Tissue expander with self-healing anterior side

摘要

A tissue expander (10) includes an elastomeric shell (14) having an anterior inside surface (18) and a posterior inside surface (22) with a self-healing layer (26) abutting only a portion of the anterior inside surface. The layer is spaced apart from the posterior inside surface while facilitating folding of the shell prior to insertion into a tissue pocket and also enabling inflation of the shell subsequent to insertion by a fluid (30) injected between the self healing layer and posterior surface.