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Types of Implats
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!Bras -Breasts -Breast Augumentation - Plastic Surgery - Cosmetic Surgery -Corrective Surgery - Hair Removal Laser Surgery |
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A breast implant is a prosthesis used to enlarge the size of a woman's breasts (known as breast augmentation) for cosmetic reasons, to reconstruct the breast (e.g. after a mastectomy or to correct genetic deformities), or for the purposes of male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast augmentation is the third most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedure in the United States. In 2005, 291,000 breast augmentation procedures were performed.
Silicone gel implants
Thomas Cronin and Frank Gerow, two Houston, Texas, plastic surgeons, developed the first silicone breast prosthesis with the Dow Corning Corporation in 1961. The first woman was implanted in 1962. The implant was made of a silicone rubber envelope (or sac), filled with a thick, viscous silicone gel. When originally introduced by Cronin, medical devices were not regulated in the United States. After the law was changed in 1976 to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate all medical devices, the FDA "grandfathered" many devices that were already on the market, including breast implants.
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As a result, these devices had not been through the approvals process and long-term safety of the devices had never been documented. In 1992, the FDA restricted the implantation of silicone gel-filled breast implants because of questions about their safety. Silicone implants may be used only under certain controlled conditions. The FDA has not yet lifted the ban for widespread use.
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In Canada, silicone gel-filled prostheses were banned by Health Canada on January 6, 1992 in response to concerns raised in the
scientific literature regarding possible illnesses associated with the implants. In 1999, Health Canada's Medical Devices Bureau began to make silicone implants available to plastic surgeons again under a Special Access Program. Under the program, surgeons must submit requests to use silicone implants to the Bureau on a case-by-case basis.
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