More on the "Air Implants" from Allure...

Allure's "Scalpel News" last month mentioned the new "air" implant called the Implite. It's being developed by Dr. Ami Glicksman in Israel, who is a friend of mine and also the inventor of the Ultrashape, which we're privileged to be one of six sites conducting clinical trials in the U.S. Needless to say I'm very impressed with what he is doing.

Anyway, I caught up with Dr. Glicksman at the ASPS conference and he showed me his latest prototype of the Implite. At this stage, it is about 1/3 as heavy as traditional implants. It's not a balloon like you would think, but more of a shell/skeleton that happens to have some air inside of it. They've already tested it at depth and altitude and it's passed with flying colors.

Many complications from breast implants come from their unavoidable weight. Whether they're made from silicone or saline, implants will eventually sag. What goes up, must come down.

That's why it's important for patients to ask lots of questions and have realistic expectations about the result.

At this stage, I can't say much more about it, but they're looking to start clinical trials overseas in a few years, with FDA testing coming after that. They are also looking for additional financing of $1.5 to 2 million to really get going.