3D Imaging Comes to Plastic Surgery Offices – PSC Roundtable Exclusive

3D Imaging Comes to Plastic Surgery Offices!  PSC Roundtable Exclusive examines the hottest new technology in Plastic Surgery.  Plastic surgery Channel experts Drs. Caroline Glicksman, Lou Bucky, Jason Pozner and William Adams Jr. discuss how this 3D technology help both patients and surgeons get better outcomes.

How would you like to know what you will look like before you have surgery using 3D Imaging?

Now, you can with 3-D Imaging technology.  Patients that go in for a plastic surgery consultation for procedures such as breast implants, breast reconstruction, rhinoplasty, or just about any surgery involving the face or breast, can see a realistic image of what they would look like in 3-D.

Dr. Lou Bucky, a board certified plastic surgeon, and an expert in breast augmentation and reconstruction says, 3-D Imaging is one of the best advances surgeons have seen to enhance patient communication. He says a picture along with your precise body or facial measurements are taken, and within minutes you’re seeing your new image in 3-dimension.

According to Dr. Bucky, this technology takes out the guess work when patients aren’t sure what they want or how they will look.  He says, it’s a great communication tool for the patient and the surgeon, creating an atmosphere where both parties are on the same page.

As a principle investigator in five FDA advisory panels, a renowned author in ‘Patient Education in Breast Augmentation’ and a board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Caroline Glicksman says 3-D Imaging is a great educational tool.  She says after taking a patients specific measurements, you can try different sized implants and even try out silicone or saline implants with different widths and projections to see how they look on a patient’s body with their own tissues. She says this is important because everyone’s breast tissues respond differently to different sized and different types of implants. Putting or better termed “stuffing” implants in a bra in the office is very common yet an inaccurate and unscientific way to select implants.

Dr. Jason Pozner, a board certified plastic surgeon, says 3-D Imaging has been very helpful for procedures involving the face and neck. He says, “We’ve been using 2-dimension on the face for 15 years or more, but it’s been basically flat.”  He says, now we have the opportunity to look at the nose and how it would look if it was narrowed or if you wanted to bring the nostrils in a little bit. He says a recent patient, after seeing themselves in 3-D, decided they really needed a chin implant and liposuction for their neck.  He says the patient’s idea of what they thought they wanted totally changed, and they were much happier with the result.

With better communication and more educated patients, 3-D Imaging has increased patient satisfaction after surgery, according to Dr. Bucky.  He says, “Anxiety is reduced, I’m clearer about what they want, and patients are getting what they are hoping for in a more efficient and accurate way.” Dr. Glicksman agrees and says, “A better informed patient makes better decisions.”

In-Office versus Web Based, 3-D Imaging: What’s the difference?

Dr. Bucky says accuracy and predictability are the biggest differences.  He says, “If you just send numbers to a web site and they put a C or D cup in place with your picture, that doesn’t mean that’s how you will look when you actually have the implant put in.  It’s very much like putting an implant in a bra.  The bra does not simulate what the tissues are like; the bra has no width to itself.  Therefore, the accuracy level is less predictable.”

Dr. Pozner says he uses 3-D Imaging in his office everyday and says, one of the big differences is “patients wants to know what we think.” He says, “With the patient in our office we can look at the patient with the simulation and say look, this [implant] isn’t going to fit in you, or look this is way too small, I wouldn’t bother.”

These surgeons agree that patient satisfaction is much higher with this cutting edge 3D Imaging technology, “What’s better for patients is ultimately better for the doctor” says Dr. Bucky.