Tissue engineering for the Breast- in November 2010 Wired Magazine

As a follow-up to my post on fat grafting to the breast for cosmetic enhancement and reconstruction I’m posting the link to Wired magazine’s article on Cytori and the strides its making to bring a adipose (fat) derived stem cell transfer technology to the US market.

Check out an excerpt of the article here

The term ‘disruptive innovation’ was used in the article- this is a particularly apt description for what fat grafting techniques are poised to do in cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery. We have all been doing breast procedures for so long that we have focussed time and creative energy into producing a better silicone breast implant. Its time to rethink the paradigm and apply principles of tissue engineering to the breast.

Whether or not ‘stem cells’ are truly an important part of the process is still debatable. But clearly, the transfer of a viable graft a fat to the breast as a living volume filler is a reality.

Harvesting and processing techniques are important.
Tissue pre-expansion is important.
Stem cells are probably participants in this process.

Fat grafting will shortly become an absolute game-changer in the realm of cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery.

I’m pleased to be working on refining the fat grafting techniques that we offer to breast enhancement and reconstruction patients. Stay tuned for more about this exciting niche of plastic surgery.

www.breastaugmentation-seattle.com

Breast Augmentation and Reconstruction with Fat

Traditionally, breast augmentation and some types of breast reconstruction are done using breast implants. There is a revolution going on now in plastic surgery. We’re beginning to use fat with success in both cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery.

These fat injection techniques rely on careful removal of body fat during a specialized liposuction procedure. The fat is then processed and placed into the breast. The result is a natural appearing breast augmentation with the added benefit of a comprehensive body liposuction procedure.

With the advent of the new field of fat grafting procedures for breast enhancement comes new companies eager to enter into this new market. Cytori is producing the Celution System, which is designed purify fat derived from liposuction. The system is designed to isolate the important adipose (fat) derived stem cells and prepare these stem cells fo injection into the breast.

It is debatable if this expensive piece of machinery is actually necessary to perform good quality fat injection procedures to the breast. Our clinic has been successfully using a fat grafting technique that does not rely on the expensive Cytori system. Our fat injection technique does not have the additional costs required to use an expensive disposable device like the Pure Graft system.

For women interested in breast augmentation for about one cup-size enhancement, a standard fat grafting procedure works well. For women interested in a larger breast augmentation, we recommend pre-expansion of the breast skin envelope with the BRAVA device.

For women that have undergone breast surgery for cancer, fat grafting procedures offer a new reconstructive option. Fat injections procedures can restore breast volume and shape altered by lumpectomy and radiation. A combination of BRAVA skin expansion and serial fat grafting procedures can restore an attractive breast shape to women that have had mastectomy surgery.

Check out www.breastaugmentation-surgery.com for more information about fat grafting, fat injection and lipo augmentation of the breast.