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A motorized punch adheres to the same basic principles as a manual punch; its purpose is to score or cut around the follicular hair units from the donor zone so that they may be extracted and later transplanted into different areas of the scalp as needed (otherwise known as recipient sites). All motorized punches are handheld, but they are tethered to a motor control unit via a cable. The part held in the hand is similar to a Dremel tool. Both motorized and manually-powered punch devices are standard procedure for FUE surgery. Each has their own set of pros and cons, though neither is “correct” per say.
As with manual punches, the motorized versions may utilize either a sharpened or blunted tip (with some exceptions). The properties of each type of tip are the same as with manual punches – a sharp tip cuts into the scalp more easily, but has a higher follicular unit transection rate than a blunt tip. It is not uncommon for the physician to change between the two tips during a hair transplant, or even to switch from a manual punch device to a motorized one.
No, but there are far too many to list here. In general, the least expensive models come from China. The two most common motorized punches for follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedures at the time of this writing are:
A motorized punch has two distinct advantages over manual devices.
Motorized punch system such as the Neograft and the SmartGraft are not robotic, but rather no different than a dental tool system. ARTAS, on the other hand, is an actual robot with a motorized punch that does the work on its own using advanced algorithms to figure out what to do (under the supervision of a human doctor, of course).