The Fast Track Method

The technique of performing a large number of grafts in a single session was introduced in Brazil at the clinic of Dr. Carlos Uebel in the mid-1980's. Work of a similar nature was performed a little later in Austria, Germany, and Japan. Dr. Uebel's focus was on moving one- to two-hair grafts in quantities of up to 1,500 grafts in a single session.

In 1992, New Hair Institute expanded upon the earlier micrograft procedures to perform large megasessions of 2,000-3,000 very small 1-3 hair grafts in a single session and called this the Fast Track¨ method. The procedure was popularized worldwide when, in 1994 and 1995, NHI brought several dozen live patients with their work completed to two conventions of the ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons) in the United States and Canada and showed the results of these megasessions.

The results were so impressive that they put to rest the challenges to NHI's Fast Track¨ method and put the "Megasession" permanently on the map. In 1995, NHI began using only follicular units in these large sessions and called the procedure Follicular Transplantation. The name was formally changed to Follicular Unit Transplantation in 1998.

Although Dr. Uebel's balding patients did not necessarily have the appearance of full heads of hair, they were able to achieve thin natural heads of hair in single sessions to frame their faces. They also had the opportunity to stop after just one session without worrying about an unfinished appearance. The Fast Track¨ approach takes these advances a step further and makes the transplant reconstruction fit into a socially acceptable time period. The most distinct difference between the Fast Track¨ and other similar transplantation procedures is the high number of hair follicles that are moved in naturally growing follicular units. This dramatically reduces the number of procedures required.

¨The Fast Track¨ method may condense the entire hair transplantation process into one or two surgical procedures. With this approach, each procedure may stand on its own, and subsequent procedures are simply the decision of the patient to add additional density or refinement. If more than one procedure is desired, another can be performed in as little as 8 months, if appropriate. A second procedure should await the results of the earlier procedure before reassessing goals and determining the cosmetic effects of the first procedure. This means that density may be added incrementally, and that the patient may stop with just one procedure if he chooses to do so and still achieve an attractive and natural outcome. With the Fast Track¨ method, the number of surgeries is minimized, as is the disruption of the patient's life.