Le jeudi 18 décembre, Monsieur Xavier NELISSEN, titulaire d'un diplôme de docteur en médecine, chirurgie et accouchements  et d’un Certificat de formation à la recherche en sciences médicales, présentera l'examen en vue de l'obtention du grade de Doctorat en sciences médicales, sous la direction de Monsieur Jean-Luc NIZET.

Cette épreuve consistera en la défense publique d'une thèse intitulée : "Contribution à la reconstruction mammaire : conception d’une technique de purification graisseuse automatique". 

Le jury sera composé de :

Eric LIFRANGE (Président), Pierre BONNET (Secrétaire), Anne-Françoise DONNEAU, Guy JERUSALEM, Ali MODARRESSI (HU Genève), Jean-Luc NIZET, Pascale QUATRESOOZ, Filip STILLAERT (UZ Gent).

Résumé de la thèse

Lipofilling is a widely used technique in plastic and reconstructive surgery for volume restoration and augmentation. However, clinical outcomes often remain unpredictable due to low reproducibility and significant variability in fat graft survival. This study evaluated several fat processing techniques and demonstrated that active filtration combined with sequential washing yields adipose tissue of significantly higher quality.

Compared to conventional methods such as decantation, centrifugation, or basic filtration, this approach results in greater cellular viability and reduced levels of contaminants. Building upon these findings, we developed a fully automated, closed-system device that standardizes the processing of harvested adipose tissue. The system minimizes manual handling and reduces contamination risks, while consistently producing high-quality fat grafts. Histological analysis showed that fat processed with active filtration exhibited markedly less fibrosis, fewer oil cysts, and lower inflammatory responses than grafts obtained through traditional methods. The improved biological integrity of the graft enhances the predictability and stability of clinical results, especially in terms of fat survival.

This innovation represents a significant advancement toward the standardization of fat grafting techniques, offering safer, more reliable, and reproducible outcomes. It has the potential to set a new standard in autologous fat transfer for both aesthetic and reconstructive surgical applications.