The resultant defect is then closed using suture or skin staples. Strip harvesting A scalpel containing 2 or more 15-blades mounted in parallel is used to cut strips of donor tissue. This facilitates the division of donor scalp into mini- and micrografts. These round grafts can be cut into halves or quarters or they can be dissected down to single hair grafts . Grafts obtained by using an ellipse must be dissected using a 15-blade.
Most surgeons use magnifying loupes to aid the dissection of grafts.
More recently, a dissecting microscope has been utilized by some surgeons to aid graft dissection. Some surgeons believe that follicular grafts, ie, those that are essentially a single follicular unit, offer better results, although further studies are needed. Follicular grafting and the use of dissecting microscope are discussed in Hair Transplantation - The Follicular Unit Transplant Method . See Use of dilator below. Sharp 0.8-1.6 mm dilators are inserted directly into the scalp pushing scalp aside to provide hemostasis.