NHI Announces new Transplant Procedure

Article by HairlossTalk.com

HairlossTalk: Someone recently commented on the Woods technique: "I've noticed that Wood's patients seem to have patchy growth. That is, grafts in some areas do not take. This is possibly due to the follicles being damaged in the extraction process." Is this something NHI is aware of, and something that has been addressed with the FUE technique?

Dr. Rassman: I have had the opportunity to look at Dr. Wood's site and read a commentary by one patient on the process they do. I understand that he takes 1-2 hours to extract the grafts and 5+ hours to place them. In our experience, if he was to use the technique we use, it would take us easily 2 hours or more to extract 600 Follicular Units. Rushing the extraction would cause damage. Performing the procedure on a FOX negative patient would cause significant damage to the Follicular Units. Any mishandling or drying of the grafts would cause damage, so handling the grafts are a critical issue. But as I don't know what he is doing in Australia, I have no way to comment on the exact question you asked. As we have pioneered larger sessions of Follicular Units, placing the grafts (in our hands) takes about 1 hour for 500-600 grafts. This is easily a quantum leap over the reports coming out of Australia. Clearly all of our years of experience (about 14,000 surgeries in 8,000 patients) in managing Follicular Unit Transplantation have given us a clear advantage to most physicians in this field. Our hair transplant procedures have averaged 1300 grafts each over the past half decade. I doubt that Dr. Woods, or for that matter most hair transplanters in the world, can match that experience. We clearly have an advantage over others and that is why we developed the Follicular Unit Extraction in the first place. Placing grafts and avoiding damage to these grafts is an art we pioneered, one step at a time. There is no substitute for experience.


An Introduction to Follicular Unit Extraction

Scalp hair grows in naturally occurring groups called Follicular Units. Each follicular unit contains from 1 to 4 hairs. In Follicular Unit Transplantation, a single strip of skin is harvested from the scalp in the back of the head and then, using special microscopes, the strip is dissected into individual, naturally occurring follicular groups of 1-4 hairs. This technique, pioneered by the New Hair Institute, has many advantages, including completely natural results, no scarring in the recipient area, fast healing, and the ability to perform large sessions so that the restoration can be completed in a short time span. The disadvantage of this technique is that it produces a linear scar in the donor area, although the scar is generally very fine.

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) ™, is a procedure that has been in development at NHI for over three years. In this technique, individual follicular units are extracted directly from the donor area without the traditional linear incision in the back of the scalp. The small wounds do not require suturing and heal within one week. Advantages of this technique are that it leaves a virtually imperceptible mark in the donor area, it is more comfortable during the healing period, and activities are not limited by the linear excision of traditional surgery. This procedure is called Follicular Unit Extraction.

A limitation of Follicular Unit Extraction is that it may cause transection (destruction of the follicles by severing them). This can potentially result in decreased growth in transplanted follicles and a decrease in overall yield form the procedure. We have been specifically interested in determining in which patients follicular units can be removed without damage.

A major breakthrough has been the development of a test, The FOX™ Test, that can identify, in advance, those individuals with the right hair and scalp characteristics for Follicular Unit Extraction. The FOX™ Test, involves tiny biopsies taken from the back of the scalp. The Fox Test is performed under local anesthesia and requires about 30 minutes. No sutures are needed. Patients who are FOX positive will be good candidates for this procedure. If the test is negative, conventional strip removal with microscopic dissection is the best option. As we are still evolving the technique, it is possible that over time, those individuals who are FOX negative, or equovical, can still obtain the new procedure. Presently, we are limiting the procedures to only those who are FOX positive.

We are currently conducting research in Follicular Unit Extraction and will be presenting the details of the procedure and the results of the study in a formal medical publication as soon as the study is complete.

PRESENT INDICATIONS for FUE

* People with limited hair loss or those who require small sessions
* Limited cosmetic areas, such as eyebrow restoration
* Those who wear their hair very short
* Very low donor supply, a scarred donor area or very tight scalps
* Selected repairs
* Camouflaging scars
* Athletes who must resume full activity soon after the procedure
* Patients who tend to heal with wide scars

Read more about Hair Transplants in our Hair Transplants Section.

HLT

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