A new advance in graft has been developed by Dr. B. L. Limmer and his research team who perfected a technique referred to as Microscopically Magnified Micrografting. Their procedure produces minute grafts of one to four hair follicular units which are transplanted into balding areas. Hair follicles and shafts naturally grow in from the head in follicular units consisting of one to five hairs. Some physicians claim a hair growth rate from implanted follicles in excess of 110% due to the fact that they recover and utilize the resting hairs in the teleogen phase from the donor site. These hairs would otherwise go unused with non-microscopic techniques.
Their technique uses a binocular stereoscopic microscopic of 20X power for dissection and isolation of the delicate hair follicle units. After a strip of hair is removed from the donor site, it is dissected under the microscope so the follicular units for grafting are produced intact. In particular, care is taken to keep the pilosebaceous structure (oil producing) which lubricates the hair shaft and aids in hair growth. These follicle units must be preserved intact during dissection to insure the best survival and growth of the hair follicle. They report that this method obtains 10 to 30 percent more hair from a donor area. This is important for patients with gray or blonde hair because light-colored grafts are difficult to see with the naked eye.
On the average, six to seven hours of work are required to transplant 1,000 grafts by this method.
Hair follicle units as small as one hair are used mainly for the frontal hairline and larger units of 2-5 hairs for coverage of balding areas. |
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