Development of a fat concentration device for plastic and reconstructive surgery applications

The utilisation of liposuction derived autologous fat tissue in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery is increasingly common. There is no standardized method for concentrating liposuction derived fat for re-injection, but a number of approaches exist, many of which require multiple manipulations of the fat tissue prior to injection. The objective of this study was to develop a device which is capable of concentrating the fat product for cosmetic injection without multiple tissue processing steps. Fat tissue was harvested from pig hind quarters using a conventional liposuction procedure. The resultant fat/saline mixture was then introduced into the new device for concentration. The new device is a membrane controlled superadsorber technology based upon a device developed for the concentration of blood and used in the cardiovascular field. Samples of the fat product were analysed after processing for % fat content and some gross assessment of the morphology of the fat tissue. The effect of exposure/processing time on the level of concentration achieved was also studies with processing time of 30 and 60 minutes being employed in discrete arms of the study. The results of this investigation confirmed that the membrane controlled superadsorber concentration technology was capable of concentrating fat derived from liposuction of pig hind quarters. A significant quantity of fat/liquid product was harvested from the liposuction procedure, in excess of 1 liter in all experiments. The input concentration of fat in this product was however very low (<12%) and this impacted upon the ability of the device to concentrate to suitable levels. In the first iteration of the device concentration levels of between 29 -32% were achieved. This was considered to be too low for clinical applications and a second design phase was carried out in which a new device was produced with a larger superadsorber chamber capacity (210.9ml v 89.4ml). This new device was associated with much higher levels of concentration, taking the input concentration from around 10% to 79.14% over 60 minutes. Critically concentration levels of around 74% were achieved after only 30 minutes of processing. Analysis of the fat product after concentration demonstrated that there was a large population of intact adipocytes present. The results of the present study indicate that the new technology is capable of achieving clinically acceptable levels of fat concentration using liposuction derived fatty preparations. The device performs this function without the need for any external procedures or steps, representing an essentially one-stop approach, producing injectable fat preparation from a low concentration input material. The concentrated fat contains a high population of intact adipocytes. Overall this device represents a new integrated, passive approach to fat concentration for plastic and reconstructive interventions, producing an injectable fat product within the syringe.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

mphil

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters-pg

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Strathclyde

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Liu, Qichuan

DOI

10.48730/r538-rt31

Identifier

T13160

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:strathclyde:hm50tr80w