hey guys i came up on this artice today and thought it was interesting and wanted to know if anyone else has heard of this.

03/21/05)-- A new technique may soon make hair transplants more affordable. HealthFirst reporter Leslie LoBue introduces the new tool that makes the whole procedure much easier.

A new technique may soon make hair transplants more affordable. A medical doctor has developed a tool that makes hair transplantation much easier, and this may change how some men see their receding hairline.

For 41-year-old Tom Geissler, bald was not beautiful. He likened his hairline to an airport runway. "A landing strip, well you know, just running right down the middle."

Tom took a gamble and secretly had a hair transplant without even telling his friends ... Or even his wife.

"He came in with bandages, a hat and ice packs. It looked like he had been in a fight," Lisa Geissler says. "The first [transplant] was rough."

Tom's first transplant included a traditional ear-to-ear incision about nine inches long. With his next transplant, however, hair transplant specialist James Harris, M.D., used a method he developed called the SAFE (Surgically Advanced Follicular Extraction) System.

"It's virtually pain-free. This is minimally invasive hair transplantation surgery," Dr. Harris, of Hair Sciences Center of Colorado in Greenwood Village, tells Ivanhoe.

Dr. Harris himself has had a traditional transplant. Now, with the SAFE System, he plucks follicles from the scalp in two strokes. No sutures, no scars. No costly team of technicians. The process is so much easier, he says the price will likely drop. "The demand will be there, and the more surgeons that are doing it, that will drive the price down as well."

The result is no more obvious hair plugs, but a more natural look -- leaving old friends wondering.

"One of them actually kind of tipped my head forward. He said, 'Boy, you seem to be doing OK.' So he didn't notice," Tom says. And even his hairdresser didn't know for sure ... Until now.

In a traditional hair transplant, the price per graft is between $3 and $7. The SAFE System costs more, but the price will likely drop to between $3 and $5 within a few years. A person could have between 500 and 3,000 grafts.

This article showcases Dr. James Harris who is a member of the Hair Transplant Network.

You have probably heard this technique referred to as FUE or follicular unit extraction. From reading the article, it looks as if he utilizes a "stick-and-place" method of transplantation.

-Robert

is the stick and place method really the safest bet to take? Will it really leave you with out scaring?

Mr. I,

As long as there is a cut, incision, laceration, whatever, there will be some level of scarring developed by the body to "heal the wound" in spite of what some may claim as "no scarring". I think the term "no scarring" is used too loosely and in my opinion is more a marketing oriented term than actual occurance. The real issue is "visible scarring" and there are many interpretations of that.

From what I have researched in these various methods of isolation extraction techniques, Dr. James Harris' Surgically Advanced Follicular Extraction is related more to his patented tool he refers to as Safe Scribe. His basis for claiming it is a "safer" technology is lower transection rates with his tool and those patients who were not good candidates for traditional FUE, are in fact candidates for his SAFE system. He states that everyone could have the candicacy for his technology including African Americans and those patients with white hairs who before-hand were not considered good candidates for traditional FUE methods.

I could not find the information as to why his tool reduces transection rates so this is something he would have to explain himself. Dr. Harris and Dr. Rose have exchanged some of their own technology togethor regarding the instrumentation of FUE as recent as last year's ISHRS meeting in Vancouver. I certainly respect their efforts to reduce transection.

hey guys thanks for the reply's

Yes this is FUE technique and at first it seems there is no scarring, but since now we have patients 1-2 yr post op with this technique they are starting to show (mothball scarring), very small dots when the hair is cut short, but if you leave your hair long-- no problem.