Fat Removal Through Cool New Technology

Fat removal is often the goal of a cosmetic surgery procedure. This video highlights three new fat-zapping technologies that could be available soon.

Three new technologies that literally “zap” body fat are in the FDA-approval stages and should be available to patients by 2011.

Ultrasound waves can be used in two different ways; to bounce off tissue and show formations inside the body– such as when a pregnant woman gets a prenatal ultrasound–and also to break things apart, such as when a patient suffering from kidney stones undergoes lithotripsy.

Two of the new technologies, Ultrashape and Liposonix, use ultrasound waves to break apart fat. “Both of these devices are laid on the skin,” explains Dr. Jason Pozner, , says Dr. Jason Pozner, a board certified plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Florida. “The ultrasound beam comes down and it’s focused into the fatty layer below the skin,” he adds.

From there, the two devices work very differently. One device then causes the fat to blow up while the other heats it to move it out of the body. However, it’s not yet known which technique is better. Ultrashape and Liposonix are both still in FDA trials. Article continues below video player.

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The third technology is called Zeltiq, which is a form of fat removal called cryolipolysis. Cryolipolysis is the freezing of fat tissue. “With this device fat is cooled to just above freezing, and this causes crystallization in the fat cells, which causes cell death over time,” says Dr. Pozner. The process takes about 90 days to occur, and the fat layers actually shrink away as the fat tissue dies off.

Zeltiq is just now seeking FDA approval. Results of the trial should be available in the next year.