Scanning Breast Implants (for science!)

Sometimes metrologists get lucky and complete projects outside of automotive and other manufacturing scenarios.

According to the M.D. we are working with, on June 26, 2019 Haven Metrology completed a world first: measuring with precision the volume and surface area of breast implants that have been removed from someone’s body. The purpose? To quantify the effets of capsular contracture. Capsular contracture is a response of the immune system to foreign materials in the human body. Medically, it occurs mostly in the context of complications from breast implants and artificial joint prosthetics.

Our goal was to scan these implants with scar tissue intact and then removed, and to quantify the differences in volume and surface area. The thesis was that, though there would be a removal of material when the scar tissue was removed, the surface area would increase. This was to help understand how scar tissue maintains the implant’s form.

Below is a view of one of the implants versus the scanned file of the implant.