Laxometer and Hair Transplant Surgery
What is A Laxometer?
A Laxometer is an innovative device that measures scalp characteristics, and is mainly used in hair restoration surgery. A Laxometer can help determine the laxity (looseness) of the scalp using the strip technique, which gives hair transplant physicians valuable information before a hair transplant surgery. The Laxometer was first presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery in Las Vegas.
The Laxometer was invented by Dr. Parsa Mohebi and introduced as the first tool that could objectively measure the laxity of scalp in hair transplant patients.
The Laxity of the scalp is a critical factor in evaluating patients before hair transplant a procedure, especially for those patients who have a high demand for hair and scarce resources. The Laxometer can reduce the risk of donor complications. Donor complications happen when a surgeon cannot easily close the donor wound after removing the strip of skin from the donor area.
Laxometer types:
1. A Clinical Laxometer can be used during a clinic visit. Clinical Laxometers are non-invasive and easy to use in assessing patients‚ scalp laxity in pre-op evaluation or following the improvement of scalp laxity after a period of scalp exercise.
2. An Intra-operative Laxometer is more precise and used during hair transplant surgery right before removing the strip. Having a more exact measurement of scalp laxity can significantly reduce the chance of removing too much skin, which can make closure of the donor wound difficult.