New Electric Patch Aims to Reverse Male Balding

There are essentially three ways to combat balding: minoxidil, finasteride, and transplant surgery. But they all have their problems. Minoxidil doesn’t work for everyone, finasteride can affect sex drive and fertility, and surgery works but is expensive and painful. According to a recent New Scientist article, a team at University of Wisconsin-Madison has an innovative new method of preventing hair loss: a cap that zaps the scalp with electric pulses.

Stimulating the scalp with electricity has already been shown to restore hair growth, but the patient needs to be attached to a machine or battery pack for several hours a day. This new method involves a 1mm-thick wireless patch that harnesses energy from random body movements to charge. Another benefit is that the patch fits discretely inside a specially designed baseball cap. It should be noted though that the hat will only work in men who are currently losing their hair as skin loses its ability to generate new hair follicles after many years of baldness.