Systems and methods for a tissue expander

An extended tissue expander for receiving a fluid for forming a final encapsulated breast pocket within an anatomic boundary of the patient's breast area that is configured to receive a pre-selected final breast implant or a tissue flap, the extended tissue expander comprising:

• a breast tissue expander, comprising:
• a shell configured to retain the fluid, wherein the shell comprises:
• a substantially nonexpendable backing;
• an expandable anterior shell coupled to the backing;
• and
• a port disposed through the shell;
• wherein the shell expands anteriorly substantially evenly as the fluid is post-operatively added to the shell through the port;
• and
• an approximately round extension portion coupled to the breast tissue expander, wherein the extension portion:
• extends beyond a medial edge and a lateral edge of the breast tissue expander in a fully expanded state to a distance of less than about 10% of the height of the breast tissue expander in the fully expanded state;
• extends superiorly beyond an upper boundary of the breast tissue expander in the fully expanded state to a distance of up to about 50% of the height of the breast tissue expander in the fully expanded state;
• has a substantially uniform thickness of about 1.5 to 2 millimeters;
• substantially resiliently resumes its round shape after bending;
• and
• maintains an extended open pocket superiorly to the breast tissue expander to substantially correlate the dimensions of the extended tissue expander to at least one of:
• the dimensions of the final encapsulated breast pocket that extends to the anatomic boundary of the patient's breast area;
• and
• the dimensions of the pre-selected final breast implant to provide a tight breast pocket for the pre-selected final breast implant.

A method for forming a final encapsulated breast pocket within an anatomic boundary of a patient's breast area that is configured to receive a pre-selected final breast implant or a tissue flap, comprising:

• forming an initial breast pocket in the patient's breast area;
• and
• inserting an extended tissue expander into the initial breast pocket, wherein the extended tissue expander includes:
• a breast tissue expander, comprising:
• a shell defining a closed interior volume configured to retain a filler material, wherein the shell comprises:
• an expandable anterior shell;
• and
• a substantially nonexpandable posterior section;
• and
• a port disposed through the shell and into the interior volume;
• and
• an extension portion coupled to the breast tissue expander, wherein the extension portion:
• extends beyond a medial edge and a lateral edge of the breast tissue expander to a distance of less than about 10% of the height of the fully expanded breast tissue expander;
• and
• extends superiorly above an upper boundary of the fully expanded breast tissue expander to a distance up to about 50% of the height of the fully expanded breast tissue expander.