Mane BioTech: Wearable cap uses electrical currents to regrow hair

[benjt2]

A new player on the field: Mane BioTech.

They seem to use electrical currents generated by a wearable cap, to be worn for 30 minutes a day, to somehow recover stem cells' ability to regenerate hair follicles and thus be able to create hair again. Treatment is apparently slow but effective; regeneration of hair follicles seems to happen at the same speed as loss. In an article in a German newspaper, they claim that it takes 10 years to reverse a balding process that has already been going on for 10 years. Nonetheless, it seems to work. At the very least, it halts further progression.

They already have a first version of a working prototype, are currently working on the second version of a prototype, which is supposed to be tested in collaboration with 10 hair clinics in Germany. In an article with Barclays, they state that they are currently looking for 100k € funding to finalize the second-gen prototype.

The approach reminds me of a similar prototype created by researchers from the U of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

[inmyhead]

Kinda funny how 2 of their advisors are balding (one is shaved already).

 

[benjt2]

Well, they themselves said their treatment is slow and their first prototype was only finalized a few months ago, so even if their treatment works (which it seems to do), it wouldn't reverse baldness quickly.

 

[Spanishboy97]

Where are the before and afters? Looks like good old hair loss bullshit

 

[inmyhead]

Well, they themselves said their treatment is slow and their first prototype was only finalized a few months ago, so even if their treatment works (which it seems to do), it wouldn't reverse baldness quickly.

So how can they know if their treatment works if they just finished prototype lol? Seems like safe/scam tactic to me in case it doesn't work at all. And let's be honest, chances for it not working are high.

 

[benjt2]

There are research papers with similar tech that showed it work, like the one I quoted in the OP by U of Wisconsin-Madison. According to a German newspaper article, the two founders tried it on their own legs where it worked and tried it so far on around 10 balding people, where it also worked.

These guys only just founded the company, it's a bit early for before and after pics. They have received a bit of pre-seed funding though (s. the Barclays article) and some funding from the German government for promising startups - so some investors must already be convinced. I'd give this some time before judging while obviously remaining skeptical.

By the way, one of the founders co-authored several hairloss research papers, one of which is being discussed on hairlosstalk here.

 

[Spanishboy97]

There are research papers with similar tech that showed it work, like the one I quoted in the OP by U of Wisconsin-Madison. According to a German newspaper article, the two founders tried it on their own legs where it worked and tried it so far on around 10 balding people, where it also worked.

These guys only just founded the company, it's a bit early for before and after pics. They have received a bit of pre-seed funding though (s. the Barclays article) and some funding from the German government for promising startups - so some investors must already be convinced. I'd give this some time before judging while obviously remaining skeptical.

By the way, one of the founders co-authored several hairloss research papers, one of which is being discussed on hairlosstalk here.

If they had already try It on 10 people why is it early to show pics? It would be good for investment. I don't doubt that it regrowth hair but I doubt that it was cosmetically relevant

 

[benjt2]

They have a Twitter channel - you could ask them publicly (to create some social media pressure), maybe they'll share some data or photos.

My personal take: early startups try to limit public info on their tech as much as they can to keep a low profile from copycats or big companies that could steal their approach. Might be that. Or might be that its cosmetically insignificant at such a short time span. Who knows.

Feel free to contact them and then post their response/photos here. We should just make sure that they don't get spammed by the lot on here that loves spamming researchers so much until they are tired of responding and hand out no info anymore.

 

[Tom4362]

Here is the German article:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1217365685967446017

 

[coolio]

Ten years. Ain't nuobody got time for that.

Loss prevention. Some of us do have time for that.

 

[FilthyFrancis]

As much as I agree this looks a little bit dodgy (which is normal as we are talking about a seed stage startup), I must admit I like the angle they are taking.

If one believes in the theory of scalp tension causing inflammation (and therefore fibrosis and calcification) - which is my case -, I am enclined to believe electric signal in peripheral muscles to the galea aponeurotica could loosen up the tension (just like botox does).

 

[byebyehair]

As much as I agree this looks a little bit dodgy (which is normal as we are talking about a seed stage startup), I must admit I like the angle they are taking.

If one believes in the theory of scalp tension causing inflammation (and therefore fibrosis and calcification) - which is my case -, I am enclined to believe electric signal in peripheral muscles to the galea aponeurotica could loosen up the tension (just like botox does).

But is there a claim continued botox usage could totally reverse the balding process?

 

[Selb]

The science of it makes sense. It upregulates growth factors (Wnt expression)

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onlinelibrary.wiley.com

This is just another thing in the arsenal against hair loss. They say it’s a slow process to regain hair loss, which makes sense since they’re harnessing the body’s natural regeneration. Albeit in a very efficient way through a sensitive, wearable cap. But I’m assuming this is without the addition of a dht blocker.

Remove dht from the equation and wear this cap, you basically have a regimen on par with microneedling and finasteride. And electrical currents may be more effective and convenient.

 

[NorwoodGuardian]

At least they do not exaggerate the time needed for regrowth.

 

[thomps1523]

Science: An electric solution to losing your hair

BALD heads could be a thing of the past, according to Canadian dermatologists. About 35 to 45 per cent of all men, and 20 to 25 per cent of all women, suffer from 'male pattern baldness', or alopecia. Now, Stuart Maddin and his team from the University of British Columbia have found they can...

www.newscientist.com

 

[FilthyFrancis]

But is there a claim continued botox usage could totally reverse the balding process?

I don't think any study has ever covered a long time on botox.

But results are here:
- https://insights.ovid.com/pubmed?pmid=21042071
- https://journals.lww.com/plasrecons..._Male_Pattern_Baldness_with_Botulinum.79.aspx

"Just by relaxing the scalp muscles with Botox, 75% of subjects saw their hair loss slow, stop, or reverse. That’s a very similar response rate to finasteride. More impressively, hair counts, on average, increased by 18% [vs. 10% for finasteride, using the same technique for counting hair as the study used for Finasteride FDA approval]"

In an interview, the doctor, BJ Freund claimed he saw patients with 40-50% increase of hair counts.

The problem is this treatment is quite expensive.

"A round of Botox into our scalp muscles costs about $1,500. Botox lasts for 4-6 months, and Dr. Freund’s study showed that we’d need at least two rounds (1 year) before seeing notable hair loss improvements. That’s $3,000 just to test a procedure long enough to see results.

There’s evidence that after 4 or 5 rounds of Botox, our muscles may adjust long-term to not chronically contract. Unfortunately, reaching that point is a $7,500+ investment. This just isn’t feasible for the majority of hair loss sufferers." ==> This is why scalp massage and microneedling stands as a cheaper alternative to most of us.

However, this is off-topic to this thread as the channel for this technology seems to be different (wnt pathway).

 

[iCloud]

Also reminds me of this one, using electrical micro-currents:

Home Page - Pilogics LTD

About Pilogics We develop cutting edge technology that effectively and consistently grows hair with no side effects. Our patented technology for creating persistent electro-static stimulation of the scalp, combined with micro-currents, mechanical and optical stimulation is clinically proven...

hairegen-online.com

 

[NorwoodGuardian]

Also reminds me of this one, using electrical micro-currents:

Home Page - Pilogics LTD

About Pilogics We develop cutting edge technology that effectively and consistently grows hair with no side effects. Our patented technology for creating persistent electro-static stimulation of the scalp, combined with micro-currents, mechanical and optical stimulation is clinically proven...

hairegen-online.com

Not many success stories?

 

[iCloud]

There are some pictures in this study: https://hairegen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/January-19-2018-Landau.pdf
It’s just too expensive, and you would have to buy new cartridges on a regular basis.
You can get these type of results using other treatments.

 

[FilthyFrancis]

There are some pictures in this study: https://hairegen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/January-19-2018-Landau.pdf
It’s just too expensive, and you would have to buy new cartridges on a regular basis.
You can get these type of results using other treatments.

Yeah and I am pretty sure you can achieve similar results with microwounding + scalp massage everyday