8/08/06

The US Food and Drug Administration has recently approved a study for a cohesive gel implant, called a “gummy bear.” Manufacturers are conducting trials in the Hampton Roads, Va, area and other locations.

“You can literally cut across the implant, squeeze it, and it kind of bulges out just like “gummy bear” candy would do,” says Mike Zwicklbauer, MD, a plastic surgeon at the Plastic Surgery Center of Hampton Roads. “Then it goes right back in.”

Bonnie Tomlin, who received her “gummy bear” implants in May, is one of 18 women participating in the study.

“First thing I thought was, oh my gosh, they look so natural,” Tomlin says. “Because they sit the way real breasts are supposed to sit. They didn’t sit like softballs on your chest, like the other ones had become.”

Plastic surgeons say the “gummy bear,” which is currently available in Europe, is a good implant for breast reconstruction patients.

[www.wtkr.com, July 19, 2006]