that the difference of diameters between the second piston 1322 and third piston 1324 causes the difference of moving distances. Between the first piston 1320 and second piston 1322, a barrier 1370 is installed to support a spring 1330 placed at the rear of the first piston 1320. In order to prevent the air pressure from changing according to the distance change between each piston 1320, 1322 and the barrier 1370, a plurality of pores (not shown) are perforated on the barrier 1370. The second piston 1322 and third piston 1324 is configured to prevent the liquid 1380 from leaking in reciprocation. Other operational principles are the same as in the devices 110, 120 but it is different in that, in the resting mode, the proximal end 1342 of flexible cutter 1340 is on an upper guiding road 1314, with further spaced from a front part 1312 and, in the operating mode, when a handle 1352 is pushed forward, the first piston 1320 moves backward. The former is because, when the first piston 1310 moves backward as a hair graft is introduced in the cylinder 1310, the third piston 1324 moves forward so that the proximal end 1342 of flexible cutter 1340 must not arrive at the front part 1312 by the time of entire introduction of the hair graft. The latter is because, when the handle 1352 is pushed forward to shut the front part 1312 of cylinder (or to cut the bottom of the hair graft), the third piston 1324 moves forward and thereby the first piston moves backward. In another embodiment, the handle 1352 is not incorporated with the operating shaft 1352, different from the configuration in FIGS. 9A and 9B, so that the handle 1352 does not move on automatic forward-movement of the third piston 1324 but do move forward for shutting of the front part 1312 of cylinder.

The present invention has been described with to particular illustrative embodiments. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the above- described embodiments and modifications thereto, and the various changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, modified devices, which has constitutional elements as described above, and of which some elements are shortened with respect to the size or changed with respect to the ratio of size, may be useful as devices for harvesting tissues from human housing for a histo-biopsy. That is, these devices can be used to harvest tissues from human organ such as liver, pancreas, breast, thyroid gland, kidney, and so on for the purpose of testing various diseases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a hair transplant device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are cross-sectional views taken along the line A- A, line B-B and line C-C of FIG. 1. FIGS. 3 A to 3C are magnified front views of a diversity of configurations in the front part of a cylinder, each of which constitutes a hair transplant device of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are magnified lateral views of connecting portions of the front guiding road and upper guiding road in the device of the present invention. FIGS. 5A to 5C are procedure views of harvesting a hair graft from a hairy area by using the device of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6A to 6D are procedure views of implanting a hair graft into a bald area, following to the procedure of FIGS. 5 A to 5C.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9 A and 9B are vertical cross-sectional views of hair transplant devices of which each has an operating shaft of different configuration as embodiments of the present invention.

DESIGNATION OF THE REFERENCE NUMBERS

100: hair transplant device 200: housing

300: cylinder

400: piston

500: U-turn member

600: flexible cutter 700: spring

800: scalp 900: skull

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to hair transplant devices of the present invention, it is possible to execute a hair-transplanting procedure, i.e., harvesting a hair graft from a hairy area in the scalp and then implanting the hair graft into a bald area thereof, in series, without using other devices. Also, it is not necessary to incise rather big size of the scalp for harvest of hair grafts, but only very small size of a perforation is required. Therefore, no scars are left on the perforated site of the hairy area. Furthermore, since only the portion necessary for transplantation is easily harvested, the scalp is not injured. It is not required to perforate on the bald area for implantation, and thus a patient does not feel a pain. The possibility of depilation decreases remarkably, and hairs after implantation are engrafted very well, because the bald area is spread without perforation and then the hair graft is implanted therein.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS;

1. A hair transplant device capable of harvesting a hair graft from a hairy area in the scalp and then implanting the hair graft into a bald area in series, comprising, a housing forming an exterior of the device, the proximal plane of the housing being opened, wherein the upper portion of the housing is perforated for movement of an operating shaft; a cylinder protruding from the proximal plane of the housing by a certain length, the cylinder including a piston supported by a spring in its middle and having a guiding road for forward-backward movement of a flexible cutter at its front part and upper portion, wherein on the open front part of the cylinder, formed is a blade to cut the scalp; a flexible cutter moving along the guiding road, the flexible cutter being positioned on the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder in a resting mode and moving toward the guiding road of the front part of cylinder in an operating mode, whereby shutting the open front part of cylinder; and an operating shaft being connected to the flexible cutter, the operating shaft moving through the perforated upper portion of the housing.

2. The hair transplant device according to Claim 1, wherein the front part of cylinder is inclined downward so that the bottom of the front part is longer than the top of the front part.

3. The hair transplant device according to Claim 1, wherein a protecting needle protrudes from the bottom of the front part of cylinder by a certain length.

4. The hair transplant device according to Claim 1, wherein the outer and inner shapes of the front part are a circle, or the outer shape is a circle and the inner shape is a square, or the outer and inner shapes are a square.

5. The hair transplant device according to Claim 2, wherein a head of the piston is configured to conform to the inclined front part of cylinder.

6. The hair transplant device according to Claim 1, wherein the distal end of flexible cutter is connected to the piston, with bent along an U-turn member installed in the housing, and the operating shaft is a "T"-shaped handle connected to the flexible cutter.

7. The hair transplant device according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein, regarding the configuration of the operating shaft and constitutional elements associated therewith, a right triangle member (A) is attached on the flexible cutter, a vertical plane of the member (A) facing forward, and a spring is installed between the vertical plane of the member (A) and the inner surface of the housing, and another right triangle member (B) corresponding to the member (A) is attached on a button, an inclined plane of the member (B) coming into contact with an inclined plane of the member (A).

8. The hair transplant device according to one of Claims 1 to 5, regarding the configuration of the operating shaft and constitutional elements associated therewith, the operating shaft attached to the flexible cutter is incorporated with an operating handle, wherein a spring is installed at the rear of the shaft and a groove is formed at the bottom of shaft; a seesaw member having a central axis is positioned below the guiding road of the upper portion of cylinder, the seesaw member having projections on the lower surface of a proximal end and on the upper surface of a distal end, respectively, wherein a resilient member is positioned on the lower surface of the distal end.

9. The hair transplant device according to one of Claims 1 to 5, regarding the configuration of the operating shaft and constitutional elements associated therewith, a liquid is sealed in the rear space of the housing, and a piston (B) sealing the liquid extends from the distal end of a piston (A), wherein a spring is installed at the rear of the piston (A) and supported by a barrier installed between the two pistons (A), (B); a flat operating handle is incorporated with the top of operating shaft attached to the flexible cutter, wherein a piston (C), moving by the pressure of the liquid, extends from the operating shaft.

10. A device, for harvesting tissues from human body for a histo-biopsy, comprising elements in one of claims 1 through 9.