Patent ID: 9265921
Filing Date: 2016-02-23
CPC Classification: A61B,A61M

Claim Text:
1. A method for expanding tissue, said method comprising: (a) locating an expandable bladder underneath a region of skin to be expanded by introducing an incompressible inflation medium; (b) monitoring pressure of the inflation medium within the expandable bladder substantially continuously with a pressure sensor; and (c) automatically introducing an incompressible inflation fluid into the expandable bladder when the monitored pressure falls below a lower threshold level, wherein the incompressible inflation fluid is introduced with a pump automatically operated by a controller without concurrent input from a user, wherein the controller is in communication with the pressure sensor to receive pressure data; (d) automatically terminating introducing the fluid after a predetermined end point has been reached; and (e) repeating steps (b) and (c) after a predetermined interval until the expandable receptacle has been inflated to a target total volume.