Methods of forming prostheses
AssigneeContourMed, Inc.
InventorsL. Daniel Eaton, John J. Miller, John L. May
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A breast prosthesis may be formed by forming an outer layer on a mold, and filling the mold with a polymerizable foaming composition. The mold may be formed by forming a computer model of the prosthesis based on scanning a patient. The computer model may be used to form a solid model. A prosthesis may be coupled to the patient by coupling at least one metallic insert to the prosthesis and at least one magnet to the patient. Alternately, the prosthesis may be formed with a retaining harness integral to the prosthesis. In still another method, the prosthesis may be coupled to a retaining device surgically implanted in the patient.
Claims30
A method of forming a model of a breast prosthesis for a patient who has had one breast at least partially removed, comprising:
- providing a scanning system comprising one or more imaging devices and one or more alignment markers, wherein at least one of the alignment markers comprises a tangible object, wherein the tangible object is noticeable in a scanned image and may be used to manipulate a scanned image as a reference point;
- arranging at least one of the alignment markers in the middle of the body of the patient and within the field of view of at least one of the imaging devices;
- determining a first set of data elements using the scanning system is based on a shape of the patient's intact breast;
- determining a first computer model of the intact breast based on the first set of data elements;
- using at least one of the alignment markers in the middle of the body of the patient as a fixed reference point relative to the patient to determine alignment of the first computer model of the intact breast;
- applying a reflection transformation to the first computer model of the intact breast to form a second computer model, the second computer model comprising a second set of data points that represents a mirror image of the first computer model;
- determining a third set of data elements using the scanning system based on a surgical site at which the breast was at least partially removed;
- determining a third computer model based on the third set of data elements;
- and combining the third computer model and the second computer model to form a breast prosthesis model, wherein the second computer model defines an anterior portion of the breast prosthesis model that mirrors the intact breast and the third computer model defines a posterior portion of the breast prosthesis model that is custom fit to the surgical site.
A method of forming a model of a breast prosthesis for a patient who has had one breast at least partially removed, comprising:
- providing a scanning system comprising one or more imaging devices and one or more alignment markers, wherein at least one of the alignment markers comprises a tangible object, wherein the tangible object is noticeable in a scanned image and may be used to manipulate a scanned image as a reference point;
- arranging at least one of the alignment markers in the middle of the body of the patient and within the field of view of at least one of the imaging devices;
- determining a first set of data elements using the scanning system based on a shape of a garment at least partially covering the patient's intact breast;
- determining a computer model of a breast prosthesis based on the first set of data elements;
- and
- using at least one of the alignment markers in the middle of the body of the patient as a fixed reference point relative to the patient to determine alignment of the first computer model;
- applying a reflection transformation to the first computer model of the garment covering the intact breast to form a second computer model, the second computer model comprising a second set of data points that represents a mirror image of the first computer model;
- determining a third set of data elements using the scanning system based on a surgical site at which the breast was at least partially removed;
- determining a third computer model based on the third set of data elements;
- and
- combining the third computer model and the second computer model to form a breast prosthesis model, wherein the second computer model defines an anterior portion of the breast prosthesis model that substantially mirrors the intact breast and the third computer model defines a posterior portion of the breast prosthesis model that is custom fit to the surgical site.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.