Rosie Brave, a digital art and technology student at the University of Plymouth in the UK, is helping women who’ve undergone a mastectomy by redesigning prosthetic breasts to be more comfortable and enjoyable to wear.
“Commercial silicone prostheses, the kind that are provided on the NHS, aim to imitate skin tone and texture but many women find them hot, heavy and sweaty to wear,” said Brave. “I was inspired to do this by my friend’s account of how her mother rejected her beige prosthesis – she asked, ‘why can’t it be pink leopard print?'”
So, Brave began working with women who were post-surgery to reimagine their prosthetics using 3D printing and arts and crafts.
“I was really interested in the potential for the prosthesis to become something celebratory and uplifting instead of a reminder of a missing body part,” she explained.
Trading Expensive Realism for Unique Personal Designs
In order to redesign prosthetics, Brave ran discussion groups and workshops with the help of color psychology specialists Karen Haller and Angela Wright.
Nineteen women from the southwest of England, all of whom had undergone a mastectomy due to breast cancer, participated. By speaking to these women, Brave learned a lot about how color and design can positively impact a woman’s emotional wellbeing and her relationship with her prosthetics.
“High-level realism is only available to people with thousands of pounds to spend so if, instead, a prosthesis could be a person’s favorite color, or encompass a personal message or design, I feel it could play a positive role in a woman’s day that extends beyond restoring shape under clothing and has a psychological benefit too,” explained Brave.
After much work, Brave created unique designs which will be going on display at an exhibition called Becoming in the Second Floor Gallery of the Roland Levinsky Building in Plymouth.
“The models in this exhibition really are breasts as you’ve never seen them before, and they represent the designs and desires of the women I’ve met,” said Brave. “Each design is highly personal and about as far away from a realistic breast as you can get.”
You can visit the Becoming exhibition between March 15 and 29. Brave will be on hand to give guided tours between March 18 and 21.
For more on 3D printing innovations in breast cancer, check out these stories:
- Isolating Aggressive Breast Cancer Stem Cells with 3D Printed Scaffolds
- iMedTech Group 3D Prints Prostheses for Breast Cancer Survivors
- Student 3D Bioprints Cancer Cells to Improve Treatments
Source: PlymouthLive
Feature image source: PlymouthLive
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