Hair Diameter Measurements for Planning Follicular Unit Extraction Surgery: Is There a Correlation Between the Micrometer Caliper and Scanning Electron Microscopy Findings?

The study compared the reliability of a manual micrometer caliper to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for measuring hair diameter in the context of planning follicular unit extraction (FUE) surgery. It involved 270 hair samples from three Caucasian males with androgenetic alopecia. The results showed that the micrometer caliper, with an average measurement of 53.32µm, had a strong significant correlation (r=0.73, p<0.001) with the SEM measurements for the short axis of the hair shaft (average SEM measurement of 51.51µm). The study concluded that the micrometer caliper is a reliable tool for measuring the short axis of hair shafts and noted a decrease in hair diameter towards the inferior regions of the donor area. The document also mentions a new system called "KEBOT" for future research but does not provide data from its use.