Who is this guy? 'Hair follicles made ex vivo that can be inserted..'

[lacazette]

This guy is the owner of this recent patent : http://www.google.com/patents/US20150017131

Hair follicles made ex vivo that can be inserted into a recipient for hair restoration

" A first aspect of the present invention is a method of making at least one three dimensional collection of cells capable of forming a functional hair follicle. A second aspect of the present invention is a product produced by the method of making at least one three dimensional collection of cells capable of forming a functional hair follicle of the present invention. A third aspect of the present invention is a method of making at least one functional hair follicle. A fourth aspect of the present invention is a product produced by the method of making at least one functional hair follicle of the present invention. A fifth aspect of the present invention is a method of hair growth in a subject using at least one three dimensional collection of cells capable of forming a functional hair follicle of the present invention. A sixth aspect of the present invention is a method of hair growth in a subject using at least one functional hair follicle of the present invention."

I don't see if he works for a company or what. Someone in US who could contact him for more infos?


Another thing not related , it's this patent from The General Hospital Corporation patents (boston). Method to directly deliver a substance in the hair follicle

http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20150618ptan20150165180.php

Method and apparatus for dermal delivery of a substance

"The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for delivering substances, e.g., therapeutic substances, into openings on or near a skin surface, such as hair follicles, pores and/or into sebaceous glands. This can be achieved by using an apparatus to direct a substance into the openings under pressure via one or more nozzles or slits. A portion of the sebum present in the hair follicle is optionally heated and/or removed, e.g. using low-pressure conduit located on the lower surface of the apparatus, before introducing the therapeutic substance."

it sounds great, we need a delivery method to directly put substances like anti dht, grow factors,etc exactly where they are needed.
Here they even talk about removed a portion of the sebum and introduce the therapeutic substance. So its sounds a pretty accurate method

-" the present invention provide a system, method and apparatus for delivering substances, e.g., therapeutic substances, into the hair follicle region, e.g., proximal to or into sebaceous glands, located in skin tissue. This can be achieved by directing a substance into the follicle under pressure"

-The therapeutic substances can include, but are not limited to, topical solutions or lotions that can be used to treat acne, hair loss, follicular keratosis, or for photodynamic therapy procedures."

[lacazette]

The first guy patent is interesting :

Using 3D printing, an entire terminal hair, or parts of, or biological material that is capable of growing a terminal hair, or parts of, is performed. Parts of terminal hair include but are not limited to: medulla, cortex, cuticle, inner root sheath, outer root sheath etc

Example 2 Protocol for Practicing Representative Methods of the Present Invention

1. Obtaining materials for premade follicles:
• ◦a. A skin biopsy with between about 10 and about 100 follicles is taken from the donor region of a subject using a punch biopsy tool or a scalpel. This would occur after the targeted area is locally anesthetized. Individual follicles are separated, preferably under a microscope. Components of hair follicles are multiplied and separated including cells, stem cells and keratins.
◦b. An alternative method is synthetic biological materials are created and multiplied that include hair follicle cells, stem cell and keratins.


2. Preparing “ink cartridges”
• ◦Various stem cells, cells and keratins are separated and placed in separate printer cartridges in a formulation that is compatible with the cells, optionally with growth factors and an appropriate cell growth medium, and printing media for 3D printing of cells. These materials may include but are not limited to: hair medulla, cortex, cuticle, inner root sheath, outer root sheath, dermal papilla, follicular matrix cells, etc. These printer cartridges with distinct biological follicular materials are loaded in a 3D printer, preferably a 3D printer compatible with printing cells.


3. Printing hair follicles.
• ◦Computer software capable of 3D printing is programmed to print a 3 dimensional hair follicle. Layer by layer (regarding z axis), proper biological components listed above are printed placing hair follicle cells on a surface in 2 dimensional orientation (x-y axis) cross sections. Since the printing is layer by layer (regarding z axis), the sum of layers printed on top of each other creates a 3 dimensional hair follicle with distinct cell and keratin locations regarding all x, y, and z axes. Follicular units may be printed in groups of 1, 2, 3 or multiple.


4. Collecting ex vivo made hair follicles.
• ◦This 3D printing of hair follicles is repeated anywhere between about 500 and about 10,000 times. These “ready to implant” lab-made hair follicles may be bathed in necessary growth factors and stored in a saline solution with proper tonicity, to prevent drying out.


5. Preparing the recipient region of a subject.
• ◦A hair restoration transplant surgeon or other appropriate health care professional will then anesthetize the recipient region of the scalp. Mini blades or needles that are between about 0.6 mm and about 2 mm thick are used to puncture holes in the skin in the recipient region in a density from between about 30 and about 70 punctures per cm2. These punctures are made at a cosmetically beneficial density and angle where a hair is desired to grow.


6. Inserting the ex vivo made hair follicle
• ◦The physician or a technician will take a petri dish with the premade follicles. They will then use a forceps device to grab a follicular unit and insert it into the punctured skin hole in the recipient region, as would be done in traditional hair transplant technique.



Ok we need to know what is going on with this guy, and if it's gonna be tested in a trial or not


Jordan Fabrikant, he work regarding skin cancer
Board Certified Dermatologist, Mohs Surgery Fellow at Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami Beach

[JayM]

It sounds like a lot of people are interested in being able to 3D print hair and why not. I can imagine it's in the best interest for hair transplant surgeons especially.

[Artista]

I just saw this thread topic now.
I have yet to read through the whole thing....Can any one summarize what this exactly does ? Thanks

[JayM]

Well it doesn't do anything at the moment. It's a patent so this is all hypothetically what he is aiming to do using 3D printing from what I can tell. I wouldn't think he is that far into it but who knows.

[lacazette]

I just saw this thread topic now.
I have yet to read through the whole thing....Can any one summarize what this exactly does ? Thanks

The first patent is from a board certified Derm' regarding transplantation of “ready to implant” lab-made hair follicles (3D printing)

The second patent is from a hospital in boston, regarding an apparatus and method to delivery a therapeutic substance directly in the hair follicle or sebaceous gland

[JayM]

Lacazette I couldn't find any info in regards to be able to contact this guy. It would be good to know how far along he is.

[lacazette]

Hey Jay i found it

Dr. Jordan S. Fabrikant, DO

Office locations:

Skin & Cancer Associates
4308 Alton Rd Ste 510
Miami Beach, FL 33140
Phone: (305) 674-8865

2025 Indian Rocks Rd SLargo, FL 33774
(727) 586-7203 (Office)
(727) 585-7205 (Fax)

[Desmond84]

This guy is the owner of this recent patent : http://www.google.com/patents/US20150017131

Hair follicles made ex vivo that can be inserted into a recipient for hair restoration

" A first aspect of the present invention is a method of making at least one three dimensional collection of cells capable of forming a functional hair follicle. A second aspect of the present invention is a product produced by the method of making at least one three dimensional collection of cells capable of forming a functional hair follicle of the present invention. A third aspect of the present invention is a method of making at least one functional hair follicle. A fourth aspect of the present invention is a product produced by the method of making at least one functional hair follicle of the present invention. A fifth aspect of the present invention is a method of hair growth in a subject using at least one three dimensional collection of cells capable of forming a functional hair follicle of the present invention. A sixth aspect of the present invention is a method of hair growth in a subject using at least one functional hair follicle of the present invention."

Yeah, a lot of people file these kinds of patents all the time, long before they have actually tested its merits. A really good example is Dr Alvi Armani's hair cloning technology which he filed patents for in 2011. He then threw in the towel in 2013 and admitted our current science is still not advanced enough to generate fully functional follicles. Here's the article about his patent:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alvi-armani-hair-loss-research-discontinues-hair-cloning-research-hair-replication-not-a-feasible-technology-to-focus-on-patented-origenere-tr1-natural-plant-extract-for-hair-growth-223520251.html

Patents are not as exciting as actual peer-reviewed journals as they are merely claims with not much supportive data. Nevertheless, our undrestanding of hair follicle regeneration has increased vastly over the last decade. A recent journal collected data on "Evolution of accumulated patents on hair regeneration over the last 20 years" with very promising results shown in the graph below:



We are one or two discoveries away from curing AGA once and for all. I think we will see it happen before 2020 from one of the many teams working on this technology.

Here's the link to the paper which is definitely worth a read

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4444612/#!po=52.2222

[Renee]

I saw this too, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. The lauster team reported they created 10,000 follicles from 30 biopsies that can be implanted on human scalp. Last I heard they were looking for funding. Anybody know what happen?

[lacazette]

Hey Desmond very interesting!

We clearly see that hair regeneration knowledge goes exponential and quite fast. There's no reason for it to slow down so it's sounds good.

[Desmond84]

I saw this too, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. The lauster team reported they created 10,000 follicles from 30 biopsies that can be implanted on human scalp. Last I heard they were looking for funding. Anybody know what happen?

No, the whole funding issue is definitely overrated. I actually brought up funding with Dr Lindner and he assured me they have enough financial backing to carry out the preclinical work. They just haven't been able to create a viable hair follicle from expanded DP cells. It seems the DP cells need to be in a perfect environment to proliferate and unfortunately creating that perfect environment has proven elusive indeed. But at least a handful of teams around the world are actually working on this very issue and they present their findings at the Hair Congress annually. Let's hope they don't take much longer though, since all of our patience are wearing thin

[Desmond84]

Hey Desmond very interesting!

We clearly see that hair regeneration knowledge goes exponential and quite fast. There's no reason for it to slow down so it's sounds good.

Yes I know! I was pretty surprised myself how little we knew about hair follicles in the 90s and how little work was carried out on hair regeneration. Last few years have been blockbusters for hair regeneration with 3D scaffolding Jahoda's hanging drop model, Tsuji's hair germ method etc etc.

Many stem cells blogs including Dr Atala are estimating the first patient to receive a fully functional kidney grown in a lab by 2025. I think we will see hair regeneration in human subjects a bit sooner than that <fingers crossed>

[Renee]

Hi Desmond. When ready will their treatment be via injection? Or growing hair follicles in a lab & transplanting into scalp?

[Renee]

By the dr. Lauster team