Blog
Dr. Brooke R. Seckel
The Keller Funnel 2 is an important device that we use at our practice to achieve better breast implant results for all of our breast augmentation patients. In my opinion the Keller Funnel 2 is the most important advancement to improve results of breast augmentation and breast implant surgery in the past ten years.
The Keller Funnel 2 is a medical grade sterile silicone breast implant sleeve, designed like a pastry bag or cake decorating bag, that is used to insert silicone breast implants into the body during breast augmentation. Using this device eliminates the trauma to the skin and breast implant that was caused by the older technique of forcing the implant directly through the skin incision with the surgeon’s gloved finger. This newer less traumatic technique leads to better breast implant results in our plastic surgery practice.
The device is first soaked in triple antibiotic solution. The breast implant is then dropped into the funnel after the implant has been soaked in triple antibiotic solution. The breast implant is never touched.
The mouth of the funnel is then placed into the breast augmentation skin incision and the silicone implant sleeve or funnel is squeezed to direct or push the implant into the breast implant pocket beneath the breast gland or chest muscle. The implant never comes in contact with the patient’s skin or gloved surgeon’s hand or finger.
The traditional method of inserting the breast implant involved pushing the implant through the skin incision into the breast implant pocket with the gloved surgeon’s finger. This technique allowed bacteria containing skin cells to contaminate the implant pocket. This bacterial contamination is believed to be a significant cause of capsular contracture or hardening of the breast implant.
The No Touch Technique involves soaking the implants in triple antibiotic solution, irrigating the implant pocket with triple antibiotics, and not touching the implant during insertion.
Using the Keller Funnel 2 and the No Touch Technique for breast augmentation reduces potential bacterial contamination of the breast implant. This reduces the chance of capsular contracture of breast implants in my opinion.
This new technique allows the implant to easily glide through the funnel into the patient. This is a much gentler and less traumatic technique than the older method. Less trauma to the tissues leads to less scarring and better recovery.
The ease of implant insertion reduces the time it takes to complete the breast augmentation procedure.
Because breast implant insertion is so much easier a smaller skin incision can be used. A smaller skin incision produces a smaller scar.
The amount of force needed to insert the breast implant is greatly reduced with this technique when compared to the traditional manual insertion technique. Less force on the implant reduces the risk of rupture of the implant during insertion.
This new device has led to a very significant improvement in breast augmentation technique and has led to better breast implant results for our plastic surgery patients. We use the Keller Funnel 2 and the No Touch Technique on all of our breast implant patients.
