ARTAS FUE Transplant by Dr. Paul Shapiro - 2007 grafts

[stinger99]

dr shapiro, when you say the safe system do you mean the motorized safe system?

[Dr. Paul Shapiro]

Yes I do mean the motorized safe system

[Bill - Seemiller]

Thanks to Dr. Paul Shapiro for his detailed response on this topic regarding his opinion of the ARTAS.

 

For those interested in learning more about FUE and various devices, I recommend viewing the following recently revised or added content on the Hair Transplant Network:

 

FUE Hair Transplant

Manual versus Motorized Devices

Sharp versus Blunt Punches

ARTAS Hair Restoration System

Powered SAFE Scribe

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Forever21]

Hello Aviva, I too had FUE with artas. I am curious, now that you are approaching the fifth month, do you see any signs of growth? Thanks

[Pulpedfiction1]

Not sure if it's appropriate to ask in a public forum--but I'm curious as to what their promotional price is (as well as if it's still active, given that your post was 2.5 months ago)

 

Also--is shaving down the recipient area necessary or optional?

 

You mentioned that this took 2 days to complete. How many hours per day was this? I only ask because the only element of my first HT that I found particularly undesirable was sitting in the chair forever

 

Does SMG only extract from the donor region (which may be an issue for me, as I've discovered that my sides are too thin to harvest from), or can they work with beard/body grafts as well?

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

I chose Artas because of the promotional price offered by SMG. If it were at the same price as the regular handheld punch, I probably would have waited for one of the two to drop in price.

 

Needless to say, I believe my transplant was worth it. Redness was nearly invisible by day 5 as you can see in the picture and my case was thoroughy worked by Dr. Paul and even had a couple cameo appearances by Dr. Ron

[Nowsthetime9]

Any new updated pics? Wanted to see what I have to look forward too.

[avivalasvegas]

Just crossed the 6 month mark. Note, hair length is at its longest since the procedure.

 

Felt the last of the small new hairs a week ago. All in all I'm not quite sure what to make of the results and would love experienced opinions

Edited September 5, 2013 by avivalasvegas

[Forever21]

Do you still have some thin ones growing? I'm at 5 months hopefully get more growth soon.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Forever21

[Janna]

Hi Aviva & Forever21,

 

There will be more growth from your transplant procedures in the coming 6-7 months for both of you. Growth rates vary from patient to patient but I would think it'd definitely be a rarity to achieve full result at 6 months post op.

 

[avivalasvegas]

I was under the impression that over 65% of the end result can be expected in between the 6th and 7th month. I'm going to go with the experience of the many and hold on for the end result but I'm very curious to hear anyone else's opinion

[Blake Bloxham]

Vegas,

 

I would say the 6th and 7th month is closer to the 40-50% maturation mark.

[Forever21]

Good to hear. When you say maturation do you mean the thickening process or are hairs still sprouting past the 6 months.

Vegas,

 

I would say the 6th and 7th month is closer to the 40-50% maturation mark.

[Forever21]

I was under the impression that over 65% of the end result can be expected in between the 6th and 7th month. I'm going to go with the experience of the many and hold on for the end result but I'm very curious to hear anyone else's opinion

 

Aviva I still have my head shaved to a number 2 since the procedure it's a lot easier to see progress like this. Ill keep you posted on my growth since I can't find any others on the forum who had used artas and are at 5-6 months.

[Nowsthetime9]

Im at just over 3 months after having my procedure with ARTAS. Havent noticed anything really. I went in to the barber for a trim last week and she totally took a huge chunk out of the right side of my hair line. It looked ridiculous so I had to shave my head to a zero. So now moving forward I guess well see how it grows out. Im only at 3 months so still being patient.

[Forever21]

Aviva how is your growth going along? Also Janna or Future Ht Doc, can you be more clear about maturation process. Will I still have hair sprouting past 6 months are does that mean the ones that have sprouted will become thicker? Thanks!

[Bertie]

Aviva how is your growth going along? Also Janna or Future Ht Doc, can you be more clear about maturation process. Will I still have hair sprouting past 6 months are does that mean the ones that have sprouted will become thicker? Thanks!

 

An interesting question to which I hope you receive an answer, as I'd also like to know the answer.

[avivalasvegas]

This picture was taken exactly 7 months and 10 days after my procedure. Dr. P Shapiro was nice enough to provide his view on the outcome so far.

 

He believes that typically, patients see 60-80% result at this stage. My growth is happening slower than normal, which puts me in the low 60's %. I may have to wait for more than a year to see the full results of the procedure.

 

I could really use any thoughts from the more experienced folks out there. ARTAS is still a very new technology and I'm hoping that my decision to use the robot pays off.

[Forever21]

Hey I have some areas that need to be filled in as well. I'm with ya.

[scar5]

Hi Avivavegas,

 

Well, it is hard to assess the growth judging by the pics alone.

 

Three things,

 

1) I can't see the recipient area post op, so I can't judge growth, nor compare it to natural loss which would have speeded up temporarily because of trauma associated with the transplant. Not to mention, by not taking propecia, you are giving the devil a free ride to do its dirty deeds. It will be smiling all the way knowing the crop is very vulnerable post-op.

 

2) With a procedure of your size, your state of loss and lack of propecia, I really can't see how you would expect to do much more than break even at this point, but the good news is that your donor is pristine, your head shaped well, your color contrast is low and you have a good future, even if you do lose all that Norwood 1-6 hair that DHT has earmarked, because more FUE, whether it be ARTAS or not plus SMP for which skin of your color would suit might leave you looking decent as you age.

 

3) All this said, I think it is an OK result. You can grow the hair up and back.

 

4) IMO, a strip might have given you a faster stronger result, but a future very cloudy. I think you did the right thing in so far as keeping your options open, especially given the lack of willingness to accept propecia or your intolerance to it.

 

We're you a sort of trial for them? I must say, I am impressed they are moving with the times.

[avivalasvegas]

I participated in the SMG's trial of the ARTAS machine, which is why I was able to afford it. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only patient of theirs with 100% ARTAS grafts - no SAFE punch system used, which is why I hope to keep them fully informed of my progress. Dr. Paul and Dr. Ron both worked on my case and stated multiple times that the grafts looked great. I'm beginning to see the results

 

Here's my latest shot taken towards the end of November, or at entering month 10. I can definitely see thickening of the grafts, though the hairline still isn't close to what I expected it to be.

[wings]

I had my surgery on feb 3rd-4th with Dr Ron Shapiro. Unfortunately the results are not what i had been expecting, very disappointed with the Artas. I sent in my year review a couple of weeks ago have yet to hear back from them. I'm sure they are aware of the poor results now that there first trials are coming up on a year. I really wish i could have those graft's back and do it the right way this time. No more Artas for me, just straight FUE by hand. i had 1800 grafts this go round. this was my second procedure with SMG first time around i had 1800 as well. Not really a noticeable difference between the 1st and 2nd procedure results.

[Mickey85]

Sorry to see the outcome was not successful... It is why I caution people about the ARTAS. The people behind it(and Dr Harris) claim it has something like a 4% transection rate which is pure promotional fiction. Harris also claimed the same transection rate for the SAFE motorized blunt punch system and I have seen more unsuccessful results from the SAFE system than successful results. The ARTAS is an experimental device and should not be used in regular practice until it proves it can in fact provide successful results. In my opinion, it should be used for test subjects(for free) on a small inconspicuous sample area of 100-200 grafts. Do it in conjunction with (paid)strip surgery or traditional (paid)FUE if the surgeons don't want to do exclusive ARTAS tests, but it is clear to me the ARTAS is not what was promised and anyone considering undergoing a procedure with it to proceed with caution as grafts are finite, you cannot even buy them back.

 

To Wings, again I am sorry to see your procedure did not yield, I hope you find a resolution to your hair lose. I'm sure some surgeons in Turkey, Belgium and the UK can provide you with some very viable options.

[wings]

Thanks Mickey,

 

Unfortunately, i was the Guinea pig. Sometimes with great risk comes great rewards, but this was not the case this time around. Artas is such a new procedure and your right there are bound to be bugs and i got bit. I guess i can say i took one for the team.

[Nowsthetime9]

Your not alone there Wings. As noted this seems to be the norm as far as the negative results go for FUE with the ARTAS. I too have received barely any noticeable results and Im very dissapointed. Im looking at having another procedure done in Turkey with all the positive feedback and up and coming Drs they have been producing. Im only around 8 months post op but know that im not going to achieve the results I set out for. Like you said, we got bit and it stings and hopefully our next move wont leave us with the same outcome.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Nowsthetime9

[SADbutTRUE]

im sorry you didn't get the results you were looking for, in your opinion how many grafts do you think grew? your 1st surgery was manual fue? hang in there and try to stay positive, im pullin for ya