http://i.imgur.com/JJYA6gL.jpg
The picture was taken immediately after the Follicular Units' extraction.
For further details, please check out the chart below.
http://i.imgur.com/6Ln570L.jpg
h = hair(s)
FU = Follicular Unit
/ = the FU was left untouched
Over a total of 100 Follicular Units within the test area:
-60 were harvested
-40 were left untouched
Which equals a graft harvesting as high as 60% of all the FU within the test area.
With traditional FUE (# FUE-L), it is recommended not to harvest more than 30% of FU of a given area, following a specific harvesting pattern, so the patient won't suffer from visible scarring (i.e. sum of hypopigmented dots) and/or donor depletion.
With traditional FUE, 60% FU harvesting would most likely cause the aforementioned problems.
Further details:
FU– 1 hair = approx. 3,3% of the attempted removals (2/60) ; 50% succesful removal rate (1/2 h)
FU– 2 hairs = approx. 73,3% of the attempted removals (44/60) ; 80,7% succesful removal rate (71/88 h)
FU– 3 hairs = 20% of the attempted removals (12/60) ; 75% successful removal rate (27/36 h)
FU– 4 hairs = approx. 3,3% of the attempted removals (2/60) ; 87,5% successful removal rate (7/8 h)
total of hairs available in the 60 FU = 134
total of hairs successfully removed = 106
total of hairs transected = 28
Summary:
60% of the Follicular Units available in the test area were harvested, which is twice the amount recommended with traditional FUE (in order to avoid donor depletion or excessive visible scarring); if no donor regeneration would occur in the test area, a lack of hair could definitely be observed at the end of the healing phase. We'll see if that actually occured with our next picture (taken 12 days post-op).
Over 134 hairs available for removal's attempt, 106 were successfully harvested, which equals an average successful rate of 79,1%, all FU's types combined.
We will observe the evolution of the transected hairs on the next picture, taken 12 days post-op.
With 106 hairs successfully harvested from 52 FU (the other 8 FU - n° 17, 23, 35, 54, 67, 81, 94, 99 - were fully transected and no hair was harvested), the average transplanting ratio is 2,01 h/FU, which relates to the average ratio for traditional follicular units transplants (1,8-2,4 h/FU, with variations below or above this range, depending on the type of recipient area; e.g. lower ratio on the hairline, higher ratio on the posterior parts). Once transplanted, and if the growth rate is good, these grafts should produce regular density, as observed with traditional follicular unit transplants (i.e. FUT & FU
