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Little Known Facts About Cubic Zirconia

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Cubic zirconia is a man made gemstone resembling a diamond used in jewelry settings. German mineralogists discovered cubic zirconia in its natural setting in the early nineteen hundreds, but has not been found since. It was originally created to use a refractory material, which is impervious to heat and chemical damage. Scientists developed cubic zirconia as a new material to be used in lasers and other optical operations.

The cubic zirconia you see today has been created in a laboratory by combining the metals of zirconium and oxide through extreme heat and a monitored cooling process. The temperature required to melt the zirconium is so extreme platinum containers could not be used in the melting process. Soviet scientists developed the method still used today to create the carat stones of cubic zirconia. The process entailed using the zirconium itself to hold the molten form of zirconium. The extreme temperature used to melt the zirconium is created by the use of a very large microwave. It allowed the center zirconium to melt while the outer layer remained cool and solid to hold the molten form. By 1980 there were 50 million carats of cubic zirconia created annually by using the method originally developed by the Soviet scientists.

The production of the cubic zirconia, the melting and cooling of the zirconium metal combined with the metal oxide, formation of columnar crystals are produced and then cut into gemstones. Recently manufacturers have been covering the cubic zirconia with a thin layer of carbon. The process has resulted in making the material harder. It has also given the material a more radiant, diamond-like look overall. Covering the stones with a very thin layer of metal oxide creates the iridescent effect. Unfortunately the effect is not permanent; a simple scratch can easily remove the layer of metal oxide.

Because the cubic zirconia so closely resembles a diamond, only a trained eye can distinguish which stone is the diamond. The differences between the diamond and the cubic zirconia can only be seen under a microscope. The notable differences seen under the microscope can be the distribution effect the cubic zirconia has on light. The cubic zirconia is not as hard as a diamond. A cubic zirconia will weigh more than a diamond of the same exact size. The cubic zirconia has in essence no flawless unlike a diamond. Under a microscope the cuts made in a cubic zirconia have notable differences to the cuts of a diamond. A diamond is rarely a colorless stone where as the cubic zirconia can be made with no color at all. Cubic zirconia can be made in almost any color one could wish for. To produce the color in the cubic zirconia different metal oxides are used to create certain colors.

Cubic zirconia did not come make its introduction to the market until the late 1970s and has since had a huge impact on the jewelry industry. Because the inexpensive cost of the cubic zirconia, its resistance to wear and its close resemblance to the diamond, the cubic zirconia has become one of the most used gemstones as diamond replacement since its introduction to the market in the 1970s. The cubic zirconia's main competition was just recently created is a synthetic monissanite. However, cubic zirconia has retained its popularity in the jewelry market. Many people wanting the look of diamond jewelry without the price tag of diamond jewelry will opt of the cubic zirconia jewelry instead.

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How Are Follicular Units Used in Hair Transplant Surgery?

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Certain doctors have been aware of follicular units for a long time now, but the knowledge only recently made its way into hair transplant methods. Now these ideas are being used in hair restoration every day.

To understand how follicular units have affected hair transplant surgery practices, it is necessary to first understand what a follicular unit is. A follicular unit is a single entity that is made up of several parts. All these parts are necessary to the whole.

The first part, and the one most people getting hair transplant surgery are interested in, is the hairs. There should be one to four full hair follicles in the unit and one or two fine hairs as well. There are sebaceous glands in the follicular unit which produce oil.

The follicular unit is a living unit with muscle, nerves and blood vessels that are all tiny enough to fit into this small package. The unit is set off by a band of collagen that holds it together. If you look under a microscope at a scalp, you can see follicular units growing in just this way.

The idea of bringing this information into hair transplant procedures led to innovative surgical methods. Rather than just moving around individual hair follicles, surgeons actually moved a unit which contained everything the hair needed to keep growing. The results were ground-breaking.

One way surgeons used to move the donor follicular units to the balding areas was by single strip harvesting. This is done by moving small strips of tissue containing follicular units. This method keeps the units intact and ready to transplant. Earlier methods such as mini-grafting and micro-grafting broke up the follicular units.

As a part of the hair transplant process with Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), a new microscope technique was used. It is called stereomicroscopic dissection. This means that the follicular units are carefully taken out of the donor tissue and kept individually intact.

When doctors use hair transplant procedures with FUT, they do not have to use quite as large of a donor site. The follicular units are small and they can be separated from tissue that has no hair, under the microscope. That way, only the tissue that grows hair is transplanted. It is a much more efficient procedure in that way.

Follicular units placed during hair transplant procedures are put into tiny holes the size of needles. The insertion sites heal quickly, and they leave no marks. This makes for a much more comfortable recovery and better results.

FUT hair transplant procedures can make a big difference in the number of times a patient will have to go back for more treatments. More grafts can be done at one session, so that the patient has to go back fewer times. This is more convenient to patients.

Hair transplant done using follicular unit procedures is becoming more and more the norm. Possibly this is because it puts hair into the scalp in the same arrangement as it grows there naturally. This represents a leap forward in hair transplant technology.

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