Oui, Oui, Paris
IMCAS takes Paris for the 18th year in a row.
By Wendy Lewis, Contributing Editor
The International Master Course on Aging Science (IMCAS) has earned its place at the forefront of aesthetic medicine. What was once a mainly European congress has blossomed over the years into a truly international multi-specialty meeting.
“It is the gold standard of medical meetings in our specialty,” says Frank Rosengaus, MD, a facial plastic surgeon from Carretera Cancún-Tulum, Mexico and IMCAS Scientific Committee member.
Growing, Growing, Grown
The healthy growth and expansion of the aesthetic market took the forefront during the IMCAS Industry Tribune.
Among the most important trends are instant beauty, personalization, home care devices, minimally invasive energy-based devices, natural beauty, and medical spas, says Jean-Yves Coste, Senior Healthcare Director Paris for Michel Dyens & Co.
Maintenance, which was formerly considered an American concept, has now become key around the world and a driver for consumer acceptance of fillers, toxins, devices, and cosmeceuticals, he says. As such, it's important for practitioners and brands to attract more consumers to medical aesthetics and develop long-term loyalty among an increasingly younger, health-conscious clientele to grow the market.
The Future is Now
Regenerative medicine and the use of stem cells is also gaining traction globally, Coste says. “Using microfat prepared using a filtration system (Puregraft) and in a closed circuit has been used for the treatment of the face in patients suffering from systemic sclerosis and has demonstrated a significant improvement in the disability score on the face,” says Guy Magalon, MD, a plastic surgeon in Marseilles, France. This was also used in a preclinical model in horses suffering from degenerative joint lesions.
The study demonstrated the feasibility and safety of this treatment and the need to initiate clinical trials in humans.
Motiva Implants also generated some excitement and enthusiasm at IMCAS. This is a next generation breast implant, explains Michael Scheflan, MD, a plastic surgeon in Tel Aviv, Israel. Manufactured in Costa Rica, the device is an ultra-soft form-stable gel with a unique shell design that is said to render the implant strong and durable. Motiva feature 500 implant choices for patients and surgeons to select from and have their eye on FDA approval down the line.
The interest in facial injections taking into account the high mobility of the patient's face is growing, says Valerie Taupin, Founder and CEO of Teoxane Laboratories. Several lectures highlighted techniques aiming at maintaining a perfectly natural face after injections.
“The importance of ergonomics for the injection of fillers is gaining ground. Injection devices, such as guides for needles, or ultra thin needles popped up at this year's IMCAS. Doctors want to be precise, limit the risk of post-injection reactions and reach, once again, the most natural outcome,” says Taupin.
Special Sessions
The popular full-day Minimally Invasive Cadaver Workshop featured general anatomy dissection plus injection techniques with dual screens, and filled the entire auditorium. “The meeting has expanded to encompass a wide scope in terms of the depth of the market, and to include more surgery,” says Jonathan Sykes, MD, a facial plastic surgeon in Roseville, CA and Past President of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Dr. Sykes was among the surgeons leading the cadaver workshop.
There was also a full day dedicated to cosmeceuticals that attracted a large audience. “This confirmed our belief that this sector is set to explode in popularity over the coming years,” says IMCAS founder Benjamin Ascher, MD, a plastic surgeon in Paris.
“IMCAS is a great opportunity to increase my knowledge of products, techniques, and safety in my practice,” says Olena Bazylska, a dermatocosmetologist in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Marketing Takes Center Stage
IMCAS attendees were also keen to learn about how to use social media, web marketing, new technology, and imaging to grow their practices. In addition to reviews, reputation management, and building a modern website, the marketing sessions focused on Instagram and Snapchat, which are taking off in the EMEA region.
“The IMCAS event hosted an array of respectable doctors and specialists of the field who triggered our thoughts and challenged our brains with a plethora of intriguing topics,” says Nikolas Metaxatos, MD, PhD, plastic surgeon and Medical Director of Symmetria in Athens.
Dr. Metaxotos stressed the importance of establishing strong relationships with patients. Providing top-tier services and a memorable customer experience counts, but so too does placing your business on the digital forefront by having a tailor-made digital and interactive application, which he considers to be a statement that your company is one with an outlook in the future.
“Doctors need to stand out as the competition is getting tougher. This was also strongly addressed in the business oriented session of the congress, in terms of patient management and doctor-patient communication. How to reach out to new patients and how the ensure loyalty of their existing patients, both are a real objective for most clinics today. Differentiation is key, for them as it is for us,” says Taupin.
Going Forward
The IMCAS Scientific Committee is now looking at how to utilize the feedback to build upon this year's success to develop an even more comprehensive scientific program in 2017. “Dr. Benjamin Ascher is very responsive to the needs of his audience. His team has done an excellent job of really growing IMCAS in to the cosmetic world on steroids,” says Dr. Sykes. “One of the best things about the meeting it that is has reinvented and transformed itself into what people want and need today.”
Gary Monheit, MD, a dermatologist in Birmingham, AL, agrees.
“This was the most outstanding IMCAS, as well as multi specialty cosmetic meeting, that I have ever attended. The panels were successful and all talks I was involved with were objective, relevant, and unbiased.”
Wendy Lewis is President of Wendy Lewis & CO Ltd, a marketing and social media boutique in New York City, and Founder/Editor in Chief of beautyinthebag.com. Reach her at WL@wendylewisco.com.
Patients Willing to Pay Up to Fix Facial Defects, Improve QoL
Patients are willing to pay up to correct facial defects, a new study suggests.
The average “willingness to pay” (WTP) ranged from $1,170 to repair small peripheral facial defects to $7,875 to repair large central defects, according to the results, which were published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery. Facial defects also were perceived to decrease quality of life, the study showed.
“Surgical reconstruction of facial defects is viewed as a high-value intervention that nearly eliminates this quality-of-life penalty for most defects,” conclude researchers who were led by Lisa E. Ishii, MD, MHS, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore. “These findings have important implications for patients, surgeons, and health policymakers. They also set the framework for using WTP to better understand facial perception.”
To arrive at their findings, Dr. Ishii and colleagues measured health state utility (a health-related area of quality of life) and dollar value (as measured by the maximum amount of money a person is willing to pay) for surgically reconstructing facial defects.
The authors measured these from the perspective of casual observers—to gain a societal perspective—because patients who seek out reconstruction surgery for facial defects often do so over concern about what others will think of their defect.
The study included a socioeconomically diverse group of 200 casual observers who looked at images of faces with defects of varying size and location before and after surgical reconstruction. Participants were asked to imagine the defect was on their own face and to rate their health state utility and how much they would be willing to pay to have the defect surgically repaired to appear normal. The observers placed a premium on repairing large and central facial defects and were willing to pay less to repair small and peripheral facial defects. The study notes the data may be different from actual patient experience and the actual costs of surgical reconstruction.
Lumenis Supports Launch of Restoring Heroes Foundation for Scar Patients
Kim Phuc, the young girl who was immortalized in a photograph taken during the 1972 Napalm bombing, has come a long way since that fateful day.
Watch it Now
Watch Dr. Waibel discuss her work treating Kim Phuc.
When the photo was taken, she was running away from her village, naked, after her clothing had been burnt off. South Vietnamese planes had accidentally dropped napalm bombs on Trang Bangvillage, which had been occupied by North Vietnamese troops. Phuc and others were only trying to flee when they were mistaken for soldiers and bombed with napalm. “My skin was on fire,” she says. “I was a happy 9-year-old child who knew nothing about war.”
That day changed her life forever. The physical and emotional scars ran deep, but thanks to much soul-searching, 17 operations, and a series of treatments with Lumenis UltraPulse laser to treat scars on her back and left arm, Phuc is finally entering what she calls “a new chapter of healing.”
She spoke of her journey during an event sponsored by Lumenis at the Annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Washington, DC. Together with Miami, FL dermatologist Jill S. Waibel, MD, who is treating Phuc pro bono, she announced the formation of The Restoring Heroes Foundation, a charity to help care for US wounded warriors. Restoring Heroes will provide care transportation and housing at no expense to the patient and his/her family. Restoring Heroes also aims to develop a scar code that will be covered by TRICARE (insurance post-military service).
Phuc has had four laser treatments so far. “My scars are getting softer and I have less pain,” she says.
“We are entering a new era of scar treatment. UltraPulse has changed the game,” Dr. Waibel says. “It is my main tool and improves appearance as well as function and range of motion.”
On the emotional side, Phuc spent years working on forgiveness and trying to focus on the positive, and is the first to admit that this wasn't always easy. ”It was the hardest work of my life, but I did it. Try to see me as a symbol of peace, not war.”
Scar Treatment Market to Grow
Scar treatment will be a hot growth area in coming years, according to a new report by Persistence Market Research. The report cites a rising incidence of burn and trauma cases and an increasing prevalence of acne scarring as drivers of growth in this category.
The scar treatment market has been estimated to be valued at $3,240.3 million in 2015, and will increase to $4,190.6 million by 2022, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent over the forecast period.
North America is expected to be the dominant region in the global scar treatment market throughout the forecast period. The scar treatment market is segmented into topical treatment, laser treatment, surface treatment, and injections. Among these, the topical treatment segment is expected to dominate the overall market by 2022. Lasers are estimated to register highest CAGR of five percent in the North America scar treatment market over the forecast period.
By distribution channel, scar treatment market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and drug stores, and e-Commerce. Among these, the hospitals segment is expected to remain the most attractive, and is estimated to account for 37.8 percent share of the North America market value by 2016 end, and further increase to 38.6 percet by 2022.
FDA Clears Venus Versa for 20+ Common Clinical Indications
The FDA cleared Venus Concept's Venus Versa system for skin rejuvenation, hair removal, facial wrinkles and rhytides, skin resurfacing, pigmented and vascular lesions, and acne vulgaris.
Venus Versa combines intense pulsed light, SmartPulse technology, multi-polar radiofrequency, pulsed electro magnetic fields, and nano-fractional radiofrequency via SmartScan technology to address more than 20 common skin concerns.
Syneron Candela Introduces New Technologies
Syneron Medical Ltd., launched three new products during the 2016 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) meeting in Washington, DC in March. The launches included the new CO2RE Intima system for gynecological and genitourinary indications, an ultra-short picosecond PicoWay laser wavelength, and a Profound SubQ hand piece.
CO2RE Intima, part of Syneron Candela's CO2RE platform, is launching to address a growing need in the gynecology market for women's intimate wellness. CO2RE Intima is designed to perform gynecological and genitourinary treatments by stimulating healing responses in the vaginal and vulva areas, while also remodeling the tissue fibers in the vaginal and vulva areas.
A third, ultra-short pulse duration 785nm wavelength was introduced for PicoWay for tattoo removal, pigmentation correction, and to treat skin irregularities. The new ultra-short wavelength utilizes a titanium sapphire laser for the removal of blue and green inks. The PicoWay laser platform delivers ultra-short pulses of energy (e.g., 300 picoseconds at 785nm) making treatments shorter and less painful for patients. The addition of PicoWay's third wavelength completes the PicoWay laser platform, allowing for the comprehensive removal and treatment of all colors of tattoos and skin pigmentation issues.
Profound, a microneedle-based radiofrequency device, is clinically proven to stimulate three important factors for percutaneous treatment of facial wrinkles: elastin, collagen, and hyaluronic acid. The company is launching a new SubQ hand piece for Profound for the treatment of adipose tissue and deeper connective tissue. With the launch of the new SubQ applicator, Profound offers a real-time temperature controlled microneedling radiofrequency device for the treatment of both shallow and deep skin at the dermal and subcutaneous layers.
New CoolSculpting Family of Applicators Now Available
ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc., recently introduced a new family of applicators called CoolAdvantage to deliver CoolSculpting cooling technology at a lower temperature, cutting treatment time nearly in half.
The CoolAdvantage delivers safe and efficacious results in 35 minutes through an applicator cup designed to increase direct tissue contact with lower temperatures.
A clinical study that compared the CoolAdvantage enhancements to the commercially available CoolCore applicator showed equivalent fat layer reduction measured by ultrasound and blinded photographic review. The new applicator cup shape led to a 45 percent increase in comfort during the treatment. Eighty-five percent of the study subjects preferred the CoolAdvantage treatment due to its decreased treatment time and increased comfort.
CoolAdvantage comes with three interchangeable contours to address multiple treatment areas on the patient:
- CoolFit Advantage for vertical areas of fat such as the inner thigh.
- CoolCore Advantage for the contours of the abdomen.
- CoolCurve+ Advantage for flanks.
FDA Proposes Ban on
Powdered Medical Gloves
The FDA has proposed a ban on most powdered gloves in the US. While use of these gloves is decreasing, they pose an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury to healthcare providers, patients, and other individuals who are exposed to them, which cannot be corrected through new or updated labeling.
The proposed ban applies to powdered surgeon's gloves, powdered patient examination gloves and absorbable powder for lubricating a surgeon's glove.
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