DIGITAL IMAGING AND LIPOSUCTION: IS IT THE TRUTH?
Ó PJWMDPA
Digital photography
and imaging definitely has a place in cosmetic surgery. However, for
cosmetic
surgery purposes, digital imaging (photography)
should be renamed digital SURFACE imaging. This is because with currently
available digital photographic and photographic analysis technology
only surface light information is gathered by the camera and "processed"
by the computer. Most medical imaging systems can give prospective patients
a pretty good idea of how they might look after CERTAIN TYPES of cosmetic
surgery. Digital imaging works fairly reliably in operations like hair
transplants, nose jobs (rhinoplasty), and some eye jobs (blepharoplasty).
This is because these particular procedures involve problems with less-thick
layers of tissue and anatomy.
When it comes to liposuction,
current digital imaging is one of the least reliable ways to
predict or display an outcome. Current digital imaging systems cannot
detect hidden protruding hip or thigh bone structures covered by thicker
muscle in liposuction patients. When it comes to liposuction, there
are just too many deep and relatively thick and hypervariable layers
for a system that only views the surface to predict or display. Today’s
surface imaging systems simply cannot tell the doctor the proportions
or the amounts of underlying skeleton, muscle or fat.
Until better imaging
systems are available, liposuction patients can only hope for the best
with digital imaging. More accurately, if patients wish to view reality,
a simple hands-on gentle perpendicular probing physical exam of the
area to be suctioned by their surgeon, with a nurse present, will give
the most reliable idea of where and how much fat can be removed.
Fancy "high-tech" ways
to get a good idea of the thickness of the liposuction-albe fatty layer
include ultrasound, CAT (computer tomographic), and MRI (magnetic resonance
imaging) scans. When combined with digital surface imaging by computer
algorithm a more accurate display "before" and "after" results might
be achieved. However, the website author feels that these "high-tech"
methods are unnecessary in the hands of a good surgeon, and that the
current skill and art of performing the liposuction procedure far outweighs
in importance the "high-tech" digital analysis.
One possibly for future
digital imaging for liposuction patients is to combine in a computer
the results of regular digital camera with an external sonography to
reveal the amount of liposuction-able fat and expected post-surgical
result. A low cost unit for intraoperative use could aid some surgeons
in more difficult areas.
For a more in-depth
discussion, please see the Web site subsection entitled Judging
Before and After Photos.
