Adjustable hair transplantation chair

Abstract

A convertible chair, for example, a hair transplantation chair that permits movement of the patient during a procedure while the patient's head remains substantially stationary. The chair may include a head support and a plurality of body supports that may be mounted on a base, or on a cradle movably attached to the base. The chair can be configured for a follicular unit harvesting procedure and it could be also converted into a hair implantation configuration for hair implantation procedure. The patient remains in the chair during the procedure with his head substantially stationary, while various parts of his body may be repositioned, for example, by rotation of the cradle. The chair may be automated, or assisted with pneumatics, motors, foot pumps and the like. The chair is particularly useful for assisting robotic hair transplantation procedures.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of performing a hair transplantation procedure using a convertible hair transplantation chair, comprising:
 positioning a patient in a convertible hair transplantation chair in a harvesting configuration of the chair wherein a patient's posterior rests on a seat leaning forward with a head of the patient positioned face-down on a head support;   harvesting follicular units from the patient positioned in the harvesting configuration of the convertible chair;   converting the hair transplantation chair to an implantation configuration where the patient's posterior rests on the seat leaning backward with his head positioned face-up;   implanting hair grafts into a recipient area of the patient in the implantation configuration of the convertible chair.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of harvesting follicular units and/or implanting is done with the assistance of a robot. 
     
     
         3 . A method of performing a hair transplantation procedure using a convertible hair transplantation chair, comprising:
 positioning a patient in a convertible hair transplantation chair in a harvesting configuration of the chair wherein a patient's posterior rests on a seat leaning forward with a head of the patient positioned face-down on a head support;   harvesting follicular units from the patient positioned in the harvesting configuration of the convertible chair;   converting the hair transplantation chair to an implantation configuration where the patient's posterior rests on the seat leaning backward with his head positioned face-up on the head support;   implanting hair grafts into a recipient area of the patient in the implantation configuration of the convertible chair.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the convertible chair comprises a cradle mounted on the base and configured for rotation along an arcuate path having a center located above the cradle and in close proximity to a center of the head of the patient positioned on the head support, and wherein converting comprises adjusting position of the cradle along the arcuate path such that the center of the head of the patient on the head support remains approximately at the center of the cradle rotation. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein converting comprises turning a portion of the seat in the harvesting configuration of the chair into a leg support in the implantation configuration of the chair. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the step of harvesting follicular units and/or implanting is done with the assistance of a robot.