Tissue expander with protection against accidental puncture
AssigneeMentor Corporation
InventorsRobert L. Guest, Anita M. Falcon, James Harlow, John Labarge
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Abstract
The mammary prostheses of the invention have a self-sealing area in the upper pole region of the anterior face. The self-sealing area is greater than that of a traditional filling port, and reduces the severity of the consequences of an inadvertent puncture by a hypodermic needle during the filling process. Also, this self-sealing area is thicker than the material in the other areas of the prosthesis, causing fluid introduced to the prosthesis to stay in the lower pole region of the prosthesis, making the shape of the prosthesis appear more like that of a natural breast.
Claims13
A mammary tissue expander comprising a shell having an anterior face and a posterior face, the anterior face having an upper pole portion and lower pole portion meeting at an apex, the prosthesis comprising an injection port having a self-sealing septum region, the injection port being located within the upper pole of the anterior face of the shell and a self-sealing material bonded to the shell within the upper pole of the anterior face defining a self-sealing shield region substantially surrounding the injection port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.