Taking the guesswork out of mammary makeovers
Which type of breast would be best?
Pamela Anderson or Jennifer Anniston?
Saline or silicone gel?
New technology in a Montclair plastic surgeon’s office makes it possible for many women to get a sneak peak at the possibilities available through aesthetic or reconstructive breast surgery.
The Vectra 3 D is a Star Trek-looking device that eliminates the need to look at before-and-after photos of other people, taking the guesswork out of what breasts would look like after surgery. It utilizes three cameras and a grid to calibrate images from different angles.
What the patient sees is her own body, from the neck to the hips, on a blue background. Working with the surgeon, it is possible to see what different options would look like in their finished state.
"When women are having breast surgery, whether for augmentation or because of surgery when they’ve lost their breasts to cancer, it is very difficult to explain in words what they’re going to look like. Plus, there are many different choices of implants," said Dr. Barry DiBernardo, who heads New Jersey Plastic Surgery, 29 Park St.
"You have to size the implant to the person but within that, there is a range of acceptable sizes," DiBernardo explained, as he held up differing sizes of both saline and silicone gel implants. In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of silicone gel-filled breast implants after a 14-year government ban based on health and safety concerns that included autoimmune disorders and increased rates of cancer.
"In the olden days, a woman had to put on a bra, and then they’d put different sizes of implants underneath, then put their shirt on and see what looked right to them," DiBernardo said.
"It gives you a close idea, but there are inherent inaccuracies in doing it that way. You really don’t get to see what you yourself look like on your own body."
The Vectra breast sculptor enables DiBernado and his patients to preview both saline and gel options projected onto their bodies.
"It is a very, very accurate measurement tool. I can calculate volume very accurately, because I’m seeing it in three planes," DiBernardo said.
seeing ‘the synergy’
The Vectra 3 D is a camera system, a technical solution that takes multiple pictures of the subject and then uses those pictures to build a very accurate, three-dimensional model of the person, said Rollin Read, product manager at Canfield Scientific in Fairfield, which manufactures the machine.
"Vectra is a platform of three-dimensional solutions that range from 360-degree body imaging – all the way around , shoulders to toes – that is used primarily by people who do body contouring-type stuff, body sculpting and post bariatric surgery."
This enables both doctor and patient to see the comparisons between body parts and how they relate in proportion to each other.
Read explained that the camera system used by Dr. DiBernardo was designed to show shoulders to hips for breast patients, "because there is a relationship all the way through there. When you look at yourself, you don’t just see your breast or your shoulders, you see this whole figure and how they all tie together, what the synergy is there."
DiBernardo, who works as a research consultant to Canfield Scientific, has had the Vectra 3 D for about three months, and has used it on about 12 to 15 patients, he said. While most women come for aesthetic surgery, he works with cancer survivors on breast reconstruction as well.
Read said that DiBernardo is one of the first doctors to use the 3 D technology in his practice. The machine is also being used in Stockhlm, Sweden; El Paso, Texas; Tokyo, Japan, Ohio and the United Kingdom.
The greatest benefit of the technology? "It provides very specific and targeted measurements that are used for surgical planning. It just takes some of that unpleasantness and awkwardness out of the consult, makes it very targeted, efficient and accurate.
"At the end of the day, if the surgeon understands what the patient wants, they can then better deliver what the patient wants," Read said.
growing trend
What patients seem to increasingly want is improvement through cosmetic surgery. Since 1997, there has been a 114 percent increase in cosmetic surgical procedures of all kinds for men and women, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).
In a consumer attitudes survey this year, ASAPS reports that 56 percent of American and 57 percent of American men say they approve of cosmetic surgery.
Women had nearly 10.6 million cosmetic procedures (surgical and non-surgical), for 90 percent of the total. The top five surgical procedures for women were breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery, abdominoplasty and breast reduction. Most were in patients age 35 to 50. And the total spent by Americans on surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures was estimated by ASAPS to be just under $13.2 billion, with the national average for breast augmentation with silicone gel $4,087 and $3,690 for saline implants.
Some 54 percent of these surgeries are performed in an office facility, such as DiBernardo’s in Montclair.
While he works with breast reconstruction patients, DiBernardo said the majority of women seeking breast surgery want augmentation and/or lifts.
As the story, "Buoyed by bigger breasts," from a 2006 story in USA Today reports, "Once the domain of strippers and starlets, breast augmentation appears to be catching on with increasing numbers of soccer moms."
Angela P., 24, of Newark, has high hopes for her upcoming breast lift and augmentation from DiBernardo. "I feel like, when I have a really nice dress on, I don’t really fill it out as I would like to. I would love to wear a dress without having to wear those padded bras," Angela said.
The technology shows women what their breasts can or will look like from a variety of angles, from the front, both sides and even the view from looking down onto her own breasts.
According to DiBernardo’s Web site, newjerseyplasticsurgery.com, "3 D breast imaging also allows you to see what your breasts may look like in a year after surgery, so you have a long-term view of what your body may look like."
The program can also superimpose the pre and post-operation images, or show them side-by-side.
"Canfield [Scientific] took hundreds of pictures of real patients, so these are very true to life," DiBernardo said.
Studying her image on the Vectra 3 D, Angela said "I think all plastic surgeons should have that so that all patients would know what they’ll look like when they’re going into surgery, and not be so surprised."
