Clinical Practice Delivery Systems
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Aesthetics Journal
Injectable delivery systems Ruth Donnelly speaks to aesthetic practitioners about their preferred injectable delivery tools
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2011. Consisting of a control unit with a foot pedal and four colour-coded syringe handpieces, which attach to the control unit via a lead, the system uses carbon dioxide to apply a more consistent pressure than can be achieved by hand alone, and claims to offer improved injection control with reduced hand fatigue for the practitioner. Dr Martyn King, co-founder of the Cosmedic Skin Clinic, has been using the Artiste system in his practice and says, “People get better results with this system and less pain, because it injects slowly, which sends out fewer pain receptors, and you can inject very small, consistent amounts so there’s less risk of causing lumps.” Dr King also offers injectable training courses and has found the system to be of great help in demonstrating the ideal injection flow. “If you get people to inject onto a piece of card to try and create one line of the same thickness all the way down, even with quite experienced injectors the line will get thicker and thinner, which is to do with how hard they press and how quickly they move their hand,” he explains, “whereas with the Artiste, you get a nice, consistent flow.” Mr Humzah agrees to a point, and says, “The Artiste is a good system and occasionally I still use it, but it’s cumbersome loading it up. The new systems are more portable, which is better for the cosmetic world.”
Injectables have come a long way since collagen injections were first used in the 1970s, and it’s not just the products themselves that have changed; injection techniques and the devices we use to administer treatments are evolving all the time. Syringes have been adapted to become more comfortable for the practitioner to use and now produce a smoother flow and, more recently, automated systems that assist in the injection process itself have become available. “The fillers are all different now, with different properties, so the pressure you use when injecting has to be adjusted accordingly,” says consultant plastic surgeon, Mr Dalvi Humzah. “I think that’s what has led to the development of these mechanically-aided delivery systems. They started off as rather cumbersome machines, but they did seem to work and were particularly good for delivering in large volumes, which I do a lot of in my reconstructive work.”
The U225 Mesogun Artiste In the short time that these systems have been available in the UK, even these have seen great change. The Artiste Controlled Injection System, from Nordson Micromedics, was launched in the UK and parts of the US in May 40
Aesthetics | December 2014
The Frenchmade U225 Mesogun is one example of these more portable devices. It has been available in the UK for longer than Artiste, and is really only suitable for mesotherapy, rather