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
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
*Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria; †Department for Dermatology, Medical University Vienna; ‡Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Kurt
K
Schicho
Rudolf
R
Seemann
Michael
M
Binder
Michael
M
Figl
D000328:Adult; D000505:Alopecia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011300:Preoperative Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence