There are 3 main hair transplant methods in use today. From oldest to the newest they go like this: FUT (follicular unit transplantation, sometimes called FUSS for follicular unit strip surgery) FUE (follicular unit extraction) and DHI (direct hair implantation).
FUE and DHI have roughly the same extraction process; the difference comes in the implantation part. FUT, on the other hand, resembles FUE in the implantation phase. But FUT is very different from the other two in the extraction phase.
What is the FUT Method?
FUT is the oldest method of three and the main thing about FUT is the scars it leaves. Before the extraction, the donor area gets numbed by local anaesthetics. Then, during the extraction doctor makes an elliptical incision behind the back of the head from ear to ear. The doctor removes this elliptical piece of skin and sutures the scalp close. Meanwhile, other operators divide the strip of hair-bearing skin into smaller follicular units.
Divided follicles go into a serum solution so they can stay alive while waiting for implantation. After this, the doctor opens small incisions on the recipient area called canals. When all is set, operators begin the implantation process. They put in follicles into canals one by one. FUT is the cheapest option for hair transplantation because this type of operation generally takes less time.
What is the FUE method?
In FUE operation, patients don’t get permanent visible scars. Instead of cutting a strip of skin away and stitching it together operators utilise micromotors. A micromotor is an electrical handheld device that has a tip spinning at high speeds.
The size of the tip is custom fit for each person’s follicle size. After anaesthesia, the operator punches very tiny holes around the follicles marked for extraction. After micromotor operator covers a certain amount of area, another operator comes and starts picking up follicles from the patient’s scalp one by one. When this process is complete, the rest is pretty similar to FUT; physician opens canals and operators begin implantation one follicle at a time.
The only difference that we see here: Micromotor eliminates the need to dissect the extracted tissue by extracting one follicle at a time in the first place.
What is DHI method?
The final method for hair transplantation we utilise nowadays is DHI. The same micromotor procedure happens in DHI too. As we mentioned earlier, the difference comes to play during the implantation process. Instead of opening canals and implanting them at different times, DHI does something else.
Operators utilise mechanical devices called Choi Implanter Pens. They load pens with follicles and another operator plants these follicles directly on the scalp. These pens have a sharp edge, and like a mechanical pencil, this sharp edge has a hole on it. The sharp edge pierces the skin and pushes the follicle inside. DHI operations require the employment of more personnel and thus, it is a bit costlier than FUE method.