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Bio-Absorbable Envelope For Improved Breast Reconstruction Outcomes In Cancer Patients

Bio-absorbable mesh envelope for use in breast reconstruction to enhance long-term cosmetic outcomes and minimize operative time and cost.

Problem:

In the United States, about 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer over their lifetime and this number is rising due to improved detection by screening and patient education. Numerous women elect to have some form of breast reconstruction after treatment or preventative mastectomy. However, it is currently very labor-intensive to achieve an aesthetically pleasing result. Plastic surgeons spend extensive intra-operative time to properly shape autologous tissue transfers into the complex shape of the human breast. Additionally, sutures often do not hold the tissue’s shape for extended periods, leading to revision operations.

Solution:

To overcome these issues, inventors including engineers, scientists and surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a bio-absorbable, mesh-based breast reconstruction envelope. The novel design provides increased tissue support and the ability to achieve the desired complex shape.

Technology:

The innovative design envelope contains a number of discontinuous cuts that form an elastic network that shapes and provides mechanical support to the implant, thereby mimicking the complex breast geometry that will facilitate tissue regeneration properly. The envelope enables surgeons to use only a single ADM sheet to hold the implant in place. The kirigami ADM sheet can generate a natural teardrop breast contour, even when inserting round-shaped implants ranging from 400 to 620 cc in volume. The size of the mesh envelope can also be customized to each patient by using a template with re-sizing guidelines.

Advantages:

Improved support of transplanted tissues or implant
Enhanced cosmetic outcomes
Shortened intra-operative times and reduced cost
Potential for patient-specific designs

Demonstration of the Keller Funnel insertion of the round-shaped silicone gel implants of different volumes into the same optimized kirigami ADM sheet. The width and height of the kirigami ADM sheet are 10 cm × 12 cm. Figures (A) and (B) are removed from the figure. (C) Snapshots of the experimental demonstration of the Keller Funnel insertion process. (D) Photo of the upright shape of the wrapped implant after suturing the edges of the ADM sheet on an artificial chest (left) with the FEA model (denoted as blue lines) overlaid on top (right). (E) Comparison of breast reconstruction shapes varying with the volume of implants (400, 500, 620 cc) that are wrapped with the same kirigami ADM sheet.