FUE, FUT, DHI & Robotic FUE

What is a graft?

A graft is a small piece of hair-bearing tissue containing one or more hair follicles. During a hair transplant, grafts are moved from the donor area to the area being treated.

A graft can contain one, two or three hairs.

That's the basic idea. The procedures below mainly differ in how those grafts are removed or placed.

Follicular Unit Excision

With FUE, grafts are removed individually from the donor area using a small circular punch. The grafts are then prepared and placed into the treatment area.

What does that mean?

There is no strip of scalp removed. Instead, the donor area heals at many small extraction points.

The donor area is commonly shaved or closely trimmed so individual grafts can be identified and removed, although practices vary by clinic.

FUE describes how the grafts are removed. It does not necessarily describe how they're placed.

Follicular Unit Transplantation

With FUT, a thin strip of hair-bearing scalp is removed from the donor area, usually at the back of the head. The area is closed, and the strip is divided into individual grafts for transplantation.

What does that mean?

Instead of removing grafts one at a time across the donor area, the grafts are obtained from the removed strip.

FUT leaves a linear scar where the donor area is closed. How noticeable it is can vary and surrounding hair may cover it.

Is FUT outdated?

No. FUE has become very common, but FUT is still used and may make sense in certain situations. Neither approach is automatically right for everyone.

Direct Hair Implantation

DHI is a little different from the other terms on this page because it mainly describes how grafts are placed — not how they're removed.

Grafts are typically harvested individually, as with FUE. During implantation, an implanter device is used to place the grafts into the treatment area.

Is DHI a completely different procedure?

Not necessarily. A procedure marketed as DHI may still use FUE to harvest the grafts. The difference is primarily in the implantation technique.

Is DHI better?

Using an implanter does not automatically mean better results. Planning, graft handling, technique and the team performing the procedure still matter.

FUE with robotic assistance

Robotic FUE is still FUE. The difference is that robotic technology assists with parts of the graft-harvesting process.

What does the robot do?

Robotic systems can use imaging and automated technology to help identify and harvest follicular units from the donor area.

What doesn't the robot do?

It doesn't make the entire transplant automatic. Hairline planning, treatment design, clinical decisions and other parts of the procedure still involve the medical team.

Robotic FUE = FUE with technology assisting parts of the process.

Which approach makes sense for me?

There isn't one technique that's automatically right for everyone.

The approach a clinic recommends can depend on your donor hair, pattern of hair loss, goals, hairstyle preferences, previous procedures and the treatment being planned.

You don't need to figure this out yourself.

A consultation gives the clinic a chance to evaluate your hair and explain why a particular approach may or may not make sense for you.