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Researchers at Indiana University are working to preserve an important part of a patient’s identity when they have brain surgery: their hair.

Dr. , an assistant professor of neurological surgery at the IU School of Medicine, and former School of Medicine resident Steven Wakeman developed a single-use, disposable device that protects a patient’s hair during cranial surgeries. Their innovative tool prevents strands of hair from becoming entangled in medical tools used during the operation without the need to shave any of a patient’s hair.

Tailor recently filed a U.S. patent application for the tool’s design with help from the . Ultimately, he hopes it will be widely adopted by surgeons across the country.

He identified a need for this device while working as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, performing minimally invasive epilepsy and brain tumor operations. Tailor also leads a laboratory studying brain tumor development and therapeutic strategies to halt tumor progression. 

Manual hair preservation during a cranial surgery can be a challenge, often requiring an additional surgeon to part the hair away from the surgical area. But even when taking that extra step, the hair can interfere with the medical procedure.

“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 said. “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 hand-held, comb-like device he created preserves the patient’s hair by securing it to the scalp and parting the hair away from the surgical incision area. In doing so, the device creates a small gap for scalp incision or drilling during the operation.

Tailor said the device will make surgeries safer for patients, reduce the time it takes to perform the procedure and improve patient outcomes during complex surgeries.

Tailor specializes in treating neurosurgical patients, and his lab studies the origins of pediatric brain tumors with the goal of developing new treatments.

“While the core of my research is understanding why tumors progress, and developing effective and targeted drug therapies, it’s just as important to find innovative solutions that improve surgical processes and patient well-being,” he said. “I believe commercializing this product and getting it in the hands of more surgeons will do both.”