Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Presentation on the ARTAS Robotic Hair Transplant Procedure
The second presentation I gave in Kuala Lumpur was more of a personal one for me. The title was: My Experience with the ARTAS Robotic System and My Personal Experience as a Patient.
For over two years, I have been the surgeon performing FUE (follicular unit excision) using the ARTAS Robot device on my patients. I have described to them the necessary pre-operative preparation instructions, what to expect on surgery day, the expected post-operative course, and general information needed.
The ISHRS Annual Scientific Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Fast forward to August 20, 2014 when the surgeon became the patient. I’m here to tell you that the experience is very different from the other side of the surgical chair! Obviously, I trusted my own transplant procedure to none other than my protégé, Dr. Matthew Lopresti.
Dr. Lopresti prepared me as well as anyone ever could; however, it still was a little disconcerting for me once I had my hair trimmed very closely in the back of my head. We decided together where my new hairline was to be designed and then the medication he gave me kicked in very nicely! I was situated in the ARTAS procedure chair, my donor area was numbed and the harvesting began. The best thing about it was that I felt nearly nothing at all during the entire time!
After the follicular units were extracted, a small bandage was applied and I was then escorted to the placement chair for the grafts to be transplanted after that area was anesthetized. I ate lunch and Dr. Lopresti made the recipient incisions. Graft placement began by our team at Leonard hair Transplant Associates, who treated their boss very, very well!!!
After my shampoo, my wife picked me up and brought me home. I slept well all night long and then drove myself back to the office the next day for my first shampoo and low level laser treatment.
The most difficult part for me was the shaved donor area, which eventually grew in, but it took about three weeks…
