Jian Farhadi, MD, has developed a new (and controversial) breast lift procedure that he claims will give longer lasting breast support by acting like a bra inside of the body.
The Orbix Breast Supporting System involves inserting a silicone sheet between the patient’s skin and breast tissue, which functions as the “cup” of the bra. This sheet is held up via silk threads that are screwed into the rib cage with small titanium anchors so that the final shape resembles the silhouette of the average push-up bra, supporting the breast tissue from underneath the skin.
The controversial part: Synthetic materials are used inside the body, because they won’t degrade or stretch out over time. Some surgeons note that foreign materials may cause an inflammatory reaction in the body. Other physicians, including Matthew Schulman, MD, a NYC plastic surgeon, question whether screws in the ribs feel like a nodule and could thus throw doctors off when they’re screening for and diagnosing breast cancer.
The procedure has been cleared for commercial use in Europe and was successfully tested in Belgium in 2009. It will undergo further review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this year.
In the coming months, Dr. Farhadi will perform the surgery on 10 patients at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London as part of an ongoing clinical trial. So far, he has operated on three different women, all of whom have given positive reports on their results.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), breast lift procedures are surging in popularity, with a 70 percent increase since 2000.
