After more than a year on the market outside the U.S., FDA regulators approved Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Mentor’s MemoryShape breast implants, shaped more like a teardrop than the traditional round implants.
The MemoryShape implants are filled with a special gel that better retains its shape, and, combined with the teardrop silhouette of the implant, results in "the optimal balance of shape and feel," according to Mentor.
The new implants come in a variety of sizes and Mentor offers a surgical selection tool, called BodyLogic, to help physicians select the right size for their patients.
The MemoryShape devices are among a small handful of breast implants approved by the FDA for the U.S. market, alongside Allergan (NYSE:AGN), which recently won approval for a new generation of its Natrelle implants, and Sientra, which in March 2012 became the 3rd company with permission to sell breast implants in the U.S.
Allergan’s new Natrelle implants share some similarities with MemoryShape, including the sloping shape and a more cohesive gel filler. And like Allergan, Mentor will conduct post-approval studies to collect more clinical data on outcomes in patients implanted with the devices.