Adjustable implant technique

(Illustration credit: Hilton Becker, M.D., F.A.C.S.)

BOCA RATON, FLA. — The Spectrum adjustable breast implant allows augmentation and reconstruction patients to post-operatively determine the size of their breasts. The implant is a membrane that is filled with saline via detachable dome. Saline is added or removed from the implant post-operatively by inserting a thin needle through the skin into the injection dome. Once the patient is satisfied with the size and shape of her breasts, the dome is removed, usually three to six months post-operatively. The implant seals at the self-sealing valve. Alternatively, the injection dome may be exteriorized and removed one week later. In this case, too, if the patient wishes to enlarge (or decrease) the size of her breasts, saline is added or removed by inserting a thin needle into the dome. When the patient is satisfied with the result, the injection dome can be removed under local anesthetic. "It is the ability of the adjustable breast implant to correct or improve difficult breast problems such as ptosis, tubular and unilateral breast development that makes this implant so unique," says its inventor Hilton Becker, M.D., of Boca Raton, Fla. "Because these implants can be filled gradually over a period of several months, discomfort is minimized while the skin slowly stretches. In order to avoid the unnatural, hard-looking appearance of some augmentation, especially the upper fullness, adjustable breast implants can be overfilled, then the volume reduced, allowing the breast to relax, producing a more natural appearance," he says.

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Adjustable implant technique

Article-Adjustable implant technique

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