Autologous Fat

An autologous fat is a procedure in which a doctor transfer involves the body fat of an individual to an area that is sunken or emaciated. "Autologous" refers to the use of the tissue or fat of the patient. The transfer requires three steps. The first step involves gentle liposuction of excess fat. The second step involves the isolation and cleansing of the fat cells. The third and final step involves the injection of the fat cells into the targeted areas. Fat Removal The fat transfer procedure begins with liposuction to remove excess fat from the donor site, which could be the abdomen, buttocks, hips, "saddle bags," thighs or even jowls. In order to collect as many undamaged fat cells as possible, surgeons only use very low suction liposuction. The surgeon uses a small-gauge hypodermic needle or a special cannula to carefully remove fat cells from the donor site while limiting the damage caused to the fat cells. Isolating Fat Cells When spun at a very high rate of speed in a centrifuge, the material collected from liposuction separates into fat cells and liquid. The doctor carefully removes any damaged cells and washes whole, undamaged fat cells. Re-Injection of Fat A surgeon performs the fat transfer procedure by injecting the fat cells into target sites on the face that the doctor already identified, in an attempt to correct imperfections or create a new contour. Using a separate hypodermic syringe, the doctor will inject the fat cells at the depth needed to achieve the desired fat transfer results.