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Overcast Trying to win the waistline war
Hewlett doctor researches fat melting machine
Dr. Zachary Gerut, a practicing aesthetic surgeon in Hewlett for more than 20 years, is one of only two physicians in the U.S. researching the Bella Contour, a non-invasive, fat melting machine that uses dual technologies to diminish a person’s waistline.
Bella Contour that manufactures the machine claims it will reduce inches on a patient’s waistline. The process involves measuring and taking photos of a patient. After the measurements and photos are taken, the patient lies down on a bed and four electrocardiogram patches are put on them and the machine is turned on.
“It’s more of a massage and slight vacuum feeling but nothing like liposuction,” Gerut said. “Patients experience no pain and most treatments last for 40 minutes. Many patients see a difference after one treatment and there is no recovery time.”
Gerut, whose parents are Holocaust survivors graduated Brandeis University and in 1980, the University of Massachusetts Medical School. After completing his residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Gerut became a plastic surgeon in 1986. “Growing up in a Holocaust survivor’s home, I felt the desperate need to help people,” he said.
The Bella Contour is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the reduction of cellulite, treatment of muscle aches and spasms but is not yet approved for fat reduction, Gerut said. However, the FDA granted a 501(k), which means that after several tests are run and the machine is proven to be effective, then the FDA can approve it and treatments will cost $300 each as determined by the company.
Dr. Jeffrey Dover, a Harvard affiliated dermatologist in Chestnut Hill, Mass., has been involved in laser and device research for the last 25 years. This past winter he conducted a pilot prospective study using the Bella Contour to see if it worked to reduce inches in people’s waistlines.
“The pilot study was very encouraging,” Dr. Dover said. “Five people underwent ten treatments twice a week for five weeks and all the people had obvious and substantial waist measurement reduction.”
