Interview with Dr. Patrick Tonnard

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Points of Discussion

How Dr. Tonnard got involved with NanoFat
The beginning of the collaboration with Tulip
How Tulip is different
The future of nanofat procedures

The Interview

Interviewer: I’m here with one of the pioneers behind Tulip NanoFat, Dr. Patrick Tonnard. Thank you so much for joining us.
Dr. Tonnard: Thank you.

Interviewer: So you have published a lot of literature about the use of nanofat, 200 plus scientific, peer-reviewed papers, publications. You’re a speaker as well. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved in facial rejuvenation and specifically also using nanofat?
Dr. Tonnard: Well, we did a lot of fat grafting procedures, as everybody had the experience that you see an improvement of the quality of the skin after a fat grafting procedure. And a lot of people thought it was because of the stem cells that were present in the fat. And our idea was, if we have that effect with grafting the fat in a deeper layer in the subcutaneous level, why don’t we try to have a more liquid product and put it more closer to the skin so it can have a direct effect on the quality of the skin? So that’s why we thought of emulsifying, liquefying the fat. And we talked about this with the Tulip company, and they were willing to cooperate and develop the techniques and the instruments for that.

How His Collaboration Began With Tulip

Interviewer: Can you talk a little bit more about how that collaboration began and how it unfolded? Dr. Tonnard: Well, my relation with Tulip goes back a long time, up to the late husband of Marcille, Mr. Johnson. And we had a very good relationship. We could see there was a lot of interest. And we talked about the idea of developing a device to liquefy, to emulsify, to micronize the fat. And then, as they were interested, they sent over an engineer there to look what we were doing and to understand what we needed on a technical level. And that went actually very smooth. It took some time, but it was a very nice experience.

Dr. Tonnard Describes The Process

Interviewer: So how was the tool developed then in the application? Can you talk a little bit about that process? Dr. Tonnard: Well, well, it’s trial and error, of course, a little bit, then we had to first to try some protocols, some prototypes, I mean. But after all, it all went very well. And it all was a matter of the right communication. People listen to you, they understand you. And then you go both in the same direction. And as I told you, it was a very nice and positive experience. Interviewer: Right. And then there was a gen1 device and a generation 2 device, correct? Dr. Tonnard: Yes. And that was a decision that Tulip took to make a disposable device after the reusable device. It’s the same, but I think the future is disposable also for techniques of sterilization and these things. So, that’s what they did.

The Benefit of Using Tulip NanoFat

Interviewer: What do you think is the greatest benefit of using Tulip NanoFat? Dr. Tonnard: The benefit is that it is cheap. It’s simple. It’s quick. It can be done in the operating room. There are no regulatory problems in comparison with the enzymatic isolation of stromal vascular fraction. And probably if we hear the latest research by, for instance, Ramon Llull, probably the mechanically dissociated fat has a higher activity than the enzymatically isolated stromal vascular fraction. So that’s a benefit after all. Interviewer: So you’re touching on it a little bit here, but what makes Tulip NanoFat different from some of the other nanofat procedures that are available right now? Dr. Tonnard: Well, you can see that whenever something is proposed that works, it is copied in all kinds of ways. And there are a lot of other surgeons that have their way of producing their kind of nanofat. That’s why they came up with the name Tulip NanoFat, which I think is a good idea because everybody is doing his way of the product. But the end result is the clinical result. And I think up till now, we are the only ones who can show definite, fantastic clinical results. There is a lot of discussion. Some people say you have to remove the aqueous fractions. You have to remove the oily fraction. We don’t remove everything. We just inject the whole mixture. And there is a difference between the clinical aspect and the research aspect because if you would think about it on a research level, of course, there are arguments to take out the oil. But these are all things that you can do afterward. You can do that if you want. We don’t do it. We stick to the protocol that we developed, and we’re happy with that.

The Future of NanoFat Procedures

Interviewer: So you’ve been behind obviously this amazing procedure and pioneering this. What’s to come? What’s the future gonna look like?
Dr. Tonnard: Well, the future is always evolving. The newest thing is the needling that we do together with the nanofat before we injected the fat. And if we do large surfaces like full-face or decolletage, it’s difficult to have an even depth of delivery of the product because of the different angulation of the needle.

Now, we’re using a needling device, so we are sure that we deliver the nanofat evenly in an even distribution on the whole surface of the skin. And on top of that, it’s a combination, the needling alone, dry needling has already a regenerative effect. It stimulates collagen as the information. If you put the stromal vascular fraction from the nanofat in it, it gives an extra potency. And that is very interesting.

And I think most of the patients understand that we have to look at aging… The aging of the skin is a continuous process. There is not one magic treatment that will make you stop aging. It’s like cutting your hair. If people go to the hairdresser, some people every week, every month, every two months. Well, if you boost your skin with stem cells every few years, this will definitely slow down the aging process. We don’t know yet to what level but if we can eventually stop the aging process, that will be very fine.

Interviewer: Yeah, well, thank you so much for taking the time to explain some of this and share your expertise. We really appreciate it.
Dr. Tonnard: Okay. Thank you.