Study of New Technique for Fat Transplantation
Fat transfer is a technique that allows correction of age-related wrinkles and fat loss using the patient’s own body fat. We will be undertaking a study to evaluate a new technique for autologous fat transfer. Fat transfer involves gentle liposuction to harvest excess fat from one part of the patient’s body, isolation and cleansing of the fat cells, and transplantation of the fat by injecting fat cells into another part of the patient’s body (most commonly the cheeks) to correct volume loss. With traditional fat transfer techniques, the amount and duration of volume enhancement varies from patient to patient. The objective of this study is to evaluate a modification in the way we process fat for transplantation to determine whether enzyme-digested fat will last longer and produce superior volume correction of age-related wrinkles and fat loss. In this study, we will treat one side of the face with traditional undigested fat and other side with fat digested by an enzyme called collagenase. We believe that enzyme-digested fat will last longer and produce superior volume correction of age-related wrinkles and fat loss. If successful, this technique could provide an enhanced method of correcting large volume deficits resulting from variety of causes including age-related volume loss, traumatic injuries, cancer surgery, and other reconstructive surgery.
We will be enrolling patients for the study this fall. If you are potentially interested in participating, please call the office at (856) 596-3040.