A patient-specific FE-based methodology to simulate prosthesis insertion during an augmentation mammoplasty

Breast augmentation surgery is a widespread practice for aesthetic purposes. Current techniques, however, are not able to reliably predict the desired final aspect of the breast after the intervention, whose success relies almost completely on the surgeon's skill. In this way, patient-specific methodologies capable of predicting the outcomes of such interventions are of particular interest. In this paper, a finite element biomechanical model of the breast of a female patient before an augmentation mammoplasty was generated using computer tomography images. Prosthesis insertion during surgery was simulated using the theory of finite elasticity. Hyperelastic constitutive models were considered for breast tissues and silicone implants. The deformed geometry obtained from finite element analysis was compared qualitatively and quantitatively with the real breast shape of the patient lying in supine position, with root-mean-squared errors less than 3mm. The results indicate that the presented methodology is able to reasonably predict the aspect of the breast in an intermediate step of augmentation mammoplasty, and reveal the potential capabilities of finite element simulations for visualization and prediction purposes. However, further work is required before this methodology can be helpful in aesthetic surgery planning.