In 2002, veteran hair restoration surgeons Dr. William Rassman and Dr. Robert Bernstein published an article describing a new type of hair transplant surgery. In the editorial, Drs. Rassman and Bernstein outlined what they called the “FOX,” or follicular unit excision (formerly know as follicular unit extraction) procedure. Unlike the traditional strip harvesting technique also known as follicular unit strip surgery or FUSS where tissue containing hair follicles is removed, dissected, and implanted into the balding scalp; follicular unit excision or FUE involves the direct removal of individual follicular units from the universal donor region followed by implantation.
This new FUE hair transplant procedure represented great potential to minimize the appearance of donor area scarring - an area of great concern for many patients. However, in the beginning, hair growth and optimal results were often sacrificed and larger FUE punch tools frequently led to obvious circular scarring in the donor area. Thus, In order to minimize transection (an accidental slicing of the hair follicle causing irreparable damage) to follicular units and improve overall growth yield, expert physicians were required to continually improve on the FUE technique. This led many FUE practitioners to innovate a variety of new and more effective tools for extracting and placing follicular units.
For a comprehensive discussion about FUE hair transplant extraction devices, visit "Manual versus Motorized FUE Hair Transplant Extraction Devices"