VERDICT: TRUE
Earlier this week, I ran across a terrible news story about an unidentified woman found in Tampa who the police were trying to identify by looking up the serial numbers on her breast implants. Is this possible?
Doing a little research, I found out that police have used this technique before in Newport Beach, California and in London, and that this idea has even been a plot element on the TV show, Bones.
I thought about this sad story again today when I was in the OR performing a breast implant revision surgery. Many years ago, my patient had previously received a breast augmentation with saline breast implants and wanted to exchange these for silicone gel breast implants. When I took out the saline implants, I noticed that they had the size "XXX cc" stamped onto them, but no other numbers. The silicone gel implants had the size and the Lot number stamped onto them. (Companies make implants in batches called "lots"- this helps them keep track of the implants and check their manufacturing process) However, there were no serial numbers on the implants themselves.
I called the implant company and asked if it was possible to identify a woman by looking up the serial numbers on the implants. They informed me that their saline and silicone gel implants do not have serial numbers, but they do have Lot numbers stamped on them. The company has records where implants of that Lot were distributed. Investigators can then track down the implants in that lot and account for each implant (whether it is on a shelf or happily in a patient). Therefore, breast implants CAN help identify a person, but the process requires some leg work.
Conclusion: Breast implants can make a wonderful change in a woman's appearance, but they won't replace fingerprints any time soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment