Trichoscan: What Is New?

Abstract

The treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is usually long lasting, and the effects of treatment attempts are difficult to measure. Consequently, there was a need for a sensitive tool to monitor hair loss and treatment response. Therefore, we developed the Trichoscan as a method which combines epiluminescence microscopy with automatic digital image analysis for the measurement of human hair. The Trichoscan is able to analyze all important parameters of hair growth (density, diameter, growth rate, vellus and terminal hair density) with an intraclass correlation of approximately 91% within the same Trichoscan operator and an intraclass correlation of approximately 97% for different Trichoscan operators. The application of the technique was demonstrated by comparison of the hair parameters in 9 men with frontal balding which were treated for 6 months with 5% minoxidil. Even in this small cohort of patients, we noticed after 3 months of treatment compared to baseline a significant increase in hair density (+21.3 hairs/cm²; p = 0.047) and cumulative hair thickness (+0.61 mm; p = 0.008) and after 6 months a significant increase in hair density (+34 hairs/cm²; p = 0.011) and cumulative hair thickness (+0.88 mm; p = 0.010). The study shows that the Trichoscan has many advantages. It can be used for clinical studies to compare placebo versus treatment or to compare the relative potencies of different hair-growth-promoting substances. It can be used for studying AGA or other forms of diffuse hair loss, and it can be adopted to study the effect of drugs or laser treatment on hypertrichosis or hirsutism. The drawbacks, however, are that the Trichoscan still needs a hair dye for contrast enhancement and the measurement area must be clipped before analysis. This mini-review summarizes recent attempts to optimize the technique and shows new options such as the calculation of follicular units or the ‘anagen hair count’.

Topical Melatonin for Treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia

“…[41] Thus, the TrichoScan method provides a reliable before-and-after comparison and is highly reproducible during the course of a clinical study. [404146] The increase in the measured hair count from 123 hairs/cm 2 at baseline to 159 and 173 hairs/cm 2 after 3 and 6 months, respectively, must be considered clinically relevant. Study 4 was conducted as an observational study including 60 patients, in which significant improvements were identified in the before-and-after comparisons of hair texture and hair loss; however, the study included no placebo group.…”

A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study to assess the efficacy of a 24-week topical treatment by latanoprost 0.1% on hair growth and pigmentation in healthy volunteers with androgenetic alopecia

“…The sites are cleaned with an alcoholic solution and photographed again. The technique is easy to perform, highly validated, [19][20][21] noninvasive, and with the exception of the tattoo marking the site, causes no discomfort to the patient. 22 Measurements were performed on day 1 (hair diameter) and day 4 (hair density and anagen/telogen ratio) of each assessment period.…”

Development of a Novel Automated Hair Counting System for the Quantitative Evaluation of Laser Hair Removal

“…TrichoScan Ò Research (TRICHOLOG GmbH, Freiburg, Germany), for example, has many built-in features, including the automatic analysis of the hair condition, hair count, hair thickness, and hair length. [20][21][22][23] The method uses an image processing technique to quantify hair. 24 However, the analysis area is up to a 2 cm 2 circle, and the test requires the application of hair dye.…”