Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a method of extracting, or “harvesting,” donor hair in a follicular unit hair transplant procedure. In FUE, an instrument is used to make a small, circular incision in the skin around a follicular unit, separating it from the surrounding tissue. The unit is then extracted (pulled) directly from the scalp, leaving a small open hole. This process is repeated until
the hair transplant surgeon has harvested enough follicular units for the planned hair restoration. This process can take one or more hours and in large sessions, may be accomplished over two consecutive days. The donor wounds, approximately 1-mm in size, completely heal over the course of seven to ten days, leaving tiny white scars buried in the hair in the back and sides of the scalp. This method of donor harvesting, removing follicular units one-by-one directly from the scalp, is what differentiates the FUE procedure from a traditional Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT), where the donor hair is removed from the scalp in one thin, long strip and then subsequently dissected into individual follicular units using a stereo-microscope. Before the grafts are harvested, tiny “recipient sites” are made in the balding area of the scalp using a fine needle-point instrument. The follicular units are then placed into the recipient sites where they will grow into healthy hair-producing follicles. The creation of recipient sites and the placing of follicular unit grafts are essentially the same in both FUE and FUT procedures. The difference lies in the appearance of the donor area. ORIGIN
The use of direct extraction to harvest follicular units was initially conceived by Dr. Woods in Australia as the “Woods Technique,” but he did not disclose the details of his procedure. The technique was first described in the medical literature by Drs. Rassman and Bernstein in their 2002 publication “Follicular Unit Extraction: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Hair Transplantation.”
A major refinement in the procedure was advanced by Dr. Jim Harris by adding an additional step of blunt dissection to the technique, as this substantially reduced transection (damage) to follicles. FUE continues to evolve as more physicians learn about this procedure, gain experience with it in their practices and offer improvements to the technique.
