Patent ID: 7229459

Claim:
A method for facilitating the expansion of skin and subcutaneous tissue comprising the steps: a) implanting a tissue expander beneath a target locus of skin and subcutaneous tissue sought to be expanded, said tissue expander comprising: an encapsulated body mass formed from elastic material, said encapsulated body mass defining an enclosed cavity therein; a distraction mechanism disposed within said enclosed cavity of said encapsulated body mass, said distraction mechanism being operatively transitional between: i) a first neutral configuration wherein said distraction mechanism assumes a compact state and exerts a baseline amount of pressure from within said enclosed cavity; and ii) a second operative configuration wherein said distraction mechanism exerts an outwardly expansive force operative to increase the external surface area of said encapsulated cavity; and an actuator disposed within said enclosed cavity and coupled to said distraction mechanism for selectively controlling said distraction mechanism to transition between said neutral operative configurations, said actuator being operable within said enclosed cavity of said encapsulated body mass; and b) externally actuating said actuator of said tissue expander such that said distraction mechanism of said tissue expander is caused to transition from said neutral configuration to said operative configuration.