ACell, a Current Review of Applications in Hair Transplant Surgery

Why doesnt Dr Hitzig ring these doctors up if they are using his methods incorrectly?

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Originally Posted by Bakez

Why doesnt Dr Hitzig ring these doctors up if they are using his methods incorrectly?

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Why didn't Bill Gates call the MAC producers and told them that they're doing something wrong?

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Originally Posted by Bakez

Why doesnt Dr Hitzig ring these doctors up if they are using his methods incorrectly?

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I believe the issue goes a lot deeper than whether or not a doctor is following the correct procedure for a trial because it will all amount to zero in the end if nobody in the industry has belief or vision that this technology can produce a viable alternative product thats stacks up to products over the horizon.

If there are visionaries in the industry that do believe that there is potential, now would probably be a good time to consider playing a leadership role and bring some of the like minded surgeons together for a discussion. More will be achieved as a collective than as individuals.

When performing a plucked hair transplant with Acell, is it typical to see higher hair counts than the amount of hairs moved as well as with traditional transplantation methods?

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Originally Posted by HairRobinHood

Why didn't Bill Gates call the MAC producers and told them that they're doing something wrong?

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Because Bill Gates had a vested interest in beating Apple. That scenario doesn't apply here.

Doubt is always constructive. Although I believe that most know what I say is anything but BS (as was stated by Bakez), and I believe we have demonstrated enough (Dr. Cooley and Myself) to validate this. People will always believe the cup is half empty rather than half full. It is not my job to call up everyone who is attempting to use ACell to make sure they understand it, but rather for those who wish to study it to contact those who have more experience with it. I enjoy talking with most of you, but the conversation needs to be constructive and discussion oriented, not accusitory.
Perhaps Bakez has some ties to Dr. Rassman. It would be better to inquire than attack.
Attack is not the venue I intend to follow.

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Originally Posted by Gary Hitzig MD

Doubt is always constructive. Although I believe that most know what I say is anything but BS (as was stated by Bakez), and I believe we have demonstrated enough (Dr. Cooley and Myself) to validate this. People will always believe the cup is half empty rather than half full. It is not my job to call up everyone who is attempting to use ACell to make sure they understand it, but rather for those who wish to study it to contact those who have more experience with it. I enjoy talking with most of you, but the conversation needs to be constructive and discussion oriented, not accusitory.
Perhaps Bakez has some ties to Dr. Rassman. It would be better to inquire than attack.
Attack is not the venue I intend to follow.

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Im seriously thinking of flying over to Long Island to get the Acell + Arterial Blood/PRP by Dr. Hitzig.

Im just waiting to see the pictures before I make any further plans

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Originally Posted by Gary Hitzig MD

Dr. Rassman passed me in Boston at the meetings after my presentation several times, looked at me but never stopped to talk. Dr. Limmer made a point of sitting with me and discussing it along with several other well known practitioners. Dr. Rassman has never contacted me then or since. I believe he had a very brief general phone conversation with Dr. Cooley. I guess he doesn't need any further guidance for his "Clinical Study"

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How about this for a novel idea ? Clinics that intend to conduct various trials could publish in a public forum how they intend to undertake the trials, what protocols they will use, procedures, goals, etc, etc. Why ? so that every clinic that wants to be involved doesnt simply duplicate another clinics work which is a wasted effort. If one clinic is doing a trial one way, perhaps another clinic can then opt to use a slightly different protocol. At the end results will be published and the better approach debated and adopted. Why should two clinics build two identical roads from point A to B when one could commence building a road from B to C.

Perhaps this mindset is just too forward thinking in a non transparent industry that is still too busy thinking about how to improve a trichophytic closure.

:rolleyes:

Rapunzal,
It is weird how you have been trying to shift the topic over and over again focusing on what interests you the most. Are you somehow related to this industry and are looking to find out how the ACell and autoplucking etc works but have been hesitant of contacting Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley? Because if you are, you would be better off giving them a call instead of ranting about the future of the HT industry, distribution channels for HM possibilities, making a blog for 'clinics' to post their procedures, protocols, etc etc.(In other words, please I want to know how it works, tell me tell me but I am afraid of asking)

We are all here interested in asking Dr Hitzig questions about these new procedures and their benefits, if you are good. If your interest is economical or otherwise, please be straight forward and honest about your intentions.;)
'How about this for a novel idea?'

Dr Hitzig,
Thanks for the advances you and Dr Cooley have made possible in the field. I am very interested in the autoplucking technique since my donnor was depleted and compromised by a pseudo FUE clinic. I would like to fill in my hairline (it has a gap of a bout 1.5 cm by 15 cm or 22 sq cm) and some of the space between the midscalp and frontal third(about 10 sq cm) Do you think something like this would be possible through the autoplucking technique? What about trying to fill in some of the bald areas in my donnor also?
Again thanks for everything.

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Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

Rapunzal,
It is weird how you have been trying to shift the topic over and over again focusing on what interests you the most. Are you somehow related to this industry and are looking to find out how the ACell and autoplucking etc works but have been hesitant of contacting Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley? Because if you are, you would be better off giving them a call instead of ranting about the future of the HT industry, distribution channels for HM possibilities, making a blog for 'clinics' to post their procedures, protocols, etc etc.(In other words, please I want to know how it works, tell me tell me but I am afraid of asking)

We are all here interested in asking Dr Hitzig questions about these new procedures and their benefits, if you are good. If your interest is economical or otherwise, please be straight forward and honest about your intentions.;)
'How about this for a novel idea?'

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Hi Silversurfer
You have raised a great point. Yes I am connected to the industry, in fact the most important part of the industry .. “the consumer”, just like yourself.
As a consumer I would like to see a better product on the market. Here is the product I would like to buy that as it currently stands the industry can not provide nor will it provide in the near future:-
- Original density
- Choice of where I want my hairline
- Natural looking
- Cost effective
- Minimal downtime
- Non invasive (or minimal)
- Long lasting
Now the reason why I target the industry is because its an industry problem. Yes, Dr Cooley and Dr Hitzig are pioneers and if you read my previous posts their work has been acknowledged and am grateful with what they have achieved and the work that is ahead of them. My concern is that progress to the “ideal” product could be made a reality sooner if there was more of a coordinated and efficient development program implemented across the board. This would benefit both the consumer and the clinics. Content clients will only mean more people walk through the doors of the clinics which will boost their bottom lines, its a WIN-WIN outcome for the consumer and the provider.
I have no interest myself in how the clinics themselves undertake their trials, as I don’t work in the industry, I do however have an interest in the product I mentioned above and I just feel the more other clinics are involved the more likely it will become a reality. In the end the benefit will go back to the consumer, that you, me, and every other person on this discussion board.
My intention is not to high-jack the discussion and I apologise if that is how I have come across but its not my intention so I am sorry. I am only putting forward my view and it is related to the topic as Acell has the potential to be the technology that achieves the “ideal” product. Its purpose is to generate a discussion, in no way have I been self promoting or promoting others so why is this a problem ?
As for my own personal aspirations, yes I have contacted one of the two clinics you mentioned as well as followed the development of this story since October 2010. I wouldn’t use the forum to discuss my own circumstances, however the forum is a platform to discuss and share opinions do you not agree ?
With all due respect if anyone would like me to no longer post my views on this thread just let me know and I will stop participating.
Cheers

It's funny to see how you are trying to turn things around now playing the victim card. You say you are 'just a consumer' but all of your questions are more directed at the business part. If you are a consumer like me, good. Then lets focus on the main topic.

As a consumer, I do have a lot of questions and as I said before I was screwed by a pseudo FUE clinic. My donnor is gone and I was never able to accomplish the hair restauration I was opting for. I am grateful for Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley and the time they are taking to answer the questions, so why not ask? You see? I tried contacting his clinic but it might have been during the days when they were not in the building so I am doing it now. I hope you understand that others are indeed trying to learn more about this procedure since we really NEED it. Just some 'food for thought'. :rolleyes:

Hi Silversurfer

I am sorry to hear of your situation and I wish you all the best and hope you achieve your goals.

No I am not playing the victim. I dont come here for sympathy, just to engage in discussion. However I do symapthise with many that have had hair transplant where their lives have been devastated.

The sooner a product comes to market the better for all, Im just trying to look at the bigger picture and hope that clinics can start as well.

Have a great day.

Thanks for your heartfelt feelings, your benevolence is so transparent, what was I thinking...

Now could you please stop engaging in petty arguments and if you are truly interested in the ACell+PRP and autocloning technique, lets hear what Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley have to say.

Cheers :)

Again, Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley, thanks for all the advances you have developed and are in the process of developing for the HT industry.

1)In regards to the autoplucking, would it work behind the hairline?

2)What if one has a thinning crown, would you recommend the ACell + PRP or would you suggest a small session of autoplucking there as well?

3)What is your view in regards of trying to fill in a donnor area depleted by FUE with autoplucking?

Thanks Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley

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Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

Thanks for your heartfelt feelings, your benevolence is so transparent, what was I thinking...

Now could you please stop engaging in petty arguments and if you are truly interested in the ACell+PRP and autocloning technique, lets hear what Dr Hitzig and Dr Cooley have to say.

Cheers :)

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i dont know, but i can see why you forgot because i doubt you do it very often

petty arguements ? refer to your comment 89 above

finally all i have to say to you is 6,21 (hint: alphabet)

Thanks for making it clear to everyone what your real intentions are.
Also thanks for showing your true colors and letting your bully personality come out and insult everyone. It is people like you that with their own questionable interests (because you are certainly more concerned with other things) come here and ruin this thread. WAKE UP!!!!

There are others that were ruined and need this, so again please don't keep ruining these threads for everyone with your hidden agenda and let the experts on the topic inform us. We don't need a clown trying to play smart asking about the industry and trying to create fear because of disunity. If you have some sort of knowledge you will come to the understanding that the market will regulate itself and that for every product offered there will be consumers who have certain needs for it. It is not all black and white so stop being so pessimistic. HT will always be around even if HM arises, FUE, Strip, they all have applications for different patients. Each case is different. Now Donkey(from Shrek), give me one of your mediocre arguments so I can keep practicing my typing skills.

sure silverturd, i will respond to you with my intentions via a private message because my response will no longer be on-topic .. donkey ? bet you spent all day thinking about that one

doesnt allow me to private massage .. so forget it

Please take your arguments to a different place . I am pretty sure a doctor would not want his name associated with this bickering . Thanks for ruining the thread guys .

NO DONKEY NOOOO!!!!DOWN DONKEY!!!!
You haven't figured out what the process for messaging is? Go figure. No, with your rants it is so easy that it came to mind immediately. Go ahead, tell your intentions 'burro'.

Rephairing you are absolutely right and I apologize to you and the rest of the forum. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid but got sucked into it. Maybe you can start another thread about the Autoplucking and ACell+PRP/Arterial Blood so we can keep getting updates about these new procedures.

I see the new pictures of the Acell/PRP injection results that went up on your website Dr. Hitzig but are you going to put up pictures of patients that have had both Acell/PRP and transplantation? I would really like to see the results and how much hair is coming out in correlation to how much is being transplanted. Thanks Doc!

Will do--Have done that previously and was now posting pics related to injections only. Will get to those others shortly as I just got back into my office after it was closed from a constructional accident

Dr. Hitzig, have you done any studies or taken any photos whereby you inject the Acell/PRP mixture on one part of the scalp and then just PRP on another? I'm curious as to whether these results are simply the result of PRP (a la Feller or Greco) or whether Acell is having an effect at all. Cheers.

Dr Gary Hitzig: I was very intrigued by the two case studies you have presented on your webpage. However these were both two patients with quite advanced hair loss.
I would be very interested to see if you have used this treatment in any younger patient with not so advanced stages of hair loss - to get a better idea of what this treatment actually can do.

And once again.. thank you for your hard work in trygin to make advancements in the field!

Dr. Gary Hitzig will be on The Bald Truth tonight 1/23/2011 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST.

Call the studio line to speak with Dr. Hitzig directly:

888-659-3727

To watch the show visit, The Bald Truth.

Hope to see you there.

Do they record them and have them archived or something, I want to hear what Hitzig had to say.

I listened last night, and while what Dr Hitzig was saying was incredibly exciting, he said some outrageous things regarding timescale which quite frankly annoyed me.

I didn't catch all of it, but from what I remember Dr Hitzig claimed that he might have an optimised new treatment out of ACell/PRP/Plucking/Injection combinations within a few years (I hesitate to say 'cure').

When he said that, obviously I was excited, and I hope to God that he is right. Afterall I have no reason to not believe him. But then when I get back to reality all I have to go on is his word. It was discussed about how many times we've heard 'only 5 more years' etc, and now as far as I and many others should be concerned is that we won't believe anything until we see it with our own eyes.

my understanding was that the discussion was only about an enhanced version of acell+PRP, i dont think autocloning (plucking) was ever mentioned.
dr hitzig indicated that 1 to 2 years would be a cure (i presume he meant treatment) but didnt say if this would be from ACell+PRP or from autocloning. im going to assume its from autocloning because when he spoke to Spencer Kobren in an interview in December and thought that it would be about 1 year before autocloning became viable to be offered.
this was my interpretation, perhaps the good doctor could correct me if im wrong.

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Originally Posted by Bakez

I didn't catch all of it, but from what I remember Dr Hitzig claimed that he might have an optimised new treatment out of ACell/PRP/Plucking/Injection combinations within a few years (I hesitate to say 'cure').

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Cool - it seems he learns fast (at least faster than Cooley).

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Originally Posted by HairRobinHood

Cool - it seems he learns fast (at least faster than Cooley).

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I hope so.

I find this interesting. This is another FUE extraction site treated with ACEll in a hyaluronic acid mixture after 5 weeks. It is still too early to tell if the hair might regrow in the extraction site though I have seen this. It does appear that a single hair is forming in the extraction site, which appear as a black nub. What is interesting is the appearance of a capillary in the skin. These are usually missing following FUE and help lead to the loss of pigment in the extraction site. I've done enough FUE to spot extraction sites anytime I look at a donor area even when no hypopigmentation occurs. It is an observation based on experience with FUE. With this donor area, I could not find any evidence that FUE was performed. The red circle is where I would expect a follicular unit to be. The entire donor area looked like this. The black circle is 10 sq mm.

The long hair after 5 weeks is a result of a completely non-shaven procedure of 1464 grafts. I call this C2G. It is still to early to say for sure because I need more results, but this is an example of what I have seen in donor areas treated fully with ACELL with my method of FUE where I use minimal depth control. The initial problem was treating all the extraction sites with a powder. I overcame this with mixing it in a viscous hyaluronic acid. More recently I have been mixing in a more viscous cellulose. I have a few comparative examples where I am looking at powder, hyaluronic acid, and cellulose. Time will hopefully tell. I think the minimal depth incision technique along with Acell may result in better healing than a full depth incision. Maybe we will see more hair regrowth over time. Maybe not. Still no one could comb through this donor area and find any evidence that a hair transplant had been done. It appears that we really are coming full circle today. Not only have we produced optimal results in the recipient area such that you cannot tell that a hair transplant has been done. Even the trained eye cannot see evidence that a hair transplant was done in the donor area. Still we need more results to confirm that such results will be consistent.

thanks for the post doc

can you briefly explain full depth extraction to partial depth ?
is partial the removal of the entire follicle with less surrounding tissue depth or does it leave a portion of the follicle behind which might contribute to the reformation of another follicle

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Originally Posted by drcole

I find this interesting.

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I find this interesting too. Dr. Cole, frankly, your post and your whole ACell/CIT concept sounds like a 100 mhp driving Mercedes Benz with a missing wheel. I really wonder what good are all these “Societies of Hair Restoration Surgery” on this planet. It seems just to say each other “Hello, business colleague!” once a year? I guess not even the last …

A full depth incision would be from the surface of the skin to below the bulb. In a recent morphometry study done by Paco Jimenez, he found the distance from the surface of the skin to the base of the hair bulb was 4.156 mm +/- 0.439 mm. Thus a full depth incision around a follicle would be more than 4.156 mm deep on average. Paco goes on to say that most of the stem cells are primarily located between 1 mm deep and 1.8 mm deep or roughly the length of the isthmus of the hair follicle based on the well known bluge stem cell marker CK15. A minimal depth incision would be only as deep as necessary to extract a full intact hair follicle. I avoid plucking hair follicles and I certainly do not like to amputate them.
When I extract a full intact hair follicle, I ease it out. I do not cut around it and remove it. Easing the follicle out means that bits and pieces of the dermal sheath are left behind in the dermis and adipose. These bits and pieces leave potential stem cells behind. These stem cells have the potential to create new hair follicles.

When you ask Acell to do little things, it is possible that it will. When you ask it to do something on a large scale such as regrow an entire arm, you are not going to see it. I’m asking Acell to regenerate a tiny portion of dermis and epidermis. We are seeing that Acell can do this. We are also hoping that it will continue to be successful in promoting follicle stem cell neogenesis. To me the latter is not as likely as.

What we are seeing here is the formation of capillaries that are not usually seen following extraction of intact follicular units even with my minimal depth approach. My theory was that with the loss of the hair follicles, the body did not need to regenerate the capillaries. We also saw a decrease in pigmentation of the skin in many individuals following the removal of scalp hair follicles. With Acell we are seeing normal pigmentation and the formation of capillaries. In other words, it looks like normal skin. It is very exciting to me. In my opinion, the positive results we are getting with Acell are simply one more nail in the coffin for strip surgery.

NY has been similar to Antarctica recently wreaking havoc with patients and office hours.
I have been very excited with my conversations with Artericyte (Please look them up). The feeling is that VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) is highly attractive for Adult Stem Cells which Matristem needs to convert to Active Progenitor Cells. Whether we need to utilize the wealth of stem cells from hip bone marrow aspirate is yet to be determined.Dr. Cooley will be working with the company as well as they have a principle in Charlotte. My team will be travelling to Philadelphia to learn the office technique. Where it may prove very valuable is in Auto-Cloning with Plucked hairs as it offers quick support and re-modeling of these somewhat skeletonized hairs. We will have to see.
I believe the early encouraging results from the enhanced PRP/ACell is even more exciting. If consistent, we have a "Vaccination" for hair loss.
One question we are trying to answer is how much micro-needling damage we need to create in the scalp with ACell injection to remodel scalp hair follicle stem cells to produce active progenitor cells--we may need to do more than one set of injections to achieve this. I believe the answers will come fast and furiously.
I am glad Dr. Cole is seeing the fruits of ACell. The question comes if the donor area is remodelled with the subsequent production of skin and hair, why perform a tedious and costly FUE as opposed to a strip method that "repairs itself". I think all methods have their place and my job as I see it is to try to help solve the problem and let each apply that solution to their respective techniques.
Thank You all for your encouragement and feedback--you don't know how helpful it has been!

Dr Hitzig,

Are there, or will there be problems controlling the direction of growth with your injections?

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Originally Posted by drcole

In my opinion, the positive results we are getting with Acell are simply one more nail in the coffin for strip surgery.

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I guess you didn't see Dr. Hitzig's ACell-strip-closure results?

If I'm not completely wrong, and just from what I have seen so far from Dr. Hitzig concerning strip-closure with ACell, that was so far the best I have EVER seen in my life concerning strip surgery - and basically I'm NOT really a "strip supporter", I have to add!

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Originally Posted by HairRobinHood

I guess you didn't see Dr. Hitzig's ACell-strip-closure results?

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I don't understand your response; it seems something of a non-sequitur.

The point seems to be that if FUE surgery could be consistently accomplished with little or no loss of donor hair, why would FUT continue to be used?

Dr. Gary Hitzig discusses his recent findings on last Sunday's The Bald Truth