Modern Method for Fat Injections?

For fat grafting to truly represent 'grafting', the grafted tissue must gain a blood supply in its new location which provides a source of oxygen and nutrients and allows the tissue to persist indefinitely. If the grafted fat does not acquire a blood supply in the first few weeks after surgery, the body will gradually break it down and dissolve it, and no long-term benefit will be achieved in terms of soft tissue augmentation. Successful fat grafting surgery therefore requires a... more

You are correct. The old technique involved sucking the fat as in liposuction and re-injecting it. These are the areas where fat grafting technique has improved: 1) During harvest, the fat cell must NOT be exposed to high suction. Fat must be harvested using hand held devices that minimize suction injury to the fragile, living fat cells. 2) Preparation involves removing other components in the aspirate that are not living fat cells. If you include a lot of blood and other cells i nthe... more

This is the basic technique for obtaining fat grafts and essentially, there is nothing new here. WHAT IS NEW is the process of handling the fat. In the past, the fat was simply re-injected. However, this included dead fat cells, fluid such as blood and serum, as well as protein. Currently, a new popular method involves centrifuging the fat allowing separation of the components into different layers. The layer containing predominantly live fat cells is isolated, and injected thereby... more

One of the better ways to harvest fat is to harvest it gently. High suction is probably not the way to go. Spinning it down can remove the liquid part but also may remove stem cells. I just let it naturally separate and then I inject it with small syringes.

The increased success of fat grafting is a result of refinement in the harvest,the purification and the injection techniques. The whole concept revolves around treating the graft as living cells and not just a regular filler.

Fat injections with stem cell enhanced injections are the new frontier of plastic surgery. The process of centrifugation is critical to this technique. I hope you have the time to watch my video about this exciting new area. This is  a paradigm shift for plastic surgery! see video

I must add to the "modern" methods of Fat transfer the idea of stem cell enhanced fat transfer. This is truly a modern method. Though not yet available in US it may add to the longevity of the fat transfer. The jury is still out.

Fat is a GREAT filler IF it survives the operation. Fat can be injured and die when- it is harvested (That is why we prefer to use low suction to reduce barotrauma and cell death)- when it is without blood (and oxygen) supply (which is why it after it is washed and purified it is kept on ice to reduce its need for oxygen)- it is exposed to air and drying- it is injected / grafted by forceful injections (again - high pressures can kill fat cells)- if it is not kept alive by the blood vessels... more

Yes, that sounds very much like how it is done today. Fat transfer is my forte. I do it almost every other day. I tend to look at fat transfer as being as important technically to not overfill or underfill a face, as it is artistically to create the right balance and blending. a lot of docs who do fat transfer just stick some in the cheeks. i believe that success in the result comes from sculpting a lot of little areas to make the result look wonderful. here is a video to explain... more

The basic procedure you describe is the currently taught method for fat transfer. The centrifuge is the key so that only fat is transplanted to the face.

When doing fat transfer to a small area such as the face, the fat can be harvested using a hand held syringe, under low suction, to gently harvest the fat. The fat and fluid is then placed in a centrifuge which spins the syringe and separates the layers of fat, blood and oil. Then you are left with only the fat, which is what will give a long lasting volume effect wherever it is injected, usually the face. When doing fat transfer on a large area such as into the buttock, the fat is... more