Patent ID: 8182493

Claim:
An apparatus to extract live hair follicles from mammalian skin tissue, the apparatus comprising: a nipple end portion having a first end portion and a tip portion, said nipple end portion having a length dimension and further including a bore disposed therethrough having an axis parallel to said length dimension, said bore comprising an inner surface within said nipple end portion; a tubular punch to extract one or more of said live hair follicles from said skin tissue via said bore, said tubular punch being slidably disposed within said bore and comprising a cutting end to pierce said skin tissue; an adjustment member in communication with said tubular punch to set a distance by which at least a portion of said tubular punch extends beyond said tip portion of said nipple end portion to a first fixed length, a force to be provided from said adjustment member to said tubular punch to adjust said distance to a second fixed length in response to said adjustment member being adjusted from a first position to a second position; and a stabilizer disposed within an interior of said apparatus between said nipple end portion and said adjustment member, at least a portion of said tubular punch extending through a stabilizer bore of said stabilizer.