Arianna Pezzano

Bio Prosthesis is an interdisciplinary project that proposes a way for human hair waste to be used to produce customized prosthesis for people healing from breast cancer.

Patients experience physical changes during chemotherapy, with hair loss being one of the first moments when their femininity is challenged. In this project the hair lost during the therapy is collected and used to extract keratin.

Considering the mastectomy or lumpectomy procedure outcome, which represent the second challenging moment due to the actual changes in their body, a discussion takes place to understand needs and feeling of the patient. This involves taking measurements and making castings of the patient's body. 

Utilizing keratin as the primary material, I create a prosthesis tailored to the patient's preference. This process enables the patient to regain a sense of wholeness, with the keratin used in the prosthesis serving as a replacement for the loss of their breast, symbolically reuniting the first loss of hair with the body in the form of a prosthesis and facilitating the acceptance process and psychological healing.

To

By using keratin, BioProsthesis offers a different perspective on biomaterials, focusing on what the human body itself can produce, avoiding the exploitation of other living organisms. Secondly the project wants to bring an improvement in the field of prosthesis, which has often lagged behind in terms of innovation and attention to individual patient needs.