Implant shape influence on the mechanical behavior of breast implants

In the last few decades, breast reconstruction has evolved significantly due to improvement in surgical techniques and development of new materials. Safety issues of the materials are biocompatibility (especially of the gel) and bio durability of the shell. Reviewed literature indicates that biocompatibility in general is not an issue with the current generation of the breast implants. However, bio durability is. The deformation of breast prosthesis was simulated using the Finite Element Method (FEM). Elastic mechanical behaviour was considered for the silicone implant - filler and shell. The deformed geometry obtained from finite element analysis was compared with the real breast implant deformation made in laboratory. The aim of this research is to analyse the stresses and strains that occur in the breast implant shell and filler, and to analyse implant shape influence on its mechanical behaviour. This simulation is performed using the finite element package ABAQUS.