Dr. Bernstein Describes Improvements In Hair Transplant Procedures

Dr. Bernstein: So we traditionally do a hair transplant by getting hair from the back of the scalp with this long thin strip. That area is removed, closed, and that strip is put under microscopes. And under the microscopes we dissect out hair in its naturally-occurring groups of one to four. These little, tiny bundles of hair are then implanted into the scalp. Interviewer: Usually in the front. Dr. Bernstein: Right. Front and then the top and sometimes the back of the scalp, with the front, of course, being the most important. About five or six years ago we started doing the transplant by removing hair directly from the back of the scalp. Instead of taking a long piece and then putting it under a microscope, we go in to the back of the scalp and through a little, tiny punch take out these pieces one-by-one. Interviewer: So, almost more randomly instead of a strip. Dr. Bernstein: Right. But you need thousands of them, and it's a really tedious process. And the procedure has to be exact. You have to follow the angle of the hair, the way it comes out, the instrument has to be centered exactly over the follicular unit. So it really, when you're trying to do thousands of them for a hair transplant, it becomes literally impossible for the physician to do it consistently and accurately. So, within the last two years there's been a robot that actually can do what we were struggling to do for the last half-decade.

• What is Follicular Unit Excision?
• Simultaneous Robotic Incision and Manual Extraction
• Can Grafts Fall Out After A Hair Transplant?
• How Young Is Too Young To Have A Hair Transplant?
• How Do You Determine Who Is A Candidate For A Hair Transplant?