Metal on a Breast Implant…..Intriguing Approach
I just read recently of a new twist on a breast implant concept. (Cosmetic Surgery Times, January 2008) In an effort to deal with the problem of capsular contracture (hardening around a breast implant due to too much scar formation), a novel approach is being tested. In France, a new implant featuring a titanium-coated breast implant is being evaluated to see if it can reduce the risk of capsular contracture after surgery. The French Company, Poly Implants Prostheses (PIP), is coating the outer surface of a breast implant with titanium molecules. Now the layer of titanium is incredibly small, so small that you can not see it with the human eye. Under the microscope, the coating is 3,000 thinner than a human hair. Becasue the titanium is so small, it does not interfere with the feel, look, and radiographic properties of a normal breast implant. And no, you will not sound off the scanner at the airport!
The concept is that titanium, one of the most inert and non-reactive materials know to the human body, will cause less potential reactivity than silicone. The titanium layer also reduces gel bleed, in which minute amounts of silicone gel material come through the implant over time and potentially cause capsular contracture. In short, the titanium layer has anti-inflammtaory properties without affecting the softness and feel if silicone breast implants.
In Australia, a two-year trial of 1,500 patients is underway with these titanium-coated breast implants.
While it remains to be seen if they are effective are reducing the small, but significant, risk of capsular contracture in breast augmentation, I applaud their ingenuity and thinking out of the box. This is a concept borrowed from the Orthopedic industry where titanium and plasma spray coatings have been done for years.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana