Fat Processing Techniques

Abstract

Autologous fat grafting is an aesthetic and reconstructive procedure in which an individual's own fat is harvested and injected into the soft tissues to correct contour and other abnormalities. Fat graft is considered the ideal soft tissue filler for its biocompatibility, lack of immunogenicity, and availability. The entire procedure of harvesting, processing, and transfer of fat graft affects fat graft take and effectiveness of fat grafting. This article will focus on the most common methods of fat graft processing, including centrifugation, cotton gauze rolling, sedimentation, and filtration/washing. The fragility of the harvested adipocytes makes the technique of fat graft processing of utmost importance, as blood and other unnecessary cellular fragments are removed. Each fat graft processing method has its own merits and shortcomings; however, due to a lack of well-defined prospective studies, there is no evidence to support one processing method as superior to another.

Keywords: ASCs; adipose-derived stem cells; autologous fat grafting; centrifugation; fat graft filtration; fat graft processing; lipoaspirate processing; liposuction.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest None declared.

© Thieme Medical Publishers.

Figures

Fig. 1

(A) Centrifugation system with syringes set up. (B) After centrifugation, the resulting lipoaspirate has separate layers, with an oil layer on top that is wicked out, a blood and cell pellet layer at the bottom that is discarded, and variable density fat in the middle that is used for grafting.

Fig. 2

(Left) Placing the harvested fat onto Telfa. (Middle) Removing debris by rolling the harvested fat onto cotton gauze. (Right) Placing the processed fat into a syringe for fat injection.

Fig. 3

Harvesting fat graft using the Red Head system. The top layer contains variable density fat, whereas the bottom aqueous layer (containing tumescent solution and blood) is drained.

Fig. 4

Fat graft washing and filtration using the Puregraft (left) and REVOLVE (right) systems.