Nanofat Microneedling
What is Nanofat?
Nanofat is a revolutionary concept in fat grafting that enables the treatment of fine lines and thinning skin associated with aging using tiny parcels of the matrix and its stromal vascular fraction, which include stem cells, growth factors, and other regenerative materials in your fat cells.
Nanofat grafting significantly enhances skin quality. Combining nanofat with cofactors like hyaluronic acid, botulinum toxin, and vitamin C, as well as therapies like microneedling and drug delivery, leads to improved results.
Process of Obtaining Nanofat
The process of obtaining nanofat involves six steps:
Local Anesthesia: A needle puncture in the skin similar to a blood draw.
Anesthetic Introduction: Using a rounded cannula, which is gentler than a needle.
Fat Withdrawal: One or two syringes of fat are extracted.
Fat Washing: Using a device co-developed with Tulip Medical.
Fat Processing: The fat is progressively broken into smaller microscopic parcels.
Nanofat Creation: These parcels are further modified into nanofat by passing through two screens of different sizes.
Applications and Benefits
Nanofat can be used to restore thinning skin to a more youthful condition. Studies from Italy have shown that stromal vascular fraction and nanofat can reverse some of the architectural changes in elastin and collagen, regenerating tissues. It has been proven to improve hair growth in early stages of alopecia and enhance the appearance of scars and wounds due to increased blood supply and reduced inflammation.
Uses in Cosmetic Procedures
At Dr. Boonipat's practice, nanofat and stromal vascular enriched fat are used as tissue grafts for:
Fine lines
Forehead rejuvenation
Smoker lines around the lips
Deep lines on the neck and face
Sun damage, often in combination with fractional lasers.
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An example of a 53-year old patient from an academic paper from Italy after nanofat injection for the fine wrinkles.
La Padula, S.; Ponzo, M.; Lombardi, M.; Iazzetta, V.; Errico, C.; Polverino, G.; Russo, F.; D’Andrea, L.; Hersant, B.; Meningaud, J.P.; et al. Nanofat in Plastic Reconstructive, Regenerative, and Aesthetic Surgery: A Review of Advancements in Face-Focused Applications. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 4351. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134351
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Nanofat Microneedling
Nanofat microneedling is used for deep dermal delivery to treat acne scars, radiated tissue, and general scars. Additionally, during laser resurfacing, nanofat delivers growth factors, stem cells, and other regenerative cells into the skin, similar to the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP), but with more significant benefits in regenerating elastin and collagen.
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How Microneedling Works
Microneedling uses tiny needles to create small channels in the skin, stimulating it naturally. This process releases growth factors and healing substances that lead to the production of collagen and elastin. The effects of microneedling include:
Strengthening the skin and reducing coarse pores by stimulating the production of new connective tissue fibers.
Promoting the renewal of skin cells and cleansing the skin, resulting in a smoother and more radiant complexion.
Combining Nanofat with Microneedling
For over a decade, scientists have recognized that fat tissue is rich in stem cells, which can repair damaged tissue. In 2013, Tonnard and Verpaele introduced a technique to extract these stem cells easily from fat tissue. Since then, hundreds of patients have undergone nanofat treatments to regenerate their face, neck, cleavage, and hands.
By combining microneedling with nanofat, the regenerative cells are evenly implanted in the skin’s connective tissue layer. This procedure, performed under local anesthesia, shows effects within a few weeks, with restorative effects continuing for up to a year.
Typical indications for nanofat needling include:
Forehead rejuvenation
Smoker lines around the lips
Sun damage
Deep dermal delivery for acne scars
Fine lines and wrinkles
Acne scars
Burn scars
Pigment disorders
Coarse pores
Stretch marks
Sagging skin
Preventatively, annual nanofat needling can slow the aging of the skin from the age of thirty.
Nanofat microneedling provides a non-surgical facelift by rejuvenating the face using your own body fat.
Procedure and Safety
The procedure involves removing fat from a specified area of the body, processing it into nanofat, and injecting it into the facial skin through microneedling. This encourages stem cells and growth factors within the fat to stimulate new growth within the dermis, resulting in a fuller, less lined, and more youthful appearance. Nanofat microneedling is considered safe with a low complication rate and high patient satisfaction.
Assessing Patients
Pre-operative considerations include a thorough evaluation of your facial anatomy and bone structure, with possible recommendations for complementary or alternative procedures to achieve the best results.
More Services
Watch a video of how nanofat microneedling being performed by the inventor of nanofat, Dr. Patrick Tonnard.
So right now you can see I'm harvesting fat. The patient is fully awake and here I'm processing the fat into nanofat by passing it back and forth to break up the cells and this leaves the stem cells and the growth factors and we're going to deliver this to the skin via microneedling again under local and um you can see here that I'm just using the microneedling pen and then just putting the Nano fat on the skin to deliver it.
Example from a paper for an 73 y/o female with combined facelift/necklift and nanofat microneedling. Close-up views show improvement of the perioral and chin regions, with decreased fine rhytides and pigmentation (this area medially to the nasolabial folds is not undermined or otherwise treated by facelift).
Righesso R, Piccinini PS, Uebel CO. A Combined Approach for Fast Nanofat Microneedling. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2021 Apr-Jun;14(2):248-255. doi: 10.4103/JCAS.JCAS_142_20. PMID: 34566373; PMCID: PMC8423193.