How does Dr. Wesley's Scarless Pilofocus work?

[Carlos Wesley, MD]

Hello, everyone. Thank you, again, for all of your interest in this topic. You can start to see why this has continued to capture my passion, hold my dedication, and inspire all of my "after hours" work since I began development of this technique over five years ago. The questions and concerns that many of you raised are good ones and issues that I and the increasing members of my team at Pilofocus have continued to address and optimize prior to the official disclosure of our product.

A primary maxim in medicine, Primum non nocere, or "First, do no harm," drives every decision as we bring the pilosocpe from bench to bedside. Advancing the development of this project carefully over the many years has helped ensure that our device and the novel approach used are both safe and effective when made available. Earning approval from both the Investigational Review Board (IRB) before we performed the clinical trials and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) before making this available to all patients are essential steps that are not to be compromised.

I would also like to thank the numerous patients of mine for their respectful discretion over the months and years. Even after learning all of the exciting details and witnessing the evolving functionality of our novel technique (which eclipse any formal patent), those patients who came in for an in-depth discussion with me remained, and continue to remain, respectfully discrete (whether they opted for FUT, FUE, or to participate in the next clinical trial). I do look forward to sharing the full details with the community. Therefore, I applied for a formal presentation to my fellow physicians at this October's ISHRS Conference in San Francisco, CA. Hope to meet a few of you there!

[Artista]

Dr. Wesley,, THANK YOU so much for your contribution to this thread.
I look forward to your presentation in October 2013.
(MY Birthday month by the way! ) Based on just how impressed Spencer was with your technique certainly means a lot to us all. All my best to you (and US too )

[UK Boy]

Really disappointed

Sorry but I am so disappointed to hear this news, I've been away so only just read all about the patent. This procedure sounds horrendous - fishing around under the scalp, using balloons to stretch the scalp etc. It sounds horribly invasive, much more so than FUE. And it's not scarless, the scars are just 'hidden'. I agree with all of what Ironman says in regards to the procedure. I'll give Dr. Wesley the credit that it's definitely innovative but this does not appeal to me at all and I was really interested in it before. Back to hoping for Dr. Gho's HSI along with Histogen etc. For me then.

[stayhopeful]

Wait this still needs to go through full clinical trials... How long is that supposed to take?

[HARIRI]

Sorry but I am so disappointed to hear this news, I've been away so only just read all about the patent. This procedure sounds horrendous - fishing around under the scalp, using balloons to stretch the scalp etc. It sounds horribly invasive, much more so than FUE. And it's not scarless, the scars are just 'hidden'. I agree with all of what Ironman says in regards to the procedure. I'll give Dr. Wesley the credit that it's definitely innovative but this does not appeal to me at all and I was really interested in it before. Back to hoping for Dr. Gho's HSI along with Histogen etc. For me then.

I second my vote with Ironman this time. It does not worth it really. This type of surgeries does really have collateral damage. I would just go for talented FUE surgeons like Bisanga who use 0.7mm-0.8mm punch tools. Its much safer and guaranteed. After all Spencer is right, Once you are CUT you are CUT

[stayhopeful]

I second my vote with Ironman this time. It does not worth it really. This type of surgeries does really have collateral damage. I would just go for talented FUE surgeons like Bisanga who use 0.7mm-0.8mm punch tools. Its much safer and guaranteed. After all Spencer is right, Once you are CUT you are CUT

No offense, but I think you two are overreacting a bit.. My judgement rest with Dr. Wesley who claims the procedure is the least invasive, and Spence who alludes this is revolutionary

[youngin]

Wow. Iron Man brings the drama and everyone gets sucked right in. Show me somewhere that says the ballooning will happen every time please. Of course there will be SOME scar tissue where the skin is punched. Under the skin where its not visible. The patent also shows a way to select different sizes of punches. Did you not read Dr Wesley's post? Do you really think he would invest alot of money in this and go through FDA approval if the procedure left worse damage than FUT or FUE? And I guess Spencer (who at this point knows more than us about it) was just teasing us all. Quit being pessimistic. Does no one understand that patents are claims for much more possibilities than what you may actually use?? The tool may look entirely different than we think.

[Artista]

Stayhopeful, I have to agree with you..NOBODY KNOWS any specific details as yet regarding Dr Wesley's ( & company ) new innovative 'scar-less' technique. No one should make judgement calls here until that time when we are all 100% informed of it . THEN you can FAIRLY add your personal opinions on it. Until then it is very much ONLY speculation!
Dr Wesley has respectfully stated here on BTT that he WILL be sharing his 'Pilofocus' findings and technique at October's ISHRS Conference in San Francisco, CA.
I am hoping that this new technique might possibly do away with strip surgery--BUT I DO NOT KNOW and it is only an expression of hope.
Basically if his 'Pilocofus' method can successfully yield the same amount of grafts that an FUT can , as mentioned in theoretic conversations, then why would anyone stick with a SCARRING strip method?
Dr Wesley , i apologize if I am being too verbose on this.

[Artista]

Youngin--another response of COMMONSENSE !! Thank you my BTT/TBT brother !!!

[youngin]

Youngin--another response of COMMONSENSE !! Thank you my BTT/TBT brother !!!

Yes lets continue to use our brains and common sense Arista.

[PayDay]

I second my vote with Ironman this time. It does not worth it really. This type of surgeries does really have collateral damage. I would just go for talented FUE surgeons like Bisanga who use 0.7mm-0.8mm punch tools. Its much safer and guaranteed. After all Spencer is right, Once you are CUT you are CUT

First of all, like youngin said, do you really think that Dr. Wesley intends on causing more damage than current FUE methods? That's ludicrous! His technique would never take off and he would never be able to sell his device. His years of research and development would be a complete waste it of time.

@ Hariri aren't you the guy who signed up with Nigam? Based on that fact I think that your judgment is somewhat questionable (no offense). If I were you I would probably rethink going to Nigam and wait till you have the facts before judging Wesley's technique.

[534623]

Yes lets continue to use our brains and common sense Arista.

I think that’s a good idea.

The following pic shows the difference....

...between traditional FUE (either full-thickness extraction method or FIT with plucked proximal parts) versus Dr. Wesley's Pilifocus technique, as very detailed described in his patent.

So let’s use YOUR brains and common sense and explain how can you extract/remove such grafts …

… from beneath the skin’s surface….


…without leaving any scarring beneath the skin?

How big must be the tool(s) for extraction beneath the follicle bulbs to get such grafts?

And how can you extract follicles/grafts from beneath the skin…

…if the follicles are curly or even wavy in the skin?

[Artista]

Winston,,i want to THANK YOU for what you have done recently and for your due diligence in keeping BTT topics CIVIL.

[youngin]

Another useless and misleading Iron Man post. No one said there wouldn't be scarring beneath the skin. It would obviously be a superior technique for curly hair, read the damn patent. Quit asking stupid questions that are answered in it.

[Artista]

From Dr Wesley's website:
Claims that he plans to backup with factual DATA in October...
1) Demands a high surgical skill level
2) Maximal transplanted hair survival by minimizing FU transection upon harvesting
3) Eliminates the stigma of small punctate scars
4) Broadens patient candidacy (curly hair)
5) Easy and comfortable post-operative recovery process as compared to "strip" surgery
6) Patients can wear their hair at any length they would like prior to surgery
7) Eliminates folliculitis from "buried" grafts
8) Subsequent surgeries are not hampered by fibrotic tissue from a prior session
9) FU are immediately stored in a viability-enhancing solution.
10) The handling of FU is limited to only gentle placement; thus enhancing survival
11) The protective tissue around each FU is maximized; thus enhancing survival.
12) Careful selection is the specific type and caliber of FU can be achieved; thus tailoring each session to fit the patients needs

"An initial clinical trial was conducted during the fall of 2011. The clinical trial had three (3) main objectives. To demonstrate:

A) This surgical approach is safe for patients.
B) There is no visual evidence of scarring in the donor area from which the hair follicles are harvested.
C) The survival of the transplanted hair follicles harvested by this novel technique are as good if not better than the current methods of hair follicle harvesting: follicular unit extraction (FUE) and the traditional strip harvest (FUT).

You can speculate all you want-pro or con but WAIT until you hear directly from this respected Doctor before you decide that it wont work or that it will be ineffective.
Carlos is a good man and Spencer is a good man. This very well MAY BE a good thing.