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An Article on The Future of Hair Transplantation

In an article in the Prime Dermatology journal, authored by Dr. Chang Jun Huhen, titled “Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of Hair Transplantation”, Dr. Huh reviews the evolution of hair restoration surgical options and contrasts that to technological advancements and unique benefits offered by the ARTAS Robotic Procedure.


Over the past 10 years, robotic procedures have enhanced surgical care that doctors give their patients.  Robotic systems help surgeons improve the outcome for patients and help reduce manual and repetitive movements, which ensures more accuracy and precision.  The use of robots has paved the future for surgeries and will help patients have better experiences. The advantages of minimally robotic procedures appeals to doctors and patients, because of decreased pain and increased recovery time.
Restoration Robotics was founded by physicians and engineers to help develop a solution for hair restoration patients.  Robotic technology plays a role in Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) because it gives patients consistent and safe results, with no visible scarring or long recovery time.  The ARTAS Robotic System enables surgeons to give their patients natural-looking outcomes with fast recovery time.
In the past, hair restoration involved Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), where a strip of scalp is surgically removed and individual hair grafts are generated by manual dissection.  This has been common practice FUT method since the early 90’s.  Soon after, manual FUE started, by using small dermal punches to remove single hair grafts directly from donor sites and implant them in the balding scalp area.  This was the beginning of a less invasive technique with faster healing time.
The ARTAS Robotic System is a FDA approved, physician controlled, interactive computer-assisted system that enables harvesting of hair follicles during hair restoration.  It is the first and only technology that allows physician-controlled, image-guided, robotic assisted FUE.  The robot is programmed to be able to do with great precision what physicians can do only with extensive experience.  The robot can harvest follicular units in a random pattern, or as a percentage of the total number of follicular units in a designated area.  The physician can make changes to dissection depths and angles during the process.  Because the robot is making the repetitive actions, it makes the process go much faster.
Benefits of ARTAS Robotic Hair Transplants:

  • Robotically precise and consistent
  • Reduced treatment time
  • Decreased discomfort
  • Faster recovery time
  • No linear scar
  • Undetectable donor area

The robotic system dissect grafts accurately and consistently, thousands of times with acceptably low transection rates of between 4.9%-8%.  The ARTAS system will also soon be able to use sophisticated 3D patient modeling and design to help create recipient sites at the rate of 2,000 per hour.  The addition of the ARTAS system attracts many patients that would be hesitant to try traditional transplant procedure, and allows physicians to take hair restoration to the next level and produce high patient satisfaction.
Please see the attached article for a more in-depth view of the ARTAS System.

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PRP and LLLT Treatments in Women's and Men's Hair Restoration


Although platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used for many years in other medical specialties, including orthopedics,  it has only recently become one of the latest techniques with hair restoration.  PRP is used for all Hair Restoration/Hair Loss patients, including patients who have Robotic Hair Transplants. PRP is an exciting non-surgical therapeutic treatment for patients who require stimulation of hair growth for hair loss conditions. The use of PRP for the treatment of alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia (hereditary male or female hair loss) is available from Dr. Mark Bishara’s office.
While PRP is in the early stages of scientific research in hair restoration, PRP is not meant to replace current FDA approved therapies such as DHT blockers and Minoxidil. but it is a promising non-surgical therapeutic option for those patients with hair loss.
What is PRP – Platelet Rich Plasma?
PRP Platelet Rich Plasma is the use of a person’s own blood platelets to enhance hair growth as a stand-alone treatment or to improve the recovery and results of hair transplant surgery. In the field of cell therapy and tissue regeneration, research is continuing to progress regarding the use of PRP’s ability to stimulate stem cells, improve wound healing, and rejuvenate skin and hair follicles. PRP is done in 3 month intervals
Growth Factors
The human growth hormone (hGH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF or FGF-2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)- levels are significantly elevated after PRP injection, supporting a possible ergogenic effect of PRP.
What is LLLT (Low Level Laser Therapy)
The LaserCap® using Low Level Laser Technology (LLLT) can help men and women of all ages who suffer from hair loss by emitting pulses of laser light energy to the scalp to stimulate the hair follicles and improve blood circulation in the area, encouraging hair growth once again. Men and women being treated for hair loss sit comfortably under the lasers as it gently delivers the phototherapy to the scalp. Most of our patients read a magazine during treatments. There is no pain or discomfort from the therapy–some patients do report some “scalp-tingling.”  The laser cap is much more successful and effective in hair restoration then hand held devices that are available on the market.   The usual treatments occur 2-3 times per week.  The laser cap is available to have treatments done in our office, or can be purchased and take home with you.
For more information on PRP, LLLT and other hair restoration treatments, please call our office at (817) 473-2120.  Please come in and get evaluated with an endocrine testing panel, that tests your thyroid, testosterone, iron, and serotonin levels, to name a few. We also refer out for scalp biopsies for female patients, to determine the causes of hair loss.
You can also visit us as www.MarkBisharaMD.com and our Facebook page at The Paragon Plastic Surgery and Medspa
 

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Eyebrow Restoration

For many people with thinning scalp hair, proven medical therapies and hair restoration surgical procedures are widely available and good options to restore hair loss and slow future hair loss. We receive many calls to our office, asking if we do eyebrow transplants, and we do.  Eyebrows are an important part of our appearance and is important to our facial symmetry. Thanks to great strides in hair restoration surgery, we are now able to restore all or part of the eyebrow.

Eyebrow Transplant

The most important aspect of transplanting eyebrows is to follow the natural hair direction very closely. Aangle changes are important to recreate the fan-like splay of hair at the medial aspect of the brow and the converging hair direction as one moves laterally along the brow. The recipient sites for the hairs are be made with a very fine-gauge needle that literally slides along the surface of the skin as the sites are being made, as this will insure that the hair will lie as flat as possible on the surface of the skin as it grows.
Single hair micrografts, placed into recipient sites that have been created at very acute angles to the skin surface, require a considerable about of skill and experience. In addition, when the patient’s hair is waved or curly, it is particularly important to rotate the hair so that curve of the hair shaft follows the natural curve of the eyebrow.

Please call our office at (817) 473-2120 for more information or visit our website at www.MarkBisharaMD.com

Download our Free Guide on Hair Restoration

 

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Healing Time for Robotic Hair Transplants

How Long Does it Take to Heal from a hair transplant?

There is some redness and dryness after the procedure. Some patients experience swelling during the first week after surgery. Hair transplants are usually undetectable after 10 days. Follicular unit grafts are permanent in the scalp after 10 days.
Recovery time with the ARTAS Robot Assisted FUE System Procedure is much less and much more comfortable as compared to a traditional linear strip method of hair restoration.  As there is no linear incision required with an ARTAS Procedure, healing time is short, and you can usually go back to your daily activities after a day or two.  It takes approximately three days for the transplanted hair to “take” and for growth cells to be transferred from the follicles to the scalp.  You will be using the medical-grade saline salt solution that we provide on your procedure day along with a spray bottle to keep the newly implanted hair moist with the saline solution.  Don’t worry, all the post-procedure instructions are provided to you in writing and by email if you choose.  Also, our staff is always available to answer questions about your post-procedure care.  By about Days 7-10, the crusting will largely have subsided, leaving little evidence that any procedure has taken place at all.
Please visit the website of Dr. Bishara, who specializes in Hair Restoration, Robotic Hair Transplants and Plastic Surgery at www.MarkBisharaMD.com or call our office at (817) 473-2120.

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Am I A Candidate for a Hair Restoration Procedure?

The best way to find out if you are a candidate for a hair restoration procedure is to go to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon specializing in hair restoration. The answer will depend on the cause of your hair loss, your age, the stability of your donor supply, how extensive you hair loss is, your expectations and a number of other important factors that will be taken into account.
For the right candidate hair restoration surgery can significantly improve your appearance and general sense well being, however, not everyone is a good candidate for the surgery and those who are must have realistic expectations before undergoing a hair transplant procedure.
Remember there is a finite amount of donor hair that can be moved to the thinning areas of the scalp. If that hair isn’t used in an efficient manner the outcome of the procedure might not meet your expectations.  Every patient is examined on a case-by-case basis, but here are some general types of patients that are great candidates for hair transplants:
The best candidates for hair restoration surgery are:

  • Men who have been losing their hair due to Male Pattern Baldness for more than five years or who have progressed to a Norwood class 3 or above.
  • Men with realistic expectations and who understand that their hair loss might continue to progress even if they are taking prescription medication to stop the progression.
  • Men who have been balding for many years and who’s pattern has stabilized and are interested in just adding some hair to provide a more youthful appearance.
  • Men and women who have lost hair due to trauma or burns
  • Men and women who have lost hair due to other cosmetic procedures such as face-lifts.

Some women are candidates for hair restoration surgery. They are:

  • Women who have suffered hair loss due to mechanical or traction alopecia (non-hormonal).
  • Women who have had previous cosmetic or plastic surgery and are concerned about hair loss around the incision sites.
  • Women who have a distinct pattern of baldness, similar to that of male pattern baldness. This includes hairline recession, vertex thinning (on the crown or top of the scalp), and a donor area that is not affected by androgenetic alopecia.
  • Women who suffer hair loss due to trauma, including burn victims, scarring from accidents, and chemical burns.
  • Women with alopecia marginalis, a condition that looks very similar to traction alopecia.

Please visit the website of Dr. Bishara, who specializes in Hair Restoration, Robotic Hair Transplants and Plastic Surgery at www.MarkBisharaMD.com or call our office at (817) 473-2120.

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