Restoration Robotics, which was founded in 2002, recently announced the conditions of its first public offering (IPO). The company’s mission is to assist medical practitioners during a patient’s hair restoration operation, a niche industry that is quickly growing in popularity.
Restoration Robotics, the developer of the ARTAS and ARTAS ix robotic hair restoration systems, and Venus Concept, a privately held worldwide aesthetic technology business, have reached an all-stock merger agreement. The merger is scheduled to conclude in the third quarter of 2019, subject to usual closing conditions.
The ARTAS® and ARTAS iXTM Robotic Hair Restoration Systems are developed and commercialised by Restoration Robotics, Inc., a medical device business. The ARTAS Systems are the first and only physician-assisted robotic systems that deconstruct and assist in the extraction of ovulatory units directly from the face and neck, create recipient implant sites using proprietary algorithms, and robotically implant epithelial tissue into the designated places (in the case of the ARTAS iX System). Restoration Robotics specialises in machine vision, image guiding, visual servoing, robotics, and building user-friendly interfaces to control these technologies.
Restoration Robotics’ ARTAS Robotic System is the first and only FDA-cleared, medical professional computer-assisted hair transplantation system. The ARTAS Robotic treatment is a minimally invasive surgery that provides patients with permanent results without linear scars or sutures, allowing them to cut their hair at any length and with a fast recovery period. Furthermore, the system’s robotic accuracy provides patients with unparalleled levels of hair restoration safety, effectiveness, and comfort.
The ARTAS Robotic System maps and analyses the hair in its natural groupings on the scalp using sophisticated digital imaging. Restoration Robotics created a dynamic stereo camera system that is led by the movements of a patient and operates on visual feedback rather than manual direction alone. Precision robots are used in the system, which use stereo-vision sensors to recognise follicular units, compute angles, orientation, and position, and define a precise harvesting pattern.
An innovative multi-camera stereoscopic vision system with 44-micron resolution is part of the ARTAS® iX robotic hair restoration platform. Doctors may perform automated surgeries with the highest level of accuracy thanks to this technology and the device’s seven-axis robot arm. Without the danger of linear scarring, the ARTAS® robotic hair transplant device can intelligently assess and choose the right grafts from the donor area.
In addition to properly locating and creating ideal recipient sites, the ARTAS® iX device implants each harvested graft at the same time. The ARTAS® robotic hair transplant device strives to retain a more natural appearance in both the donor location and the recipient area by safeguarding the patient’s existing terminal hair.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTEGRATION
- Each hair follicle’s position, angle, size, and orientation are continuously analysed, monitored, and tracked by advanced AI, which also adapts for patient mobility.
- High-quality grafts and outcomes that seem natural are ensured by AI-optimized harvesting, intelligent graft analysis, and randomised donor area selection.
- In order to provide continual development, machine learning detects and digitally maps past, present, and future grafts.
HIGH DEFINITION MULTI-CAMERA STEREOSCOPIC VISION SYSTEM
- The ARTAS iXTM technology continually recognises and identifies essential characteristics at a rate of 60 times per second while precisely seeing and analysing each follicular unit with 44-micron resolution.
- Each follicular unit is harvested at the proper angle using image-guided robotic alignment equipment.
STATE OF THE ART MEDICAL GRADE HARDWARE
- The 7-axis KUKA robotic arm offers 0.1mm repeatability, excellent dexterity, and efficient movement.
- Using a proprietary Ultra Punch with a multi-faceted tip and regulated variable coring speed algorithm, the follicular structure is effectively dissected with reduced risk of damage, and strong grafts are produced.
- Clinical efficiency is enhanced by the ergonomic design, which is small and streamlined.
TOUCHSCREEN USER INTERFACE
- Physician communication with technology is improved via an intuitive, graphics-based user interface.
- Physicians may personalise and prescribe the recipient area design using 3D pre-operative planning.
- System that is proprietary, patented, and FDA-approved
Restoration Robotics invested in a manufacturing unit and used a “rapid prototyping and iteration” method to swiftly execute design modifications. The FDA and other foreign regulatory agencies have thoroughly evaluated and approved the ARTAS Robotic System. The system is currently certified for usage in the United States, Canada, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, and 26 EU countries that have received CE Mark since June 28, 2012. There are additional regulatory filings pending in a number of other countries, including many in South America.
The $250,000 ARTAS Robotic System was approved for sale by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2011 and is now available in 48 countries. During hair restoration operations, the physician-controlled technology allows for the harvesting of individual hair follicles. It also has a robotic arm that uses image guidance to conduct dissection punches.
Restoration Robotics, a contender in the 2013 Shape The future Awards, has released its ARTAS Hair Studio software, which assists clinicians throughout the treatment design process. The ARTAS Hair Studio produces a three-dimensional model of the patient’s head before developing a treatment strategy. The treatment region can then be divided into two or more portions, with varied receiving site density programmed for each section to accurately imitate how hair develops in nature.
Restoration Robotics intends to continue developing the revolutionary ARTAS Robotic System in order to eventually provide a framework that can undertake the entire hair restoration procedure – testicular sperm harvesting, storage, and placement of the follicular units into the physician’s donor area – instantaneously and under the supervision of a surgeon.
