RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ultrasound-assisted liposuction has been investigated as an aid to breakup fat for its less traumatic removal, and minimizing the post-operative recovery period. This research focused on understanding the mechanism of fat interaction with laser-generated ultra short stress waves with high amplitudes. STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS: Freshly extracted human fat was secured in an Aluminum (Al) cavity. Sixteen nanoseconds duration stress waves were generated by exfoliating the bottom surface of the Al cavity by focusing 3 nanoseconds-long YAG laser pulses over a 2 mm diameter area at 10 Hz with a maximum pulse energy of 0.95 J. The lipids released due to cell rupture were extracted and measured RESULTS: Four minutes of pulsing released about 0.005 g, which was over 1% of the initial weight of the tissue. In situ temperature rise of only 5 degrees C was measured at the maximum stress wave loading duration of 5 minutes. This was evidenced by histological sections, which showed no burn artifacts. CONCLUSIONS: This research shows that ultra short stress waves can mechanically cavitate fat in vitro without significant damage to adjacent structures, and forms the basis for future clinical work.
