Scanner makes breast fitting process more comfortable [The Frederick News-Post, Md.]

Dec. 27--HAGERSTOWN -- Wendy Carter knows that women who seek a prosthesis after a mastectomy face an uncomfortable procedure. She decided to tap into technology to make it a whole lot more comfortable.

Carter was a nurse specializing in obstetrics and gynecology before she went to work at Ability Prosthetics. The company is based in Gettysburg, Pa., but satellite locations include Frederick and Hagerstown.

Her idea involved using a scanner to take an image. Carter often travels among the Ability offices, and she takes the portable scanner with her wherever she goes.

"Previously, women have had to go through a grueling two-and-a-half-hour fitting," she said. A plaster cast is made. The woman can order a foam form that is covered by a material that looks like skin. This fits inside a bra. Women can also have a prosthesis made that attaches to the breast wall, creating a more natural look.

Carter's scanner gives women the same choice, but the fitting time takes about two minutes. She also fits them with a prosthesis that is similar in weight to the breast. "The scanner takes an image of the breast wall and the remaining tissue and places it on a screen," she said. "That image is sent to an artisan who makes the prosthesis."

The scanner creates 4-D computerized images, and Carter says it works as well as the molds that take much longer to make. The difference is, the fitting takes almost no time and is much more comfortable.

The scanner resembles a typical bar code scanner with a little camera like device attached. Its small size allows it to capture the subject from numerous angles, allowing a full picture.

"The end product is a prosthesis that can be worn in three ways," Carter said. "Under your favorite bra, or from material that is a silicone like substance attached to your body with a medical-grade adhesive, and third, you could wear it in a pocketed, post-mastectomy bra."

Heather Herald loves her "custom girls," as she calls her prostheses, which she got from Ability in October 2010. Herald, 41 and a mother of two, had a double mastectomy nearly two years ago. She found both the process and the end result from Carter's scanner satisfying.

"I wear them in the bra," she said. "It's faster and easier, but you can glue them in for strapless dresses or tank tops. I'm a big swimmer, and I didn't want three different breast forms. You can swim in them and glue them in your bra."

Because she had a double mastectomy, she had the luxury, if you could call it that, of choosing a pair of new "breasts." She didn't have to match the prosthesis to the other breast. "I have nice-looking 'girls,'" she said. "They're a lot perkier than they used to be, and a little larger. I look a lot better in my bathing suit than I did before."

Herald, who lives in Thurmont, said she didn't want breast reconstruction surgery. She didn't want to undergo another surgery after having her breasts removed, and her radiologist told her the implantation process would make radiation difficult. She had six weeks of radiation after her double mastectomy and chemotherapy.

"The best part is they look like skin on the front, and the underside is like a sponge," she said. They are made of a breathable material. Other breast prostheses she looked at were solid, and caused her skin to feel hot and sweaty.

A problem with breast forms that fit inside a bra is that they are usually very light, Herald said. "If you pull your arm up, they go up with you," she said. "These feel like the regular weight, and they look like regular skin."

Herald chose the color of the outer skin and the areola, which she said was fun. She'd had months of fear after being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 39, and she decided to enjoy the experience of choosing her new breast prostheses. Herald has been declared cancer-free for now by her doctor.

Technology for comfort

Carter developed the scanner technology over the past few years, doing a lot of tests and trials, and Ability began offering it in October 2010. "I wanted to make sure the scanner was comparable to plaster-molded prostheses," she said. She tested it by offering 15 women the choice of a scanner prosthesis or a molded prosthesis. "All 15 women chose the scanned product," she said.

Some women choose an off-the-shelf breast form, using measurements. This method does not require a mold or a scan. For women who want a more natural look, the mold and the scan offer that alternative, Carter said.

Since Carter introduced the scanner, about 250 women in the Mid-Atlantic area have chosen to get breast replacement using the device. The women are all clients at Ability's offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Kentucky.

Women who want a prosthesis to replace their breast, or breasts in the case of a double mastectomy, have already been through enough stress, Carter said. "You're going though chemo and radiation and you're going to ask them to stand for two and a half hours?" she said. "So I started doing research." That led her to perfect the scanner for breast prostheses.

Carter works with the manufacturer of the prostheses to make sure they fit her clients and are comfortable. Women who have had double mastectomies, like Herald, can choose the size of their breasts. Some want them larger, Carter said, while others want the same size or smaller breasts.

Women can go through breast reconstruction surgery, but that's not something all women want, Carter said. "They're happy to be alive, but some don't want to go through another surgery," she said.

Carter said she's learned a lot about computers in her six years working at Ability Prosthetics. She started as an office administrator, but a year later, she began working in mastectomy care and helped to create the division Symmetry, which provides prosthetic post-mastectomy options for women. She is a certified mastectomy/orthotic fitter.

"When I started, I was the last person you would expect would develop something using technology, but then I picked up on the technology and ran with it," she said. "I knew what I wanted for the patients."

Carter was a speaker at the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association fall conference on her scanner technology.

Insurance usually pays for most or all of the prostheses for women who have had mastectomies, so cost is rarely a problem, she said.

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