INVESTIGATION ON THE TECHNICAL SAFETY OF EXPANDER INJECTION DOMES

Since leakage of an expander dome is a well-known complication that ma y lead to interruption of a tissue expansion procedure, the aim of thi s project was to study different expansion domes in relation to a medi cation port after perforation with various needles. Material and metho ds: The combinations of five different expansion domes and one medicat ion port were tested with three different needle types having two diff erent diameters. The force-distance curves during puncturing, the punc ture forces required and the leakage opening pressures were measured a fter single on repeated punctures with small and large forces. A total of more than 2000 experiments were performed. Results: Only one of th e expander domes and the medication port had sufficient pressure stabi lity. The technical characteristics of these devices are presented. Ho wever, the different needle types and puncture techniques had only a m inor influence on the pressure stability of the expander domes.