Lift-off for super-light new breasts: Revolutionary prosthesis offers a super-strong material used on the space shuttle for implants
- Standard breast implants consist of tough silicone shell with a silicone gel
- New B-lite implants have a standard gel containing tiny hollow microspheres made from borosilicate
- Borosilicate glass was used in heat shield in Nasa's space shuttle
- Implants offer larger breasts without the extra weight and are proving popular
Women who want larger but still perky new breasts are being offered implants made with an ultra-light but super-strong material used on the space shuttle.
The revolutionary prosthesis is 30 per cent lighter than any other implant and could last a lifetime, according to one expert.
Standard breast implants consist of a tough silicone shell, filled with a silicone gel.
The new implants have the same material as was used in the heat shield for Nasa's space shuttle during re-entry to earth
However, the new B-Lite implants, created by an Israeli manufacturer, have a standard gel filling containing tiny hollow microspheres made from borosilicate.
Borosilicate glass was used in the heat shield that protected Nasa’s space shuttle during re-entry to Earth.
Chris Inglefield, the first surgeon in the UK to offer B-Lite, said: ‘They are proving extremely popular. Women want larger implants but not the extra weight. Implants have been getting heavier over the years and what we need are lighter implants that stay looking good.’
About one in five breast implants are replaced after ten years, and many more women have a second operation within 20 years.
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Mr Inglefield said: ‘An implant is a dead weight in the breast and so the lighter they are, the slower the sagging process. Hopefully it will be an implant for life.’
The B-Lite doesn’t come cheap, pushing up the cost of surgery by £1,000 to about £6,000.
The lighter material means the implants could last much longer than standard implants because there won't be as much sag
Approximately 72,000 new breast implants are carried out every year in the UK.
Ruth Davies, a 38-year-old mother-of-three from Chinnor in Oxfordshire, had B-Lite implants earlier this month.
She has twin girls aged 11, and a five-year-old son whom she breast-fed for a year.
Ruth, a gym-user and runner, became depressed when faced with boob sag after having her son. She said: ‘I was aware that I would be putting the equivalent of a bag of sugar in each breast and that I could get sag all over again. My new breasts are very natural-looking and feeling. I’m delighted.’
The B-Lite has attracted the attention of Professor Joanna Wakefield-Scurr, who heads a breast research unit at Portsmouth University. An expert in the bio-mechanics of how breasts move, she is planning a year-long study of women with B-Lite implants compared to women who have had standard implants. She said: ‘Logic suggests that the lighter an implant, the less pull there will be on the breast. Implants have pretty much stayed the same weight for years, so this is something of a break through.’
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