An apparatus for surgical extraction of hair follicles for transplantation uses a rotating needle for cutting follicular units from a patients scalp. Each follicular unit is drawn through the needle and transported through a diverter unit to a selected one of plural collectors, in which the follicular units are accumulated for transplantation. The rotating needle is extends through a seal compartment in which a seal, composed of a spring inside a spring carrier, engages both the needle and a cylindrical inner wall of the seal compartment.
