Electrical stimulation device promotes hair regrowth in men with androgenic alopecia (2025)

Key takeaways:

• A wearable electrical stimulation device improved hair density and thickness for men with androgenic alopecia.
• The device was safe and well tolerated.

In a small pilot study, men with androgenic alopecia saw improvements in hair density and thickness after 6 months of daily, 30-minute treatments with a wearable, low-level electrical stimulation device, researchers reported.

“Androgenetic alopecia, also known as pattern baldness, affects around 80% of men at some point in their lives, depending on their age,” Carlos Chacón-Martínez, PhD, managing director and cofounder of niostem, told Healio. “In the larger hair loss landscape, androgenic alopecia makes up about 90% of the cases for men ... and about 30% to 40% of women with hair loss have androgenic alopecia. Among current treatments, there are supplements, topical products like shampoos, and medications like minoxidil and finasteride. These slow down the hair loss but may come with adverse effects.”

The niostem device (Mane Biotech GmbH) is a wearable device that delivers low-level electrical stimulation to promote hair growth. Stimulation is delivered via conductive brush electrodes that make direct contact with the scalp's surface, according to the researchers. The electrical stimulation is within the microampere range.

“We are targeting men who are starting to lose their hair,” Chacón-Martínez said during an interview. “We use the Norwood-Hamilton scale, which has a range from stage I to stage VII, with stage VII being bald like Jeff Bezos. Our main target group is people who are stages II to IV on the scale, who could see the most benefit. This is despite testing our device in people at stages V or VI and seeing some beneficial effects.”

Researchers evaluated 21 men aged 21 to 40 years with androgenic alopecia (Norwood-Hamilton scale II to VI) who used the niostem device for 30 minutes daily over 6 months. Participants reported that they did not use anti-hair loss products within 6 months before the start of the study. The primary endpoint was increase stage I hair density from baseline at 3 and 6 months. Researchers also assessed hair thickness and terminal hair counts at baseline and again at 3 and 6 months using trichoscopic measurements, as well as patient-reported outcomes.

The findings were published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

Men using the device experienced an average 12% increase in total hair density at 3 months and an average 19.3% increase at 6 months. Hair thickness increased by an average of 8.8% at 6 months.

Terminal hair density improved over time, with visible hair growth observed in the participants, according to the researchers.

“In absolute hairs/cm², there was an increase from 211.6 hairs/cm² at baseline to 235.8 hairs/cm² after 3 months,” the researchers wrote. “After 6 months, 100% of participants showed hair regrowth.”

The device was well tolerated, and there were no serious adverse events reported. Minimal adverse events included scalp pruritus (9%) and slight headache during the first 2 to 4 days after initial use (4.5%).

Chacón-Martínez noted that androgenic alopecia is currently not curable; any treatment would need to continue indefinitely.

“You need to keep using [the niostem device] as long as you want to keep your hair,” Chacón-Martínez told Healio. “The day you stop, your genes are still there. Your hormones are still there. We are trying to bring the body to a state of regeneration or regrowth. If you keep using the device, you will keep the regeneration in place. You stop; you lose your hair again.”

Chacón-Martínez said that researchers recently completed a sham-controlled trial with a larger cohort. Those data will soon be submitted to a journal for publication.

“In the hair loss industry, there are a lot of scams and snake oil, and people are very skeptical,” Chacón-Martínez told Healio. “We are translating this knowledge about hair stem cells into this innovation with state-of-the-art hardware for at-home use. It works. We have a new alternative for those suffering from androgenic alopecia, especially men.”

For more information:

Carlos Chacón-Martínez, PhD, can be reached at carlos@niostem.com; Instagram: @niostem; and on Facebook and YouTube.