Numerical simulation of the hair formation –modeling of hair cycle

In the recent years, the fields of study of anti-aging, health and beauty, cosmetics, and hair diseases have attracted significant attention. In particular, human hair is considered to be an important aspect with regard to an attractive appearance. To this end, many workers have sought to understand the formation mechanism of the hair root. However, observing growth in the hair root is difficult, and a detailed mechanism of the process has not yet been elucidated. Hair repeats growth, retraction, and pause cycles (hair cycle) in a repetitive process. In the growth phase, hair is formed through processes of cell proliferation and differentiation (keratinization). During the retraction phase, hair growth stops, and during the resting period, hair fall occurs and new hair grows. This hair cycle is believed to affect the elongation rate, thickness, strength, and shape of hair. Therefore, in this study, we introduce a particle model as a new method to elucidate the unknown process of hair formation, and to model the hair formation process accompanying the proliferation and differentiation of the hair root cells in all three dimensions. In addition, to the growth period, the retraction and the resting periods are introduced to realize the hair cycle using this model. (paper)