[2] These grafts are not to be mistaken with old style hair plugs harvested with a punch biopsy instrument, but instead are modern day slit grafts harvested from a thin donor strip in the back of the head and separated under magnification.
Norman Orentreich, a dermatologist in New York City, is credited for popularizing the modern hair transplant of the 20th century.
Although Dr. Orentreich's pioneering research advanced hair transplantation, the results were unnatural, "pluggy" and extremely sparse.
In the 1980s, hair transplantation techniques improved when surgeons began to use much smaller grafts called minigrafts and micrografts which produced better, natural looking results.
The most impressive advantage is that the hair surgery achieves more satisfying results in just a single procedure.