Surface Area Measurement of the Female Breast: Phase I. Validation of a Novel Optical Technique

Abstract

For the first time, an optical method has been demonstrated to measure volume and surface area with accuracy. When the method is applied to the breast, measurement errors are small and clinically insignificant. The ability to facilitate quantitative breast surgery will be investigated in future phases of this experiment.

Four-Dimensional Breast Imaging, Part I: Introduction of a Technology-Driven, Evidence-Based Approach to Breast Augmentation Planning

“…37,38 In fact, so many approaches to measuring volume in the female breast have been described that a review of the literature might lead one to categorize it as a medical obsession for the last half century. [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] Several authors have recently examined the validity of three-dimensional (3D) imaging in measuring breast volume compared to more classical methods as controls. 49,50 While others have relied on internal controls, 51 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as the accepted standard for noncontact volume measurement 41,48,50 against which 3D imaging systems are judged.…”

Objective Breast Volume, Shape and Surface Area Assessment: A Systematic Review of Breast Measurement Methods

“…Cast A cast is made of plaster strips [39,44,45] or thermoplastic sheets [27,40,46], and the material is placed on or around the patient's chest for 1 min [46] to 5 min [44] and removed after the cast forms. The cast is then filled with water [27,40] or sand [39] to calculate the volume.…”

“…Although there are only a few reports on surface area measurement (Eder et al [3,20] and Thomson et al [39] in our review), they do have some clinical applications and may help to improve clinical practice [39]:…”

“…Among the 3D devices, the Konica Minolta Laser Scanner [27] is the most ideal choice because it is able to evaluate all three metrics, is commercially available, and has been shown to have a relatively high reproducibility. Thomson's DIY device [39] also functions well with a much lower price tag. Though it is not currently commercially available, its future development is worth watching.…”

Review of three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging for oncoplastic, reconstructive and aesthetic breast surgery

“…Thomson et al [56] investigated accuracy by measuring known volumes of simple geometric shapes and measuring breasts and comparing results to plaster casts. Based on linear regression there was excellent correlation between the imaged and actual values.…”