An encounter with a patient over two years ago prompted French Plastic Surgeon Alexis Delobaux and his radiologist colleague to create a new and safer technique using ultrasound guidance for gluteal grafts called the SMART BBL (Safe Modern and Artistic Brazilian Butt Lift).

One day I had a client say, “I looked it up on the internet, and I found that you could die from a BBL.” I said, “Yes.” She told me, “But what can we do to prevent the risk?”

Today, Dr. Delobaux never performs a gluteal fat graft without ultrasound guidance. He says he is the only plastic surgeon in Paris using handheld ultrasound for BBL procedures.

BBLs without ultrasound guidance are a risky procedure and safety is critical when we perform the surgery,” he says. “We cannot take the risk of causing a fat embolism or deep thrombosis. Thankfully we have the technology that lets us clearly see the anatomy and where to inject the fat.”

Besides helping him to perform surgeries safely, Dr. Delobaux emphasizes the benefits of ultrasound for precise fat grafting to deliver better contouring and longer lasting results.

We tend to have 30, 40% loss of fat with the fat transfer,” he explains. “With targeted fat grafting, it’s much easier to make the fat stay for the long term, because you know exactly the spots in the butt where the fat will stay longer when injecting. So, it’s easier for us, and it’s better for the patient for long-term results.”

Dr. Delobaux uses the Clarius L7 HD3 at his practice in Paris, France and touts the scanner’s high-definition imaging and wireless connectivity, which unlike cart-based systems provides freedom of movement during procedures.

Plastic surgeons have to target specific areas in the different layers of fat in the buttock. If you have a device which is not capable of giving you the right definition, you can miss some things, and you can sometimes be confused between the layers of fat. So, for me, the definition was one of the most important criteria to choose my scanner,” says Dr. Delobaux. “I was really amazed and surprised when I saw the definition of the Clarius.”

When we asked Dr. Delobaux if he would recommend Clarius ultrasound to a colleague, here’s what he had to say:

For me, it’s really amazing. To have ultrasound in your pocket, it’s like gold for us, because you have all the technology with great quality of images. It’s really light. It’s cheap compared to classical machines. The quality is great. You can record the images, send them to your Cloud. So, for us, it’s like a revolution.”

Watch this video interview with Dr. Delobaux at his office in Paris to hear more about his experience using ultrasound guidance for plastic surgery.

Free Webinar: Learn Dr. Delobaux’s Techniques for Safe BBLs to Avoid Fatal Complications

Clarius and IMCAS have joined forces to bring you the creator of the SMART BBL Dr. Delobaux to share his expert ultrasound techniques for guiding the cannula into the subcutaneous layer and visualizing your fat injections with great accuracy during his live webinar on November 16, 2022.

About Clarius Ultrasound for Plastic Surgery

Clarius handheld ultrasound is the leading choice for plastic surgeons to clearly visualize facial and superficial anatomy and safely guide procedures to avoid complications. Here’s why.

I would recommend Clarius for three main reasons. First, it’s the easy way of connecting your scanner to any device. Second is the quality of the image, because it’s brilliant,” says Dr. Delobaux. “The third is the portability of the device. You can take it everywhere you want. It’s light. And it’s quick and fast, so yeah, I would recommend it to any colleague who is doing plastic surgery. You have the technology, it exists, it’s simple to use, everybody can use it.”

Visit our plastic surgery information page to learn more about Clarius wireless handheld ultrasound for your practice. Feel free to book a personalized virtual demo with a Clarius expert to see high-definition wireless ultrasound imaging in action.