A surgically implantable breast prosthesis formed from a flexible container having a front wall and a back wall; the front wall having an outer shape approximately that of the human breast and the back wall having a shape approximately that of the chest wall. The container includes a prolongation extending angularly outwardly toward the axilla region of the anatomy and overlying the pectoral muscle. The container is filled with a silicone gel and a fabric impregnated with the same material used to form the container is secured to the back wall to increase the rigidity of the back wall. A strip of Dacron felt is secured to the outer periphery of the back wall around the axilla prolongation and a small portion of the back wall of the container to support the prosthesis by tissue ingrowth into the Dacron felt.
The invention concerns an implantable breast prosthesis comprising a soft pouch capable of a containing filler substance such as a physiological serum or a silicone gel and which is made side-specific, so as to satisfy aesthetic requirements and for better matching the convexity of the thorax.
The mammary implant includes a shell with a base portion and a reinforcement member provided at the base portion. The shell also includes a promontory portion that projects from the base portion. The reinforcement member can be formed with materials of different hardnesses, or of different thicknesses in different areas. The reinforcement member can also be formed with ribs, rings or grooves at various areas of the reinforcement member to enhance flexibility or rigidity. The reinforced mammary implant prevents capsular contracture due to scar tissue formation after implantation and thus maintains a desired profile and softness of the implanted prosthesis.
An artificial breast form to be worn externally on the body of a woman, not implanted in the body, constructed from preformed, self-contained, stable gel structure of breast compatible size and shape and covered with a porous elastic fabric cover which does not normally constrain the gel.
This invention relates to an implantable, inflatable dual chamber shape retention tissue expander having a resilient annular base and a generally hemispherical shape after inflation which is used to form a generally hemispherical pocket beneath the tissue to be expanded to, for example, provide an appropriately shaped pocket for the receipt of an implantable mammary prosthesis and to a method of using such a tissue expander.
An apparatus for the surgical correction of ptosis of the breast and a method of surgery implementing such an apparatus. A ribbon of inert mesh is connected between the mammary gland and the clavicle, or other element of the skeletal structure above the breast, so as to give support to the breast. The ribbon of mesh may be constructed with a trocar point needle or a cutting edge needle on one end for implementing surgical attachment to the mammary. On the opposite end of the mesh ribbon may be attached a blunt rod to conduct the ribbon beneath the skin from the mammary to the point of attachment on the skeletal structure.
