In 2018, 404,920 women in EU-28 and 562,568 in WHO Europe were estimated to be diagnosed with breast cancer. The return of women to their pre-cancer lives depends on the medical and aesthetic success of the surgery that they will go through. The women who are not content with their body after the surgery can forego the treatment (e.g. chemotherapy and radiotherapy) and checkups. One-step operations, (i.e. oncoplastic operations) are known to decrease the cost and partially alleviate the trauma of surgery. Mastering oncoplastic techniques requires practice; however, currently, surgeons-in-training practice on the very patients that have promised to take care of. Lack of fresh tissue/organ models hinders the quality of medical education. There is a need for an affordable, accessible, and reliable training platform for surgeons to learn at their own pace in a safe environment.
On Surgitate’s breast model, several modern oncoplastic surgery techniques can be practiced faithfully. This tactile model enables surgeons-in-training to: i) cut the model with surgical scissors or blade, ii) undermine and deepitalize, iii) take a piece out, iv) suture the model back, and v) manipulate the position of the areola.
Even though, the most common cancer in women is breast cancer, through early diagnosis it is possible to increase survival rates. Surgitate offers an “awareness product” where a poster that describes breast exam carries a tactile breast model with hard masses that should not be there. The aim is to remind women of their routine checks and to potentially prevent bad outcomes. We work with corporates that pay attention to the health of their employees to place this “awareness poster” in the women lavatories.
Breast model. One in eight women experiences breast cancer in her life. The return of these women to their precancer lives depends on the medical and aesthetic success of the surgery that they are going to go through. The women who are not content with their body after the surgery can forgo medical treatments (e.g. chemotherapy, radiotherapy). One-step “breast conserving” methods are known to decrease the cost of the operation and partially alleviate the trauma of the surgery. Surgitate’s flagship model is a breast model where all modern oncoplastic techniques can be practiced. Through our tactile platform, we facilitate the making of better surgeons.
Self-awareness model. Surgitate's self-awareness campaign is a poster with a tactile breast model that contains lumps which should not be there. We sell this poster to corporates which pay attention to the health of its women employees and we list them as “aware companies” in our website. We advise them to place these posters in women’s lavatories such that the campaign encourages women to follow up with their routine exams—by somewhat scaring them.
