Unlimited Donor Hair From Coen Gho’s Partial Unit Extraction
Note: though this article clearly falls under Fair Use, our hosting provider received a DMCA take down demand from Ariane Tadayyon of Informa, and so we’ve temporarily removed the images. We’ll post a link to the original article when we can track down where we originally found it.
Dr. Coen Gho is publishing a study on “Partial Unit Extraction” in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment. We’ve obtained a copy ahead of print. In his technique, a follicle is split in half length-wise; with one half implanted into a new area, the other left to recover and regenerate itself.
According to the study, 97.7% of hair in the donor site and 95.9% in the recipient site regenerated and became otherwise normal hair-producing follicles. This potentially means that via surgery alone, patients have an unlimited amount of donor hair for transplants. No waiting for FDA approval, no injecting chemicals, no ingesting drugs.
The Technique
What you’re looking at above is an illustration of the process, containing the visible hair (brown), hair follicle (dark pink), and connective tissue (white). According to the study, a very small hollow needle is placed around the hair, detaching the connective tissue from each unit while leaving enough tissue behind to for the hair follicle to regenerate itself.
The extracted pieces are visually selected as being suitable (at a rate of between 69-94%) , then set aside in an anti-apoptic, anti-oxidant, and growth-stimulating solution of : sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium sulphate, sodium phosphate, calcium chloride, glucose, sodium bicarbonate, sodium lactate, sodium pyruvate, human serum albumin, insulin, bis(maltolato)oxovanadium (BMOV) and vitamin E.
On the recipient site where the hairs will be transplanted, the skin is disinfected, anesthetized, and marked repeatedly with an acupuncture needle dipped in black pigment. Holes are then punched and cleared with the same diameter needle and forceps used in the extraction process.
From here, the pieces from the donor site are implanted into the recipient area, with the aim being “to implant sufficient follicle and connective tissue from several hair follicles”.
Think of each extraction like taking cuttings from a plant to create a clone, the practice in which horticulturalists genetically duplicate a plant that may have favorable features like resistance to a particular disease. Material is cut directly from the host plant and given a new environment to develop itself into a fully independent organism, roots and all. Sometimes this is as simple as cutting a stem and leaf off and placing it in a cup of water.
Horticulturalists know that if too much material is cut from the original plant, it will die. If too little is taken, the new plant will never develop.
Similarly, Gho has spent a considerable amount of time discerning the amount of material to be taken, and how (“transversal and longitudinal”). And just like the plant clones, the new hair should be a genetic clone of the source site, resisting the conditions that destroyed the long lost hair in balding areas.
The Results
After evaluation of the five patients in this study, almost all hair follicles in the donor site produced a hair after 12 months. In two cases, the number of hairs increased, probably due to invisible telogen hair follicles, which were not visible after extraction, but produced hairs in the successive period.
After evaluation of the five patients, it was observed after 12 months that almost all implanted grafts produced a hair in the recipient site.
- Minimal skin and tissue removal
- No scarring (not even FUE-level scarring), pain or other post-surgical trauma
- The donor follicles survive and can be used again
Some of the disadvantages are also listed:
- Implanted hair can take up to a year to start growing
- A small study group was used, “a large group is needed to study the real clinical relevance”
- Very labor intensive, with sufficient grafts taking a full day
Conclusion
Coen Gho
This is a big deal, folks. And is happening right now.
Assuming the technique is as viable as claimed, this is the first fully-actualized technology that provides an unlimited source of donor hair in a controlled manner.
Unfortunately, the procedure is very labor intensive and will compound the already high cost of hair transplants, so this may be out of reach for the average baldie (Gho is rumored to have worked on an increasing number of Dutch celebrities).
It’s also only being practiced by one clinic in the world, to our knowledge, but this study should help push the technique out into the laps of other forward-thinking hair transplant surgeons across the globe. All of the technology outlined is accessible to everyone, with perhaps the only exception being the superfine needle. Small hurdles; this is knowledge now available to anyone, not trapped inside the whims of a private company.
Together with Histogen, this is the first year we’ve actually seen the finish line approaching. Hair on human heads beyond speculation and animal models. It’s easy to become numb and skeptical from watching years of half-hopes come and go, but this is a very good time to be excited.
Big thanks to James Bond
