Dr. Keene’s Hair Blog

Physician’s Hair Institute

Dr. Keene’s clinic, Physician’s Hair Institute, in Tucson, AZ, utilizes state of the art equipment and techniques in hair transplant surgery. This includes a form of magnification that offers improvements over the standard stereoscopic microscope used by most hair restoration surgery practices in graft dissection. It involves a high-resolution digital video camera, in conjunction with a backlight, projected onto an LCD screen. Dr. Keene announced this technique at the Orlando, Florida conference in 2002, and presented the technique in 2003 at the Italian Society of Hair Restoration Surgery conference in Rome, Italy. The technique was well received and is gradually being adapted by other clinics. It is an improvement over the stereoscopic microscope in that it allows the doctor more direct supervision, and offers improved ergonomics for the technicians while dissecting, while maintaining excellent magnification.

Moreover, Dr. Keene designed a graft holder and dissection kit that keeps the grafts hydrated during hair transplant graft placing, an important factor in graft survival. She also created a multi-recipient site scalpel that improves the efficiency of creating incisions, but keeps this critical step in the hands of the physician, not the assistants. Other doctors have followed her lead and started to use similar devices due to their recognition of the advantages these devices offer.

Dr. Keene typically limits her hair transplant surgery to one patient per day, utilizing the ultra refined follicular unit technique, and has a very hands on approach in the surgery room. (Exceptions would be if she is doing eyebrow restoration or a very small area of hair transplant). She performs every aspect of the surgery, from donor removal, to creating the recipient sites, to placing the grafts. Each patient is given not just her staff’s attention, but her personal attention troughout the hair transplant surgery.

You will never encounter a high pressure sales professional at Dr. Keene’s office. She believes that patients should be informed and educated about their options, but never pressured. She will not recommend hair transplants for everyone, but will base her recommendations on your individual needs and circumstances.

Dr. Keene limits the overhead at her clinic in order to pass that on to you. Quality and aesthetic results are her main concern, but making this procedure affordable to those who can benefit from it is important to her as well. So marketing is kept to a minimum, and Physician’s Hair Institute is a clinic focused primarily on the professional, technical, and artistic aspects of hair restoration.

Dr. Keene worked with the Shapiro Medical group in MN for many years. However, the demand at her Tucson clinic, along with her educational obligations, has limited her travel time. Consequently, she currently limits her hair transplant surgery to her Tucson clinic only. Dr. Keene and the other doctors in the Shapiro Medical team still maintain a friendly give and take of ideas and friendship from their many years of collaboration.