PHYSICIANS from a record-breaking 70 countries tuned in to watch one of Chelmsford's top plastic surgeons give a 22-year-old woman breasts.
An estimated 196 experts tuned into an internet stream on Saturday, July 5, to watch Professor James Frame and Garrick Georgeu operate amid a series of lectures.
The live footage also introduced the IC360 camera to the world.
Prof Frame is using the £19,000 machine made by 20th Century Fox, the only one in operation, to capture his patients' before-and-after features up close.
"It was amazing," said the ex-Harley Street surgeon.
"I love doing these sorts of things, but the camera to me is the best thing since sliced bread, it's a major asset to patient safety."
Springfield Hospital and Chelmsford Private Day Surgery Hospital surgeon Professor Frame has already operated live on camera, on one occasion before about 2,000 people.
Yet this particular occasion prompted individuals to fly from Hungary, France, Germany, Ireland, the US and even India and Dubai.
Other professionals worldwide could watch the stream, broadcast from the Chelmsford day surgery in New London Road, via the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery website.
"In terms of beaming out to a large audience this is the most number of people by far," said Prof Frame.
The broadcast served as an educational and interactive question and answer event on how to overcome difficult patient defects.
It included introductions and welcome speeches by hospital manager Jill Norman and Anglia Ruskin University vice chancellor Professor Michael Thorne.
Senior plastic surgeon Paul Levick and medical director Peter Cranstone also provided presentations and lectures.
Prof Frame was the first to operate live on camera on the day, providing C-cup implants for a woman with a "pigeon chest".
Pigeon chest, otherwise known as a pectus carinatum, is a defect leaving a person with a chest which appears inverted.
"She had virtually no breasts and had a pigeon chest, it was a total embarrassment, she couldn't put a bra on," he said.
"We don't particularly like operating on younger girls but when you understand what is going on you realise there is a clinical need for it."
Prof Frame, who left the NHS in 2001 and charges patients about £6,000 for his services, has also been famed as the only specialist in the country offering the Brazilian Buttock Lift.
The 61-year-old has also previously labelled any criticism of the industry as a form of jealousy. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion," he said.
