Laser lipolysis or laser fat removal

Laser lipolysis is a minor-surgical procedure performed under local anaesthetic. It is used to remove or to remodel certain areas of fat the body where fat has been deposited.

The principle championed initially by SmartLipo® is that a laser fibre is moved repeatedly through the areas of fat to be removed. The laser energy of 6 Watts is fired in bursts at a rate of 40 per second. This energy bursts the cells, releasing the fat.

However, we have now moved to a 30 Watt laser which fires at 100 times per second having a quicker and more effective result.

With the older SmartLipo® system, the burst cells die and are eaten away by the body's immune system and the free fat slowly get reabsorbed over 3-6 months. Therefore the effect of SmartLipo® was only seen after 3 - 6 months. Using aspiration, the free fat is sucked out, meaning that an effect is seen immediately and it continues to improve over the next 3-6 months.

How much can be removed?

With the older system, at each treatment, about 500mls (about 2 fist-fulls) of fat can be treated. We know that removing this much at one go is safe and does not cause a problem
with the extra fat in the blood. More than this should be done in a second session.

However now that we aspirate the fat, we are able to remove much more if required.