Potential of 3D Surface Imaging for Quantitative Analysis of Fat Grafting

Abstract

Autologous fat grafting is increasingly employed to address volume asymmetry and contour irregularity following breast reconstruction for breast cancer. However, there are no well-established objective tools to accurately measure change in graft volume and breast shape over time. Three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging allows for objective analysis of changes in breast shape and size, which clinicians and researchers can use to evaluate the effects of fat grafting. This study presents several measurements (Gaussian curvature, shape index, surface orientation, and volume) that can be extracted from 3D surface images of patients. These measurements are demonstrated on three patients (two patients after implant reconstruction and one after bilateral mastopexy) before and after fat grafting. The results of this study can help pave the way for clinicians and researchers to develop standardized metrics for objectively evaluating fat graft processing techniques. Using the proposed measurements, we were able to evaluate key shape and size differences in the 3D surface images before and after fat grafting.