The Consulting Room: Weight Management Special
The Consulting Room: Weight Management Special
Volume 5, Issue 4.
Dr Dev Patel embraced body contouring devices early on in his career and has progressed through using early radiofrequency (RF) devices, ultrasound and fat freezing to more advanced RF platforms and now LLT.
He explains, “I got my first body contouring device back in 2013, which was very early on in my career. I’d been doing injectable aesthetics part-time for less than two years, but I saw a market for the body. At the time, I was a newbie, so I couldn’t afford one of those big expensive machines, so I got a decent but simple RF device. “Body will always take a back seat because there is a big financial outlay, and you’re going to get less demand relative to the face, so I went slow, and we had a steady stream of patients. I didn’t buy my fat-freezing device until 2018. We were getting some decent results, but I was always aware that it was a slightly riskier procedure because you are essentially using temperatures that can cause burns.”
Dr Patel then started working with InMode using RF and utilising its devices, such as BodyTite, Fractora and Morpheus8. These delivered powerful results but were minimally invasive. But it’s since upgrading to the Evolve X and buying the Emerald that he’s now seeing the same or even better results with a totally noninvasive approach. “How we’ve moved on in almost 10 years, it’s just phenomenal”, he says. “Evolve X is an incredible device. It delivers RF, electroporation and electrical muscle stimulation simultaneously. You can treat different areas in a 30 to 40-minute treatment, and a course of sessions can deliver impressive results. Combining this with Emerald gives the best outcome, especially where fat is concerned.”
“Most devices are about destroying fat, but Emerald really brings a completely new way of thinking. It’s saying that, actually, fat is important. Fat is part of the endocrine system, the hormone system, and it helps regulate many metabolic processes. A lot is being discovered about fat cells and what they do in the body. It is seen not just as some evil thing but as something we should be preserving. The basis of Emerald is that we essentially develop these unhealthy fat cells because they have too much fat in them. What we’re trying to do is get them back to lean, efficient, functioning fat cells.
“The Emerald creates this little transitory pore in the fat cells that allows the fat to leak out. The pore then closes up, and the body processes the fat through the lymphatic system. What’s being shown in studies is that the lean fat cells you create then communicate with unhealthy fat cells nearby that then go through the same process and start working more efficiently, so there’s this sort of chain reaction.
“It triggers a powerful cascade of really important biochemical pathways. This leads to reduced inflammation in cells, increased ATP and improved micro-circulation, among other things. This technology has also been shown to help wound healing and repair, which is why it’s often referred to as a wellbeing laser.” “And, what’s more, you achieve the most important thing the patient has come in for, which is actually trying to reduce fat. Amazingly, this has no downtime, pain, bruising, freezing, side effects or complications. In 30 minutes, you can treat the entire abdominal circumference, whereas, with most other devices, you can only treat certain body areas at one time.”
“In addition, Emerald is FDA-approved for treatment up to BMI 40, which no other device is approved for.”
