Aby Mathew on medical solutions
From BioLife Presentation by Dr. Aby J. Mathew · · Hair Transplant Academy
“Normal saline actually has no buffering capacity whatsoever and it has no designed oncotic support for the tissues and the stresses that are undergone during these procedures, yet it is pretty much the traditional graft storage solution used for ex vivo storage.”
On , Aby Mathew, Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board, Executive Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer at BIOLIFE SOLUTIONS INC, spoke about medical solutions during BioLife Presentation by Dr. Aby J. Mathew on Hair Transplant Academy.
About Aby Mathew
In a 2017 presentation, Aby Mathew, then Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at BioLife, discussed the evolution and science of hair graft holding solutions. He stated that traditional solutions like normal saline were selected for convenience rather than designed preservation, and argued that isotonic solutions lack buffering and oncotic support for cells at low temperatures. Mathew presented data from a stress model showing that after five days of cold storage, zero percent of follicles in saline engrafted, compared to 44 percent in a solution called Hypothermosol and 72 percent with added ATP. He characterized the ex vivo holding step as a foundational stress risk point in hair transplant workflows. Mathew also commented on the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) during graft storage, stating that growth factors applied under hypothermic conditions are counterintuitive and may cause damage. He noted that while many physicians still use saline, those willing to adopt improved methods tend to be in leading positions. He suggested that better graft storage could reduce variability among poorer responders and help manage risk, as unsatisfied patients can negatively affect a practice's reputation.