Polyurethane Coated Breast Implants

A recent article in Forbes Investment journal 2015 discussed the ‘Business of Beauty’ and focused on the Brazilian implant company Silimed.

Silimed manufactures the polyurethane coated cohesive silicone gel implants that since 2010 have been the primary choice of implant for Mr Januszkiewicz’s breast surgery. Before that he had used textured cohesive silicone gel implants since their introduction to the world in 1994.

Mr Januszkiewicz gathered a vast experience and excellent results with these modern devices both in breast augmentation and breast reconstruction but the addition of a polyurethane outer layer fused to the silicone implant was another step up. The evidence in South America and Europe suggested that the risks of complications such as capsular contracture and implant malposition although already low with the textured gel implants, would be even lower still with the polyurethane coated gel implants.

Since 2010 NZIPCS has maintained a database of outcomes for all patients having implant surgery and when comparing results against a control group of textured gel implants the evidence so far confirms what we hoped to find – namely lower rates of complication and re-operation. Our current postgraduate fellow in plastic surgery Dr Rita Yang, FRACS is updating the database with the aim of presenting this information to the Plastic Surgery Congress in Brisbane this May.

Excerpt from Forbes Magazine (as published in the DTNZ newsletter)…

While not everybody in Brazil looks like Gisele Bündchen or Adriana Lima, that doesn’t stop the country’s residents from trying. In 2013, the country accounted for 13% of cosmetic surgery worldwide. 

As Latin America’s leading manufacturer of silicone implants, Silimed has 35 years of expertise, produces a wide range of innovative and technologically advanced products, and is continuing to grow, despite unfavourable economic conditions. In the past three years, the company has expanded by 60% and is now aiming to double its sales in the next four years. 

Set up in 1978, the company began importing silicone breast implants from France. For 40 years, silicone has been considered the best biocompatible material for breast implants. In 1981, Silimed started producing its own implants to meet domestic and foreign demand. Today it has two factories, employs 2,700 people and exports to 75 countries, including the United States. Its ISO-certified products won FDA approval in 2012, making it the first overseas company to market breast implants in the U.S. 

“Innovation is a fundamental value,” says Gabriel Robert, Silimed’s CEO. “Our last was a conic implant, which is exclusively ours. Another value is quality. We have always based our work on quality, which is recognized by the market and doctors. Our strategy is to differentiate ourselves with better products. Our export experience made us adjust to international competitors and made us stronger.” 

Silimed works closely with renowned plastic surgeons and supports scientific research to constantly improve its products and respond to increasingly sophisticated clients. Its silicone polyurethane prostheses have the lowest contraction rate in the market, and it has developed its gel BioDesign line specifically to suit every size and shape of body. 

According to Margaret Figueiredo, Silimed’s founder, “Healthcare professionals choose Silimed for its quality and technology—not the price. Ivo Pitanguy, the leading plastic surgeon in the country,uses our implants, and he could choose any brand,” she notes. Marcos Härter, a surgeon who is working independently on a biocompatible filling gel, agrees: “Silimed has the best technology in the market.”