BioGenie buzz

Wednesday, May 25th 2005, 6:10 am

By: News On 6

Clients call it a miracle cure for some of their persistently pudgy areas. Doctors say it could be too good to be true. The News on 6 first told you about a new technology called BioGenie two weeks ago.

News on 6 anchor Terry Hood takes us to one of the only BioGenie operators in the country, it's in Tulsa, she checks into the Biogenie buzz.

Kim Felts had tried just about everything to lose weight, pills, diet, and exercise. The only thing she ruled out was surgery. So when she heard a non-medical, non-invasive procedure was available in Broken Arrow, she decided to give it a try. "When I first came here, I felt a little skeptical because I had done so many things before. And they worked for some people but they never worked for me. And this finally worked."

Spirit Soul and Body Day Spa owner Susan Keller says BioGenie is just catching on in the United States. Her calendar's booked for months at a time, with 90 percent of her business, repeat customers. "Every client can expect to get a result with every single treatment and that's simply because the technology is so consistent."

The technology is a little shocking, but clients say they don't feel a thing. First, metal electrodes are used to spark a micro-current. Operators say that liquefies fat cells. Then that liquid fat is moved to lymphatic dump sites with a vacuum pump and is expelled from the body.

Tulsa plastic surgeon Brad Garber says he's not seen any scientific studies on BioGenie saying it works or it doesn't. But in the field of plastic surgery, he sees breakthroughs on a weekly basis, many of which turn out to be worthless fads. "I'm all for trying to investigate new techniques, and this electric therapy, you know may pan out, but we can't really suggest it to our patients without having gone through some good scientific studies to really make sure it does work and it's not going to be harmful to the patient."

Dr Garber admits BioGenie doesn't seem harmful to him.

Kim Felts: "But you can't ignore results like this." Kim Felts comes in for maintenance treatments once a week, and says she's not surprised BioGenie has taken off in Broken Arrow. Especially with so many people looking to find ways to lose weight.

Susan Keller says the only reason clients usually don't schedule a second treatment is because of money. It costs $150 an hour. Keller says she also asks potential clients about their medical histories.

She refuses to treat people who've had or do have cancer. She says one of the side effects of BioGenie is increased metabolism, which she says could spark growth in tumors.