Improving Safety, Efficacy, and Efficiency with the Push-2-Spin (P2S) Fat Graft Processing Device

Goals/Purpose: As fat grafting has penetrated from operative room to clinic and office, the needs of the practitioner have shifted. Small volume fat grafting as an in-office procedure is widely accessible, broadly applicable, and marked by high patient demand and satisfaction. The office setting, however, carries its own technical and logistical limitations particularly need for space, equipment, and assistants as well as risk of mess and contamination. Recent development of in-line devices such as the Push-to-Spin (P2S) system offer the potential to improve this process, yielding a rapid, handheld, multi-use system to minimize operative time and mess while minimizing risk of contamination. Here we described further technical innovations on the P2S prototype to improve operative ease-of-use, maintain sterility, and minimize operative time without sacrificing adipose viability or yield.

Methods/Technique: Abdominoplasty samples were obtained as discarded tissue. Lipoaspirate was collected utilizing a 3.0 mm liposuction cannula. Lipoaspirate was processed via either: centrifugation (Coleman technique), the P2S benchtop or the novel P2S handheld device. Air exposure over time, microscopic presence of foreign bodies, and colony-forming assay on agar was utilized to assess risk of contamination in an office-equivalent environment. Operative processing time, spin-time, oil fraction, SVF yield and viability, and adipocyte viability were assessed to compare both clinically relevant efficacy and viability.

Results/Complications: The in-line P2S system minimized exposure of fat graft to external contamination regardless of model tested. Both the novel handheld and original benchtop P2S devices processed adipose significantly faster versus Coleman techniques (p<0.05). Additionally, the handheld device demonstrated superior time-to-processing vs. the benchtop prototype marked by increased startup speed and maintained rate of rotation (p<0.05). Oil yield was similar between each device. Purification was not significantly different between the two P2S devices. No significant difference in SVF or adipocyte viability was noted between the two P2S devices.

Conclusion: The advanced P2S system enable in-line, single-unit, handheld operation which significantly improve operative time with the additional benefit of not requiring a stand or separate workspace for processing. Further, in-line use minimizes risk of external contamination consequently ensuring safety of the graft. These benefits come at no cost to efficacy, efficiency, yield, or viability.