Each day, there are some new advancements being made in the world of Hair Transplant Surgery and one of the technique on the block is called NeoGraft. This is actually partially automated hair transplantation system in which doctors can make the best use of the popular FUE
Generally, in the FUE
method, hair are taken out from the donor area by manual or electric
punches which is controlled by doctors. Then the grafts are stored in
the holding solution. After that, they are implanted in the bald area
with the help of forceps and needle by the implanters in a couple of
hours. If the process is done by someone who does not have enough
expertise, things could go down south very quickly. Not only will the
implant look unnatural, it might not even last as long as it should.
However, with NeoGraft things are slightly different !! This FDA-cleared device excecutes the surgical removal, collection, and placement of individual hair follicles, one at a time. The
machine works on the concept of pneumatic pressure, using which the
hair follicles are extracted. Then with the help of the same forceps,
the implantation is done by the implanter. One benefit of the pneumatic
pressure is that it is so gentle that there is neither any damage to the
hair follicle nor to the scalp where the hair is being implanted.
But the main disadvantage is the dehydration that may occur due to the following reasons:
1. The
pneumatic pressure which strips the surrounding tissue from the lower
portion of the grafts during their removal, making them fragile and
exposing them to drying injury.
2. The vacuum creates a continuous flow of dry air around the harvested grafts causing dessication of grafts.
Both
these things may lead to poor results. A couple of doctors had started
using this machine in India but later on gave up because of the poor
results. The new machine is a modified version. And has slightly
improved but it takes some time for the hand to be set on the machine.
The main advantages of neograft machine:
- If the skill of the surgeon is low he will be able to handle of grafts in a better way.
- If the technicians handling the case are not experienced and permanent, neograft gives advantage.
But if the team is not experienced, then ultimately the results may be below par.
Infact, the
latest in the attempt to make the Hair transplant surgery fully
automated is the introduction of Robotic Surgery by ARTAS machine.
So,
this is one of the options of undergoing hair transplant surgery. But,
for us the danger of risking poor results is too high to try anything
like this……
Is Neograft a Robotic Hair Transplant?
The Neograft is not a robotic Hair Transplant
but all the surgical steps (scoring, extraction, implantation are
manual. So there are many clinics in the country that are misleading
patients saying that Neograft is Robotic Hair transplant.
