Emerging Tech Could Revolutionize Breast Reconstruction

Many people who have a mastectomy choose to have breast reconstruction — a process that involves multiple surgeries and can take months to years to complete. 

What if there were a way to reduce the number of surgeries and improve results?

Researchers believe that a personalized mold for breast shape and size could improve the breast reconstruction process by making it more efficient and, hopefully, improving results. The new tech is being developed and tested by a multi-institutional team and is supported by a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

There are several types of breast reconstruction surgery after mastectomy. One widely used type of surgery, called flap (or autologous) reconstruction, uses tissue from another part of your body like the lower belly. It creates a more natural look, and has a low chance of your body rejecting it. But despite its advantages, it is a complex and lengthy surgery that requires a lot of skill and experience to perform. More often than not, it requires at least one revision. This is the type of breast reconstruction that a breast mold could improve.

There are four steps to developing the breast mold for reconstruction surgery. First, the person having reconstruction meets with a surgeon and goes through a checklist to determine what they want their breasts to look like. Next, the surgeon and an engineer work together to choose a 3D image from a database that is close to what the person wants their reconstructed breasts to look like. Third, the surgeon and engineer modify that image, with the help of an algorithm, to better fit the desired shape and size. Finally, they use a 3D printer to print the breast mold, which will help the surgeon create the preferred look.

“While a few studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using patient-specific molds to shape tissue into a breast form, a critical barrier to progress in the field is that no one has rigorously evaluated their impact,” said Fatima Merchant, PhD, one of the scientists working on the new technology and department chair of engineering technology at the University of Houston. 

The team of researchers hopes to answer this question by studying how the breast molds they develop affect surgery outcomes. Merchant’s team expects that the breast molds will reduce the need for revisions, and will reduce costs and pain.

Breast molds aren’t new in reconstruction surgery. But up to this point, they have been exact copies of the pre-operative breasts. Or, in the case of a unilateral surgery, they were a mold of the remaining breast. In contrast, the new technology allows people to choose their ideal breast size and shape after mastectomy, giving them more control over the process and potentially improving how they feel about the results.

“Breast reconstruction can help women retain or regain quality of life by mitigating the impacts of body image disruption,” Merchant said.