Breast implants refer to medical prosthesis’s that are used to augment, rebuild or create a new physical form of the breast. Breast implants are by far the most effective as well as dramatic method of gaining bigger breasts. Implants are used to correct the form, size and also the way a woman’s breasts feel. Breast implants are also used for creating breasts in trans-sexual patients who are converting from male to female. There are up to three types of breast implants devices which are defined based on the material that has been used. It can either be saline implant, silicone implant or the alternative composition implant. A saline implant is composed of an elastomer silicone that is filled with a saline solution. A silicone implant is composed of an elastomer silicone shell that is filled with a viscous silicone gel while the alternative composition implant is composed of miscellaneous oils, for example; soy oil and polypropylene.
There exists five generations of the silicone implant and each is defined by the common model manufacturing techniques.
The first generation is known as the Cronin Gerow Implant prosthesis model, 1963 which was a tear drop shaped sac that was filled with the viscous silicone gel. So as to reduce rotation of the silicone implant on the chest cavity wall, it was necessary that it is affixed to the implant with a fastener patch made of Dacron material which was then attached to the back of the shell of the breast implant.
The second generation of the silicone implant was in the 1970s. The device shell became thinner and thinner. Under the clinical practice, the silicone implant proved to be fragile and it also suffered a high number of shell rapture incidences as well as the bleed of the silicone gel. As a result, there was a second technological advancement which was composed of a polyurethane foam coating on the shell of the implant. This thereby reduced the incidences experienced in the first technological advancement. However, there was still a third technological advancement of the silicone implant which consisted of a double lumen breast implant. The goal for this advancement was due to the cosmetic benefits of the silicone gel and also because of a breast implant device whose volume was post operatively adjustable.
The third and fourth generations went hand in hand and happened in the 1980s. Here, the breast implant devices were just sequential advances in the technology that was used to manufacture them. For example, elastomer coated shells that reduced the bleed of the silicone gel were introduced.
The fifth generation of the silicone implant happened in mid 1990s, whereby, the silicone implant was made of a semi solid gel whose purpose was mostly to eliminate bleed of the implant as well as silicone migration from the breast to any other part of the body. Recent studies report that there are low incidences of implant raptures as well as improved medical safety as compared to the previous generations of the breast implant device.