Apart from being a medical and scientific illustrator I also work part-time for a plastic surgeon who has developed his own technique for creating custom implants that look natural. Of course everyone has a different view on what is beautiful but many patients do not think of the fake-look as a desirable outcome of an aesthetic surgery. That is why a natural look is often preferred and custom implants, that are specially designed for the patient's individual body type are the right way to go. The goal is that the implant is fitted perfectly to the patient's body and isn’t visible from the outside view.
Apart from achieving natural looking results for women of all shapes, this method is also an option for breast cancer survivors that may need reconstruction only on one side. Also, other deformations can be corrected in a very individual way that would otherwise be merely impossible with common implants. What also differs from normal conventional ones is that these implants are unique for each side because like a pair of shoes the right one isn't the same as the left one, it's mirrored. My part of this process is creating 3D-Simulations of possible results, depending on the wishes of the patient regarding size and shape. A big difference to other simulations is that this simulation doesn't show different results based upon different conventional implants. Rather the simulation meets the vision of the patient and I then create a unique model of an implant that results in that vision. This model will now be produced with the exact same quality standards as regular implants. What I was also get asked about often is the pricing. A surgery with a pair of custom implants actually only costs about 15% more than with conventional implants. If you'd like to know more I'd be happy to forward you to the clinic I work at, just write me a quick email :)