We went with Kalei Fernandes, a patient who had the operation, to see how it actually works.

Fernandes, who wants to fix her stomach and inner thighs, is one of the first in Hawaii to try the procedure, which is called the Slim Procedure or SlimLipo. She said,

I'm dieting and exercising all the time but there are just some spots that just have not gone away.

Women and men tend to store fat in certain areas and those areas of fat are typically exercise resistant. At first, I was skeptical because, as doctors, we see a lot of technology that often doesn't really pan out.

However, Dr. Ching observes that after one month of applying the laser machine, results have been encouraging. He has pictures before and after the procedure of his patients who are keeping a record of the results. He said,

I've seen people with very limited swelling, very limited bruising, much less pain.

After almost 30 minutes under the laser with only local anesthesia, Fernandes said she felt fine. She added that she’s "good, relaxed," and did not feel any pain at all.

The manufacturers of SlimLipo state that fats are being melted and liquefied by the laser before they are removed, in contrast to a traditional liposuction procedure wherein fats that are still intact are broken and suctioned out. Moreover, incisions are smaller in the SlimLipo procedure. In the case of Fernandes, Dr. Ching carried out one cut through her navel.

Developers of SlimLipo also say that patients would observe lesser scars, less postsurgery pain, and shorter healing time, so short that Fernandes states that she would be reporting for work the following day.