Author(s)

Sun-Young Nam^1*, Miji Lee¹, Byung Ho Shin¹, Bassem Elfeky¹, Yang U. Lee¹, Dae Hee Moon², Daeun Seo², Chan Yeong Heo¹

¹Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
²HansBiomed Corp., Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

BellaGel SmoothFine^® implant is a novel nanotextured silicone breast implant. The objective of this study was to characterize differences of BellaGel SmoothFine^® surfaces with commercial available implant surfaces in terms of texture, topography, and wettability as well as the behavior of capsular contracture. The surface textures of breast implants from two different manufacturers (Hans Biomed and Motiva) were evaluated. The implants utilized in this study were BellaGel Smooth^®, BellaGel Textured^®, BellaGel SmoothFine^® or Motiva SilkSurface^®. The shell textures of these implants were characterized using a scanning electron microscopy, three dimensional confocal laser scanning microscope, and contact angle goniometer. Silicone breast implants were emplaced beneath the panniculus carnosus muscle on the dorsum of Sprague Dawley rats and observed for up to 8 weeks postoperative days. The fibrous capsules around silicone implants were explanted for histological examination. BellaGel SmoothFine^® exhibits a relatively flat, with little or no depth in the texturing, 5.96 ± 0.41 μm surface roughness, and a contact angle of 103.14 ± 2.06 BellGel SmoothFine^® implant resulted in significant decreases in capsule thickness (P < 0.05) and collagen production (P < 0.05) at 8 weeks with respect to the BellaGel Smooth^® and BellaGel Textured^® implant groups. Significant (P < 0.05) decreases in inducible nitric oxide synthase, an inflammation marker, were observed in the BellGel SmoothFine^®. Fibrous tissue formation markers (Vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin) were significantly reduced in BellaGel SmoothFine^® surfaces versus BellaGel Smooth^® surfaces (P < 0.05) or BellaGel Textured^® groups (P < 0.05). Overall, these findings suggest that the nanotextured BellaGel SmoothFine^® implant is associated with less breast implant derived capsular contracture than other surfaces.

Silicone Breast Implant, Capsular Contracture, Topography, Roughness, iNOS

Nam, S. , Lee, M. , Shin, B. , Elfeky, B. , U. Lee, Y. , Moon, D. , Seo, D. and Heo, C. (2019) Characterization of BellaGel SmoothFine^® Implant Surfaces and Correlation with Capsular Contracture. Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology, 10, 196-211. doi: 10.4236/jbnb.2019.104012.