Vaser Liposelection is a third-generation system for ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL). The goal of this cosmetic surgery technique is to preferentially burst tumescent fat cells while leaving other tissues with smaller, more robust cells unharmed. Sound Surgical Technologies, LLC, the maker of the Vaser Liposelection system, claims a number of advantages for their technique over traditional liposuction, power-assisted liposuction, and even other forms of UAL. with mild suction that doesn’t damage other tissues. The result is that you can lose the fat you want without damaging your skin, nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue.
Disadvantages of Other Liposuction Methods
The traditional form of lipoplasty, known as liposuction or Suction-Assisted Lipoplasty (SAL), uses a cannula attached to a vacuum that sucks out fatty tissue. This cannula is a great and hungry maw that cuts its way indiscriminately through the tissue, sucking up fat, but also sucking up nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue. This could lead to extensive bruising and post-operative pain. Sometimes patients experienced nerve damage in the treated area. Often, the results were uneven because the cannula powerfully attacked wherever it touched, and unless great care were taken by the surgeon, untouched areas would remain as lumps of fat. Its primary advantage is the speed with which it could indiscriminately attack tissue.
Building off SAL, Power-Assisted Lipoplasty (PAL), uses a pneumatic or electric cannula to more easily cut through tissue. This offers even more speed, but at the cost of more tissue damage, including avulsive trauma to treated areas. In some cases, blood and other tissues accounted for as much as half of the material removed in PAL.
Early variants of UAL sought to correct the avulsive trauma issues of both SAL and PAL, but created a new risk. The energy transmitted from the tip of the UAL probe could lead to tissue burns and organ damage in some cases. Vaser claims to have corrected this through the engineering design of its probes. The grooved design of its probes, which come in three variants, transmits energy not only from the tip, but from the grooves, defocusing energy to prevent tissue burns and allowing the probe to pass more easily through tissue.
Keys to Liposelectivity
Vaser credits a three-step process for the high selectivity of its process.
- Infusion: During the operation, the tissue is bathed in a medicating fluid that provides thermal protection, allows for the transmission of sonic waves, and becomes a vehicle for the removal of the emulsified fat.
- Emulsification: The ultrasound energy not only bursts the fat cells, but provides a stirring energy that evenly mixes the fat and protein of the burst cells with the medicating fluid. Probe selection also allows for selectivity in this step, with each of three grooved designs targeted to particular kinds of fatty tissue, giving the amount of emulsification necessary without threatening the surrounding tissue.
- Aspiration: As the fat cells are emulsified, the cannulae provide a gentle, steady suction for the extraction of the emulsion. With adequate infusion, this allows the fat to be removed with little damage of surrounding tissue.
Benefits of Vaser Liposelection
With a skilled and practiced surgeon controlling the probe, what you’re left with is an area from which the fat has been smoothly and evenly removed. If you have good skin elasticity, the undamaged tissues that remain will contract, leaving you slimmer and shapelier.
Because there’s less damage to other tissues, there’s also less pain, less bruising, and a shorter recovery time.
The procedure can be used on all areas traditionally treated by liposuction, including:
- Outer thighs
- Arms
- Hips
- Breasts
- Buttocks
- Abdomen
And less damage means that it can be used in areas that were too risky for other liposuction techniques, such as the neck, chin, and inner thighs, providing vital support to procedures such as neck lifts and thigh tucks.
If you are considering a liposuction procedure, you should schedule an initial consultation with a plastic surgeon in your area to find out if this surgery is right for you. Qualified plastic surgeons are the only ones with the education and training to determine if any procedure will be able to give you the results you desire with an acceptable risk factor.
Read more articles about liposuction and body contouring.