Indiana University Team Creates Device to Preserve Hair During Cranial Surgery

Indiana University researchers are working to preserve patient’s hair when they have cranial surgery, so they can keep an important part of their identity.

Dr. Jignesh Tailor, an assistant professor of neurological surgery at the IU School of Medicine, and former School of Medicine resident Steven Wakeman built a single-use, disposable device to protect a patient’s hair during cranial surgeries. The tool prevents strands of hair from being entangled in medical tools used in the operation, without needing to shave the patient’s hair.

Dr. Tailor filed a U.S. patent application for the tool’s design. He hopes it will be widely adopted across the country.

He identified the need while serving as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, performing minimally invasive epilepsy and brain tumor operations. Dr Tailor also heads a lab studying brain tumor development and therapeutic strategies to stop tumor progression.

Manually preserving hair during cranial surgery often needs another surgeon to part the hair away from the surgical area. However, hair can still interfere even with the extra step.

“Often during cranial surgeries, hair strands from the patient will get in the way of the incision and the drills used to perform the operation,” Tailor told the press. “However, shaving a patient’s hair can be emotionally challenging and negatively impact the patient’s mental well-being as they recover from their surgery.”

The handheld, comb-like device preserves the hair by securing it to the scalp and parting the hair away from the surgical incision. This way, it creates a small gap for scalp incision or drilling.