SCI Rep: new technology helps judge the health of human hair follicles

November 2, 2019 / BIOON / -- many factors can prevent the normal formation and growth of hair, leading to hair diseases and baldness Now, a new method developed by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) can be used to test the effect of different treatments on hair growth by examining the activity of hair follicles The results were published recently in the journal scientific reports (image source: www Pixabay Com) the method described in this article is based on the following phenomenon: when the scalp is gently pressed on the area containing healthy hair follicles, it will generate a stable magnetic field - which can be measured with the so-called magnetoencephalogram or MEG By using helmet like MEG to measure hair follicle activity around the scalp, researchers can create electrical activity maps of each subject In the study, the authors tested 15 healthy participants (including five women) and two participants with alopecia Participants with alopecia had no signal of electrical activity at the pressed position, while participants in the healthy group showed varying degrees of electrical activity Dr David Cohen, senior author and researcher of MGH radiology department, said: "what we provide here is a quantitative method to observe the activity of hair follicles As far as we know, this is the first reported study to measure the electrical activity of hair follicles." Lead author Dr sheraz Khan said: "this method can be used for quantitative and objective assessment of hair follicle health and as a biomarker for hair loss treatment." Source of information: new technology may revive the health of human hair folders original source: sheraz Khan, David Cohen Magnetics: measuring the DC magnetic field produced by hair folders Scientific reports, 2019; 9 (1) doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52110-y