ARTICLE SUMMARY:
With a combination of autologous fat and a bioabsorbable 3D scaffold, Lattice Medical’s new solution for breast reconstruction will require less invasive autologous surgeries than today’s solutions while avoiding a permanent implant.
Inspiration can come from the unlikeliest places. For a plastic surgeon, a biochemist, a cell biologist, and a textile engineer working in the north of France (at CHU Lille [Lille University Hospital]), beautiful, floral lace for which nearby Calais is renowned was the impetus for a better solution for breast reconstruction, and the reason why Lattice Medical was founded in 2017.
Lattice Medical’s founding team—Julien Payen, PhD, whose studies in materials science led him to medical textiles, plastic surgeon Pierre Guerreschi, MD, PhD, cell biologist Philippe Marchetti, MD, PhD, and biochemist Pierre-Marié Danze, PhD—gathered 12 years ago to put their heads together over a problem faced by many women. Breast cancer affects 2.3 million women globally, and in Europe and the US 650,000 women undergo disfiguring breast removal each year. Yet only 30% of them opt for breast reconstruction because of the drawbacks of current surgeries.
