Unlike the (roughly) half a million patients who underwent traditional liposuction in 2005, I've never really viewed the procedure as a viable option to remove a couple of stubborn fat pockets. When I visualize the cutting, the suction, the possibility of additional surgeries to remove lose skin, and the lengthy recovery time, naked fear obliterates any joy I may have experienced while imagining a love-handle free body. Little surprise then, that I was thrilled to learn that LipoSonix, Inc., a Seattle-based medical device company, is developing a non-invasive body-sculpting device that promises a safer, faster way to break up fat cells without penetrating the skin.

As defined by Wikipedia, "Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty ("fat modeling"), liposculpture or suction lipectomy ("suction-assisted fat removal") is a cosmetic surgery operation that removes fat from many different sites on the human body. Areas affected can range from the abdomen, thighs, buttocks, to the neck, backs of the arms and elsewhere. The fat is usually removed via a cannula (a hollow tube) and aspirator (a suction device)." Various techniques can be "further categorized by the amount of fluid injection and by the mechanism in which the cannula works."

Various liposuction techniques include:

• Dry liposuction
• Wet liposuction
• Super-wet liposuction
• Tumescent liposuction
• Suction-assisted liposuction (SAL)
• Ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL)
• Power-assisted liposuction (PAL)
• External ultrasound-assisted liposuction (XUAL or EUAL)

 

Side effects from the above procedures may include short term bruising, swelling, scarring, pain, numbness, and limited mobility. Patients may need to wear a compression garment after their procedure. The more serious possible complications include allergic reaction to anesthetic, infection around the area of incision, tissue damage, necrosis, puncture of an internal organ, contour irregularities, Thromboembolism and fat embolisation, pulmonary embolism, burns to skin or nerves, lidocaine toxicity, fluid imbalance, and death.

According their website, LipoSonix, Inc. hopes to minimize such dangers, "by providing the safest, most effective technology available. The technology works by focusing high-intensity ultrasound through the skin into precise locations within subcutaneous adipose tissue. The ultrasound energy permanently disrupts the adipocytes [fat cells] without damaging the epidermis, dermis, or underlying tissues and organs. Treated tissue is resorbed via normal inflammatory mechanisms."

Waiting for FDA approval, LipoSonix hopes to hit the market in 2008. Clinical trials are currently underway in Mexico, and LipoSonix plans to begin stage trials in the U.S, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, later this year. Although the company hasn't posted a price list for procedures, they are enticing interest with the following benefits:

• Completely non-invasive
• Well-tolerated by patients
• Fast and efficient procedure
• Minimal bruising and swelling
• No patient down-time
• No need for infusion of wetting solutions
• Fewer associated costs
• Less demand on physician time

As reported on CNNMoney.com, "Don't count on the device to make significant inroads into the current obesity epidemic in the U.S.. Most patients enrolled in the Mexico test have had one to 1.5 pounds of fat removed during each procedure, and that number isn't likely to change when U.S. trials begin. By comparison, surgical liposuction can remove as much as five pounds of fat."