What are DHI’s  future innovation and development plans?

1. Hair Multiplication
In hair multiplication, donor hair (plucked hair) or hair fragments (transected or cut hair follicles) are implanted directly into the scalp (in vivo) with the hope that they will regenerate.
The concept behind hair multiplication, using plucked hair, is that this is an easy, non-invasive method of obtaining stem cells and includes a ready-made scaffold (the hair shaft) that can be used to introduce and align the stem cells at the new site. The hope is that removing a small proportion of the stem cells through plucking, may provide enough tissue for the formation of a new follicle, while not diminishing the original one. The problem with this method has been that plucking generally yields a hair with insufficient cells to induce a new follicle to form.
In DHI we have experimented with hair multiplication and we have substantial evidence that a small proportion of these transected hairs will eventually produce a new hair follicle, usually single & thinner than the original. In this concept, during direct hair implantation, we do not process the harvested hair follicles and we transplant them along with the intact hair follicles, expecting at least a few of them to grow.
However, it is stated that, at the moment, hair multiplication can be used only alongside a proper hair restoration procedure in order to achieve the desirable results and in no way does it constitute an alternative treatment to hair loss in general.

2. Hair cloning
Hair cloning or genetic engineering of new hairs is a very promising but still only experimental process where the scientists can isolate the germinative or stem cells of the hair follicle or even other cell types (e.g. fibroblasts at the base of the hair follicle) and differentiate them into full growing hair follicles in the laboratory (in vitro). This would, ideally, produce an unlimited deposit of donor hairs to restore the bald areas, while at the same time it would leave the donor area untouched. There have been various promising reports from scientists around the world, mainly on laboratory animals, but unfortunately, there is no real evidence or scientific data that these treatments will be available to patients in the next years. However, hair cloning is the big hope of the future.
Furthermore, there is an effort from scientist around the world to isolate the multiple genes responsible for all the various aspects of androgenetic alopecia. We know so far quite a few genes involved in the onset of androgenetic alopecia, the age of onset, the pattern and the evolution. Fully understanding the genetics of androgenetic alopecia might lead in the future to genetic tests to diagnose androgenetic alopecia during childhood and provide the proper genetic treatment.
DHI Medical Group is actively involved in the research of hair cloning and the genetics of androgenetic alopecia by sponsoring a large scale genetic research of the Harokopion University of Athens in Greece, involving the Greek male population and trying to isolate the genes of androgenetic alopecia common in this population as well as trying to establish the possible relation between androgenetic alopecia, nutritional habits & environmental factors (e.g. smoking).
Furthermore, DHI Medical Group is closely monitoring, participating & supporting the research of Professor J.C. Kim at the Kyongpook University in Korea in the area of hair cloning and hair multiplication.

3. Stem Cells
In relation to hair cloning, there is an ongoing research around the world about the role of stem cells in hair growing. There are various reports that stem cells could, hypothetically, differentiate to various kinds of human cells, as they are primary, undifferentiated cells.
Stem cells are quite abundant in the fat tissue and there is a lot of speculation that by injecting fat tissue isolated from the abdomen fat, to the bald area you might get a stimulation of the dormant hair follicles of the bald area that would eventually lead to new hair growth.
There are also recent reports that the dormant hair follicles of the bald areas still contain a small number of stem cells and that, if we could stimulate them, they would give birth to new hair.
Although stem cell research sounds very interesting and promising, it is still purely experimental and inconclusive and does not constitute a real alternative treatment of hair loss. Patients with androgenetic alopecia are strongly advised to consult with their specialist doctor before following these vague and not sufficiently substantiated treatments as there is no real scientific evidence that “fat tissue injections” or creams with “vegetable stem cells” have any real effect in androgenetic alopecia.
DHI Medical Group is closely monitoring the latest developments in the field of stem cells research.

4. ACell’s Extracellular Matrix

ACell’s Extracellular Matrix (ECM) is a natural biological material that can be implanted at the site of an injury or damaged tissue in order to stimulate healing.
The graft stimulates the body’s own cells to form new tissue specific to that site (a process referred to as “Auto-cloning”). Therefore, instead of the body producing scar tissue, the body heals by remodeling with new tissue, almost as if the injury had never occurred.
DHI’s research on ECM has shown rapid tissue remodeling by promoting neovascularization (growth of new blood vessels) and recruiting host-derived mesenchymal cells (cells that lay down collagen and potentially can promote the formation of hair). These effects result in quicker healing of wounds and less scarring.
The possibility of using a biologically-derived matrix to enable hair multiplication is real, but significant work remains in order for hair multiplication to become a practical treatment
for hair loss in men and women.
DHI is currently studying the use of ECM for scalp hair multiplication, as well as the facilitation of wound healing in follicular unit transplantation procedures.