Lights, camera ... scalpel? The TV monitors and video production crew had all the feel of a movie set, but the blood was real — an unvarnished detail in an unflinching 12-hour hair transplant procedure filmed not for Hollywood entertainment but to educate a public watching by computer. Click here to sign-up for our free health report More than 74,000 viewers around the world tuned in to see Boca Raton surgeon Alan Bauman give radio personality Kevin Rolston a new hairline, embracing what industry insiders say is a novel use of the latest broadcasting technology. In the medical field, webcasting — streaming live video over the Internet — has caught on as a way for doctors to train medical students or other physicians in surgical techniques. But Bauman is believed to be among the first to use the technology to webcast an operation to a new market: the patient. "He is one of the unique people who gets webcasting and gets that there's an audience, that it's profitable and marketable, that it's not just for fun anymore. It's vital," said David Waters, a broadcast TV veteran and webcasting pioneer whose Melbourne-based company consults on and facilitates livestreamed productions, including Bauman's. "This can show other doctors that it's not just something you do on the side, it's not just something you do for social media, it's patient education." The bonus of showing the procedure live vs. on tape: Viewers can call in by Skype or write in via an online chat room and have their questions answered on the spot, which they did in droves during Rolston's July 11 transplant. Bauman said he and Rolston — who was awake the whole time under local anesthesia, texting, tweeting and talking away — fielded more than 1,000 queries throughout the half-day procedure. "This was an unpromoted, unmarketed event," said Waters, pointing out that most webcasts do well to get a couple hundred viewers. "So the fact that one doctor doing one procedure landed thousands of viewers, that's pretty remarkable." Bauman sees it as a way to help patients overcome their anxieties and misconceptions, especially about hair transplants, which have come a long way since the days when scalpels, stitches and plugs were required. "I think patients in general, when it comes to surgery, they're fearful. What this does is put the patient in the procedure room, in the position of the patient," Bauman said. "I think this technology is the wave of the future for patient education. It gives them unique insight." Rolston's hair transplant was Bauman's fourth live surgery in three years — allowing him to reach more than 215,000 people combined, he said. Each time, his patient — like Rolston, the popular co-star of the West Palm Beach-based Wild 95.5 morning show — has been a media celebrity, which helps Bauman attract a wider Web audience, more social media followers and new patients. Each webcast event has brought even more viewers than the one before, with Rolston's transplant landing the biggest numbers yet. "Very interesting watching @kevinrolston get a hair transplant live online," said Bobbi Jo Morton, via Twitter. "It looks painful but he says it is not." Rolston responded quickly with this tweet: "Swear it is not bad at all!" then, "Just fell asleep and started snoring during #livehairtransplant!" Though U.S. viewers made up the biggest audience of those who watched 79,000 minutes of Rolston getting his follicles plucked and replanted, people from as far away as India, England and Canada held their own in the viewership tallies, according to the numbers compiled by Waters' company, TheMultiMediaGuys.com. In all, viewers from 22 countries tuned in. One from Trinidad followed up with a video consultation with Bauman and booked a hair transplant for next month. "A lot of people wanted to know if it hurt. That was the No. 1 question, no doubt," said Rolston, 39, adding that the patient education element was one of the reasons he was enthusiastic about opening his scalp to the world. "People get information in so many ways, and every way a patient could get information, [Bauman's team] covered it," Rolston said. "Videostreaming is so big today, especially on multiple platforms." In addition to streaming the surgery live on a dedicated online channel — Livestream.com/hairtransplantnow — the procedure was beamed over Wild 95.5's website and picked up by the nationally syndicated Bald Truth radio show, which called into the operating room via Skype and had its own listeners tossing out questions. Then there was the live chat room and constant Twitter chatter. It was no small undertaking. Unlike the first couple of live surgeries Bauman performed with the aid of a few webcams mounted on the operating room walls, Rolston's marathon event was captured by a full production crew with video cameras and tripods. Bauman's production costs: "Well over $100,000." Of course, such a rich investment is not necessary when a webcam or two can do the trick at minimal cost. But whatever the hit, Bauman said it's worth it to reach out to patients on their own turf and give them a sense of comfort about an often-scary venture, much like reality TV has. "Patients tell me, 'I already feel like I know you. I already feel like I've been to your procedure,' and that's powerful," Bauman said. "I'm here to educate the patient on what they're getting into. Helping them make informed decisions."[email protected]

via www.sun-sentinel.com

Nicole, Thank you for providing this information on Kevin Rolston's Live Hair Transplant Surgery to your readers. It will certainly go a long way to help people understand the newest, minimally-invasive style of hair transplant surgery. Regards, Dr. Alan Bauman