What’s unique about the implant itself is that it’s elastic enough to be compressed through the injection port, and then regain its shape once it reaches the breast, explains Dr. Randquist. (Traditional silicone implants weren’t flexible enough to make the journey—“they broke,” he says). The whole system took about six years to develop. The silicone implant is basically “sucked through” the injection port “like a straw,” explains Kamakshi Zeidler, MD, a California-based, board-certified plastic surgeon who sits on the Mia Femtech board. Because the implant is injected in a closed system, it is “never handled directly by the surgeon,” which can reduce the risk of infection, says Peter Lee, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Los Angeles.
“Injectable breast implant” does sound intriguing—and potentially a bit confounding—but delivering an implant through the armpit isn’t unheard of in the US. “This is similar to an underarm breast augmentation,” says Roy Kim, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in San Francisco. During that procedure, which plastic surgeons call transaxillary breast augmentation, an underarm incision about four to seven inches long is made, and a “breast sizer” is introduced through the incision. The tool is expanded, deflated, and removed before a saline implant is inserted in the breast using a Keller funnel, which is a cone-shaped device that looks similar to a pastry-decorating bag.
One of the biggest differences between transaxillary breast augmentation and Mia Femtech has to do with the implant itself: Transaxillary breast augmentation uses a saline implant, while Mia Femtech’s is silicone. That matters because silicone implants are less likely to ripple than saline implants are—and when rippling shows through the skin, implants look unnatural, says Dr. Lee.
The shape of the Mia Femtech implant is also unique: Instead of a flat back and rounded front, Mia Femtech is diamond-like. It’s made that way so it can “nest into tissue” while giving a small volume boost, says Dr. Zeidler. And it yields a different final result—more volume in the center of the breast, versus fullness allover.
That small volume boost can take a patient up a cup size or two—it’s more like the oomph you’d get from a push-up bra or padded bikini top than the volume enhancement you might associate with breast augmentation. “For patients who want a larger cup increase, upper pole [cleavage] fullness, or who have thin skin, a traditionally shaped implant would be superior,” says Melissa Doft, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City. Those have a larger diameter, allowing for more fullness and cleavage, and can be placed below the muscle, so you don’t see the implant’s edges through thin skin.
