Every new NeoGraft physician/surgeon and his/her staff receive 2 consecutive days of on-site training by experienced authorized hair transplant technicians to ensure their patients’ safety, comfort and complete satisfaction. These technical services are available for continuing education until such time the physician and their staff feels that they are fully prepared to perform all the necessary aspects of the NeoGraft procedure to the satisfaction of their patients. We are constantly investing not only in new training for new techniques and technologies, but also ongoing education and training to give our users the skills and understanding they need to best serve their patients
Through our partnerships with US NeoTechs and various prominent medical and teaching institutions, Continuing Education Live Workshops are available and are exclusively for Advanced Hair Restoration procedures dedicated to Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Automated Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Implantation Hair Transplant Procedures.
The NeoGraft system is a revolutionary automated hair transplant medical system that assists the doctor in performing a hair transplant using the Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE technique, the latest hair transplant technique to date. The FUE technique is less invasive than the traditional “strip” method used by most doctors today. With the FUE technique there is no cutting of the scalp, as there is with the “strip” method. Since there is no cutting therefore there is no suturing, no visible scarring as with “strip” surgery, very little bleeding and almost immediate recovery time. The NeoGraft medical system has been developed to assist the doctor with the FUE procedure in order to make the procedure simpler, faster and more efficacious. The NeoGraft hand pieces become an extension of the surgeons hands. The hand pieces automatically harvest, collect and implant the grafts with one easy to use platform.
Follicular Unit Extraction is the most recently developed transplant procedure that does not involve any scalpel incisions like the “strip” method still used by most doctors today. The FUE method harvests individual grafts from the scalp, in their naturally occurring groupings of about 1-4 hairs. The grafts are then transplanted into the balding area. The FUE transplant procedure was introduced in the late ninety’s. It is the least invasive procedure, with the fewest complications and the end result is an excellent, natural look.
Doing a complete transplant using the FUE method without the NeoGraft system is very time consuming, requires many assistants and is therefore more costly than the “strip” method. Most doctors feel patients will not want to pay for this procedure so they do not promote it. Also doctors need to train in order to learn how to do this procedure and many are reluctant to do so, once they are comfortable with the “strip” method. For these reasons, most doctors do not offer a complete transplant using the FUE method. Some doctors may offer to use the FUE method on small areas such as filling in a hairline where few follicles are needed however, most doctors, once they learn about the benefits of the FUE method, understand that it is more beneficial for the patient, since it is a much less invasive procedure.
The NeoGraft system brings down the cost of doing the FUE procedure because the procedure time is shortened and there is no need for the many technicians as there is when doing a manual FUE hair transplant. The reduced costs can be passed on to the patient, allowing more people to have the FUE procedure. Not all patients are suitable for the FUE procedure, but the NeoGraft medical system allows a larger proportion of patients to have the FUE procedure.
There are many advantages. The NeoGrft system allows more individuals to be candidates for the FUE method of transplantation. Doing FUE by hand limits the number of people who can have this technique because of the time factor which raises the cost. Furthermore, some people have certain physical conditions such as deeply embedded follicles, thicker skin, or tougher skin and it is sometimes difficult to take out the grafts without damaging them. The NeoGraft system uses controlled pneumatic pressure (suction) to slide out the follicle smoothly and uniformly, so there is not the pulling and twisting with tweezers which puts the follicle at risk for damage. These conditions often eliminate individuals from being good candidates for the FUE method. The follicles extracted by the contra-angled tool of NeoGraft are of an excellent quality and because of the way that the grafts are extracted and withdrawn from the donor area, each graft is uniform making the automated implantation of the graft precisely the same size and cylindrical shape of the recipient site eliminating the “pop corn or ping pong” effect when using forceps.
And because the transplant procedure is faster with the NeoGraft system, the follicles can be re-implanted sooner which keeps them more robust, increasing the success of the grafting process. With the traditional manual method used for FUE hair transplants, the patient must rely more on the skilful hand of a doctor or technician. There is not the same consistency or quality control as with the NeoGraft.
Further advantages of the FUE procedure with the NeoGraft system are less complications, mostly no linear scar whereas with the “strip” method there is elongated scarring. FUE is a minimally invasive surgery, unlike “strip” surgery which is invasive, and finally as stated, our system shortens the time of the FUE procedure, therefore reducing the cost.
No. The speed of the rotation is controlled by the surgeon and can be adjusted precisely to accommodate for specific skin types, thickness, and punch sizes. Not only can the surgeon control the rate of speed but he/she can control the number of rotations the punch makes around the graft by utilizing the footswitch. Typically the punch makes about 2 rotations around a graft. Not nearly enough times to cause any thermal or physical damage. In fact the scoring of the graft is more precise than doing manually.
No. The speed of the suction is controlled by the surgeon and can be adjusted precisely to accommodate for specific skin types, thickness, and punch sizes. By pure physics associated with the grafts being withdrawn through a cylinder shaped punch and traveling through a short tube, the grafts come out in a very uniform shape perfect for smooth implanting. As for drying out, the grafts actually stay moister with our system than with doing it the traditional “strip” method, here is why…There are 2 methods to using our system to harvest the grafts pertaining to the suction. When using the system as it is meant to be used the suction only turns on when the foot peddle is pressed and the graft is scored and collected. The punch only rotates approximately 2 times during the harvesting process. With the suction only working for a combined short period of time, the grafts being moist as they are collected in the canister (when grafts are together they maintain moisture for longer periods of time) would be enough to keep them moist for the entire procedure but, add the fact that after collecting 10 to 20 grafts you insert the punch into sterile saline and you are virtually misting the grafts every few minutes. The 2nd approach some our users have decided to go with is to “bypass” the suction occluder and have continuous suction flowing through the system as you harvest the grafts. This speeds up the process of harvesting. When doing it with this method you simply insert the punch into sterile saline and leave it in the saline for a slightly longer time than the method above and you are once again thoroughly misting the grafts every few minutes.
No. Using the NeoGraft technique, you do a couple of initial punches to determine the appropriate depth. You then place a “depth limiter sheath” over the punch so that you get the exact same depth of each and every graft. This in combination with the exact recipient site depth, the uniform cylinder shape of the grafts, and the automated implanter makes for easy precision placement that even the most skilled surgeon would have difficulty reproducing with any consistency.
Yes, patients with curly hair can have the procedure done. Because it is important to follow the direction of the hair, a larger punch size (1.25mm) might be required so as not to transect the graft.
“Strip” excision, or Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), is the traditional transplant procedure used by most doctors today whereby a strip of skin is removed from the donor site at the back of the patient’s head. The incision is stitched together in such a way that there is a linear scar. The scar may enlarge over time to overcome the tension of the skin created by cutting a strip and suturing the scalp together. The strip of skin is dissected by technicians under microscopes and hot lights into follicle units of 1-4 hairs. This can be drying to the follicles. The follicles when dissected by the technicians are not uniform and this can cause problems with implanting as the slits made for implantation are uniform (with NeoGraft all the harvested follicles are uniform). Stitches come out in about two weeks. Patients usually experience pain with the “strip” surgery and medicine is prescribed for the pain.
It is a relatively minor surgical procedure. An FUE transplant is performed under local anesthetic, and does not require intravenous or intra-muscular sedation. With FUE the patient is awake during the procedure, and can watch T.V. or talk with the doctor.
Most people are surprised that there is virtually no pain during an FUE hair transplant procedure which is done under a local anesthetic. Some small discomfort may occur as a local anesthetic is injected into the scalp. Once the skin is properly anaesthetized, there is no pain. After the FUE surgery, patients will typically feel some minor discomfort. It is usually described as minimal…similar to having mild sunburn. With the STRIP method, there is more pain, with the amount of pain depending on each patient’s individual pain threshold. Medicine can be prescribed to help with any discomfort or pain.
FUE Hair Transplant surgery is considered to be a minor procedure. There are rarely complications and any that may occur can easily be dealt with by your doctor. With “strip” surgery more complications can occur, such as infections, excessive scarring, a feeling of tightness of the scalp, hair loss in the scar area, nerve pain, bleeding, as well as a chance of damage to the occipital or temporal blood vessels.
It is often possible to go back to work within the next day with the FUE transplant. With the “strip” procedure, depending on the level of pain, more down time is usually required.
Normally it takes between three to five months following surgery before the transplanted hair follicles begin to grow new hair. The newly transplanted hair will go through a shedding process (transition stages…anagen, telogen, catagen) for the first three to 5 months. The shedding process can be reduced by utilizing Low Level Light Therapy Systems.
Prices per graft are typically higher for the manual FUE procedures than they are for the traditional “strip” method because it requires more skill from the physician and takes a longer period of time than just excising a strip of scalp from the donor area. Obviously the benefits to the patient of not having a strip of scalp surgically removed from the back of the head are of greater value and benefit to each patient. No unsightly linear scar, no down time, etc. Having FUE with the NeoGraft Automated System reduces the cost of manual FUE per graft because the automated instruments reduce procedure time.
The NeoGraft also reduces the need and cost of the number of technicians necessary to help the doctor with the procedure. These savings can be passed on to the patient.
The only disposable components involved with the system are the sets of tubing and the reusable harvesting punches. A new tubing set is to be used for every patient. The punches are re-usable and can be sharpened and used on thousands of grafts. The average disposable cost per patient is currently less than $100.00. Other supplies used during a procedure such as telfa pads, gauze, comb, bandages, etc. are typically items you have in your office. For a complete list, contact NeoGraft.