• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.610-625
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• 2020

This study suggests an alternative breast-prosthesis-making process for female breast cancer patients. From June 2018 to July 2018, we conducted a study using nine females between the ages 40-50 who never had breast cancer. We recorded the reported subjective sensations and objective physiological responses to different types of artificial breast materials: Trulife silicon breast prostheses (TS) and hand-made silk breast prostheses (HS). Considering the materials used in TS and HS individually, we studied the subjective sensation with regards to how each material functioned in a photo (VP), movement (VM) and the visual tactility (VT) sense. The results showed that comparing VP and VT led to more significant differences than those comparing VM and VT. In addition, there was a significant difference in terms of tactile sensation when comparing TS and HS with respect to subjective responses to texture. Subjects reported that HS felt more comfortable and gave a better cooling sensation. However, the measured objective physiological responses indicated that skin temperature was higher with HS than TS when touched. This research contributes to scholarship around alternative and new materials to build breast prostheses for women with breast cancer.