What is Fat Grafting?
Fat grafting is a fantastic way to borrow tissue from one part of the body and transfer it to another. It is a safe and permanent way to augment and fill areas of volume depletion or loss (such as what is seen during facial aging), or provide a nice lift and fill of breast, buttocks or other areas.
Typically fat is removed (harvested) via liposuction using local anesthesia (tumescent solution) and small hollow tubes (canulas ~ 3mm in size) and taken from abdomen, thighs or other parts of the body and then it is processed (separated from oils, fibrous particles, serum, blood, and anesthetic medications) and purified into vials of structural, micro- and/or nano-fat graft. These donor fat cells can then be injected into areas to improve volume, rejuvenate skin and improve healing since they also carry an abundance of growth factors and stem cells.
After the fat graft is transferred/injected it must establish new blood supply in the recipient site and become part of the new location (engrafting).
Dr. Urbinelli is an expert in Fat Grafting harvest, handling, processing and injection as his preparation and techniques have yielded 90-100% fat graft success rates in the face, 80-95% successful "take" in the breast and buttocks and other areas. While in NYC, he learned from one of the true pioneers of fat grafting and liposuction, Dr. Sydney Coleman, who helped popularize and demonstrate many of the most sophisticated and successful fat grafting techniques used today.