Optical coherence tomography for planning of follicular unit extraction.

BACKGROUND

As the subcutaneous course of the hair follicle cannot be extrapolated from the angle of hair emergence, the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method bears the risk of follicle transsection potentially affecting the success of the whole intervention. Histological examination can provide this angle information but are too time consuming and invasive to be integrated in the workflow.

OBJECTIVE

In this work, the authors present an effective and noninvasive way to determine these subcutaneous follicle angles.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: For this purpose, the authors use optical coherence tomography to provide images of the first 2 to 3 mm of the surface of the skin.

RESULTS

On 3 probands, they scanned 2 regions. We computed the number of hair follicles in a certain angular region around a mean angle, representing an FUE tool, and found a considerable diversity of the angular deviations.

CONCLUSION

As this angular distribution massively influences the transsection rate, the authors suggest such a method to be considered as a future improvement of preoperative assessment.