What is the difference between stem cell vs Fat Transfer?

The short answer is, fat grafting and stem cell treatment can be synonymous. In the near future, all of cosmetic medicine will revolve around regenerative techniques. Regenerative medicine refers to the process of repairing, restoring, regrowing and replacing tissues within the body. Within cosmetics, we utilize modalities such as platelet rich plasma, stem cell rich fat transfer and even concentrated umbilical stem cells to achieve this tissue restoration. Our goal is usually to address tissue changes that occur with aging, grow hair, and even to aid in recovery after both surgical and nonsurgical procedures.
Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is the simplest of these options, utilizing concentrated growth factors from your own blood to improve soft tissue quality within your face, grow hair, or improve outcomes and recovery times after procedures. There are clear benefits to the use of PRP after surgery, laser resurfacing and other similar procedures, but it also has a strong affect on noninjured tissues to drive restoration, such as with hair regrowth.
Taking a few steps ahead of PRP are different techniques utilizing stem cells. Our fat contains many adipocyte derived stem cells, and we can collect and utilize these stem cells as part of a fat transfer procedure, or as an isolated event to utilize the massive regenerative potential and large amount of growth factors contained in this tissue.
Umbilical cord stem cells come in very concentrated amounts that are acquired after normal Cesarian section births and run through a tissue bank specifically for use in regenerative capacities. They have evidence for improvement of osteoarthritis with injections into joints, hair regrowth when injected around hair follicles, improved surgical and nonsurgical recovery, and overall tissue rejuvenation with local infiltration.
Not all PRP, fat transfer and stem cells procedures are created equal. There are very basic mechanisms to tap into their potential, but with more sophisticated approaches, deeper knowledge, and refined practices and protocols, more optimal concentrations of PRP and higher stem cell quality and counts can lead to significantly better outcomes and value with respect to the desired end points.
With this impressive armamentarium at our fingertips, nearly every aspect of the aging process can be addressed with regenerative approaches and capacity. This is truly the future of our specialty, and we are currently at the forefront.
To ensure you are receiving the highest level of care, seek out a modernly trained, new-school dermatologic surgeon, oculoplastic surgeon, facial plastic surgeon or plastic surgeon who is board certified and fellowship trained in one of these “core four” cosmetic specialties. Membership in organizations like the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery help to identify a highly trained surgeon.
Cameron Chesnut
#realself500 Physician

Thanks for your question. Stem cell
transfer has been aggressively marketed by some surgeons, when in fact the
procedure is essentially a fat transfer. Fat has been found to contain a small
percentage of mesenchymal stem cells, and there have been some machines used
outside of the U.S. that isolate stem cells from the fat. However, these
machines are not approved by the FDA for use in the U.S., and to date there are
no studies that rigorously prove there are benefits to enriching fat grafts
with stem cells. There are some methods that modestly enhance the stem cell
percentage in harvested fat, but their benefits are unproven. Fat has been
amply demonstrated to survive after transfer and regain blood supply if it is
infiltrated as thin threads of fat, whereas pools of fat do not survive and
resorb, and they can cause calcification and lumps. In summary, the technique
of fat harvest and fat transfer matter a great deal. The stem cells in fat are
beneficial, but it remains to be seen whether stem cell enrichment will provide
any additional benefit.

Stem cells are definitely the popular buzzword these days for both facial rejuvenation and other medical issues.  Stem cells have the ability to transform into a variety of cell types so that they can help to repair damaged tissue.  There is currently a lot of research going on with stem cells.  When fat is harvested, there are stem cells present in the fat.  So when you transfer this fat, you are also transferring the stem cells.  This is why many people think the skin texture seems to improve for patients after the transfer.  So  your fat transfer is also a stem cell transfer.     

Your own fat is rich in stem and regenerative cells, so simply performing fat transfer results in transfer of your own fatty tissue with stem cells.It is possible to remove the stem and regenerative cells from fat and inject them separately, but at the present time this process is forbidden in the US by the FDA. Many clinics, some not so reputable, advertise stem cell treatments when they are actually just doing fat transfer. Those that are separating the cells are quite possibly breaking the law.If you are getting the 'stem cells' as a filler or to add volume then there appears to be no real advantage for most people to separate the stem cells.There are non-cosmetic situations like arthritis and heart failure where studies are being carried out using separated and purified stem cells, but are still considered experimental in the US. A new clinic named Okyanos is opening shortly in the Bahamas that will legally be able to provide purified stem cell therapies, particularly for heart issues according to approved European protocols.