Application of Rapid Prototyping Technology in the Development of Continuous Implanters for Dermal Papilla Cells

A decade ago, a study was conducted to develop continuous implanters for implanting dermal papilla cells into bald areas as a treatment for androgenetic alopecia. The research was driven by the lack of suitable implanters that could achieve shorter preparation time, higher implanting speed, and controllable implanted depth. Three designs were investigated: auto-expand type, bar-cartridge type, and rotary-cartridge type. Rapid Prototyping technology was used to create prototypes for simulated implantation tests. The main evaluation criteria were implanting efficiency and implanted depth. The results indicated that the bar-cartridge type implanter was the most feasible and suitable design for continuously implanting the cell aggregates.