New Fat Grafting and Harvesting Technology

Lisette Hilton;

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Publication

Article

March 31, 2021

Aesthetic Authority

Technology Pipeline: Aesthetic Authority Vol. 2: No. 1

Volume2

Issue 1

New Fat Grafting and Harvesting Technology

Author(s):

Lisette Hilton

Joshua A. Lampert, MD, highlights power-assisted liposuction devices and new finer fat grafting harvest cannulas to help avoid exposure to ambient air.

This is part 2 of a 2-part series.

Part 1: Advances in Body Contouring Technology

Joshua A. Lampert, MD, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Lampert MD in Miami, Florida, says his favorite tools for body contouring in 2021 are the power-assisted liposuction device and the new finer fat grafting harvest cannulas. Today’s state-of-the-art fat harvest and processing systems help ensure low-pressure fat harvesting and help avoid exposure to the ambient air, he says.

Although harvesting fat using smaller cannulas with narrower diameters and lower pressure suction takes longer, Lampert believes high pressure liposuction causes fat cell rupture. “This optimizes fat survival and improves overall body contouring outcomes,” Lampert says. “What has changed more recently with body contouring is that we are no longer just looking at where we can remove volume, but where we can also replace it. Fat grafting is more reliable than it was in the past and often gives us an additional tool in contemporary plastic surgery that was not utilized as frequently years ago.”⁷

One example of how Lampert uses fat grafting is in breast augmentation for women who do not want implants or want their implants removed.⁸ “During this time, we have found that we can obtain much better results using fat grafting at the same time as implant removal in order to augment the breast for many of these patients. The fat harvest also adds improvement to the body contour where patients have troubling fat deposits,” Lampert says.⁸

Using a combination of modalities can further optimize results, he says. “Often, after [surgical] skin tightening procedures and excess fat removal, devices such as the Emsculpt machine can help further define the body contour through muscle hypertrophy growth,” Lampert says.

Published animal models show a greater percentage of fat survives when the harvested fat is placed in a small hyperbaric chamber, he says.⁹ “I think this is very interesting as MRI-documented fat grafting survival has demonstrated improved survival with the refinement of technique,” Lampert says. “In the future, we may get to a point where we can do a 1-to-1 correction, meaning all the fat that we graft or the majority of it survives. Currently, it is estimated that anywhere between 40% to 60% of fat that is grafted will survive in a healthy patient that does not smoke.”

Disclosures

Lampert reports no relevant or financial disclosures. Chilukuri is a consultant for BTL Industries and InMode Aesthetics.

References