IXC-TRC Density (Phase I)

Stem cell; cell based hair therapy
1

I am trying to figure out if we will be able to restore our original hair density.

I found the following.

According to this post:
ICX-TRC Phase I “The area that was tested was 1 sq cm in size. Each volunteer received 100 injections of the cultured cells in the 1 sq cm recipient site. The time required to administer 1 injection was approximately 5 seconds. Each injection delivered about 1 micro litter of cultured cells.
Among the 7 subjects that were enrolled for phase I, 5 reported an increase in hair numbers. Dr. Kemp, being one of the test subjects himself, reported an improvement of about 66 new hairs as a result of the 100 injections”

According to this post:

“Summarizing the densities encountered by investigators it would appear with reasonable certainty that the naturally occurring density in the adult male lies in a range of 130-280 terminal hair per square centimetre with an average density estimated near 200 hairs per square centimetre.“

2

So if we consider that 100 injections grew 66 new hairs in 1 sq.cm, we need another 140 hairs per sq. cm. in order to come close to our original density.

I hope that the density will increase as phase I, was to ensure that the procedure does not result in complications of any sort among the test subjects

What you guys think?

3

» So if we consider that 100 injections grew 66 new hairs in 1 sq.cm, we need
» another 140 hairs per sq. cm. in order to come close to our original
» density.

and that’s only coming “close” to original hair density too. i’m hoping for better results from phase II. the less injections we need the less the procedure will cost.

whats the average yield on a HT though? is that 66 hair per cm about the same as a HT?

4

Consider that an average HT density is about 45 follicular units per sq.cm. If we assume that each follicular unit contains about 2.5 hairs we get about 112 hairs per sq.cm.

We need more…

I am curious to see though, what follicles the multiplied DP 's created (how many hairs per follicular unit) ??

5

I think it is safe to assume that a fully bald dude won’t be able to get full density from one session. Still, 66% response rate is very good for a Phase 1 trial, considering they weren’t looking to actually grow hair, but test for safety.

I’ve always assumed you’d get the procedure done, wait a year and then go back for seconds, possibly even a third time. In the couple of years from first to last procedure they will no doubt have made furthur improvements, better response rate etc. I always kept my hair real short, so as long as there is enough to create the ‘shadow’ then I’ll be happy.

6

»as long as there is enough to create the ‘shadow’ then I’ll be happy.

Me too.
I’m not greedy,I’d take anything that would make my scar less visible.

Also,not every ones hair density is the same.This figure may very well be enough for a bald guy to get a full cover of hair that blends in with his pre existing hairs.Even with this number of hairs the result could STILL look natural & leave no signs of baldness in some people.
We need pictures or videos damn it !!!

7

The important thing to keep in mind is that the injections were into areas that already had hair growing (thinning areas). Thus, they increased the density in thinning areas. We still don’t know if it will grow hair in slick bald areas.

That being said, 100 hairs/cm^2 looks pretty good from a cosmetic standpoint if it is consistently dispersed over the entire balding area. Increased density can be achieved with repeat procedures. I think results are going to vary quite a bit depending on the individual. My guess is that those that respond well to the treatment will be able to achieve well over 100 hairs/cm^2, but we really have to wait until later this year to know for certain. I think what is more important than density right now is that the hairs are of consistently good quality and are evenly dispersed.

IMO, people should not be setting their hopes too high on this. If ICX can manage to consistently grow 100 hairs/cm^2 on most patients, that will be like hitting a grand slam. The rest will be a matter of refining the protocol over time.

At a minimum, ICX only has to one up HT in order to make a heck of a lot of money, and that ain’t saying much. Thus, I think even if the protocol is not perfect, we stand a very high chance of seeing this come to market fairly soon. Thus, the results will continue to be refined in the clinical setting.

8

» »as long as there is enough to create the ‘shadow’ then I’ll be happy.
»
» Me too.
» I’m not greedy,I’d take anything that would make my scar less visible.
»
» Also,not every ones hair density is the same.This figure may very well be
» enough for a bald guy to get a full cover of hair that blends in with his
» pre existing hairs.Even with this number of hairs the result could STILL
» look natural & leave no signs of baldness in some people.
» We need pictures or videos damn it !!!

“…There are about 250 hair fibers per cm2, which results, for a typical individual, in a hair surface area of 50,000 cm2 relative to the scalp surface area of 600 cm2.”
http://www.nature.com/jidsp/journal/v10/n3/full/5640203a.html

“Scalp is divided into 4 areas namely, Vertex - 40% (0.4) of scalp surface area; right profile of scalp - 18% (0.18) of scalp surface area; left profile of scalp - 18% (0.18) of scalp surface area; Posterior aspect of scalp - 24% (0.24) of scalp surface area.”
http://www.bioline.org.br/request?dv06108

So, if the vertex is %40 of the Scalp surface area, and 600cm2 is a good working average for total scalp surface area, that’s a Scalp Vertex area (the bald part) of about 240 cm2 on our heads.

Here’s a joking little calculation…Say just for the sake of example that the Phase 1 results of 66 hairs per 100 injections were all that ICX could produce, and a goal of 250 hairs per cm2 (per the avg. stated above) is considered to be ‘a full head of densely packed hair’…Then, to take a completely slick bald head of 240cm2 surface area (assuming HM works on slick bald areas) and give it a full head of hair (250hairs/cm2), it would take 379 injections per cm2 at this rate, and 90,960 (yes that’s ninety-thousand nine-hundred sixty) injections for the entire top o’ the head. At 5 seconds per injection (Phase 1 time/injection), this would take 5 days and 6 hours or so of injections. Of course I’m just joking around and this is ridiculous, but I think that’s how those numbers would play out…if all we wanted was say, 125 hairs per cm2 instead of 250 at Phase 1 Result rates, it would take half the amount of injections- 45 thousand injections and over 2 days to administer. Now let’s say they got the efficacy up to 100 hairs per 100 injections, for 125 hairs per cm2 it would take 30,000 injections and about 1.75 days to do all those injections on a completely slick bald head.

Of course most will want HM in only a small portion of the top of their head not the entire thing including areas that still have some hair…so cut the numbers down how you will. Maybe just 100 hairs per cm2 is enough for you. But if you just got %10 of your slick bald head done, at the rate of Phase 1 results wanting 125 hairs per cm2 as a decent goal, that’s 14,400 injections and a 18 hour total procedure.

I think we can see numerically, exactly why HM is going to be just ‘in addition to’ Hair Transplants, at first until there are later HM breakthrough’s with much higher efficacy and speed of delivery (assuming HM works at all!!).

9

Mind Oceanj that in order to produce 250 hairs per sq cm you need average 2.7 hairs per follicular unit. (maximum follicular density 90 follicles per sq cm) :ok:

The big question is how many hairs per follicular unit will the cultured cells generate?
If the case is 1 hair per follicular unit say goodbye to density, but if the case is 3 hairs per follicular unit and above we could reach as high as 280 hairs per sq cm!!!
Oh yeah! :cool:

10

Those are interesting numbers, thanks for the post. It’s something that’s been playing on my mind for a while, since I read a description of anticipated TRC delivery taking “a couple of hours”. Now, I think they are referring to a procedure with similar numbers to a normal HT (3-400 hairs) as opposed to a NW7 to Elvis situation which a lot of people daydream about. Of course a lot of work is to be done in Phase 2 regarding the injection process. Not sure if anyone remembers but a while back there was a post that stated TRC will be delivered with a “modified version of the Hamilton Syringe”, which are apparantly capable of delviering small and precise amounts of fluid.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that there may be more than one person giving injections during the procedure!

11

Let’s also not forget that Phase 1 was a low dose procedure, so I would not be too concerned about hair yield results in Phase 1. I believe I read somewhere that one of the aims of Phase 2 is to understand how different dosages can affect hair yield.