A new device for microincremental automatic distraction osteogenesis

We have invented a distraction device that can be placed intraorally and provides autodistraction. The device consists of two units: an implantable component that is applied directly on the bone, and an external component that is distant from the surgical site. The external component is mounted on a standard, battery-driven portable syringe driver or infusion pump. A fine flexible non-compressible tube connects the two. The compression of the bellows in the external component causes fluid to be forced through the connecting tube into the distraction component. The combination of the sealed system and incompressible fluid guarantees expansion of the bellows of the distraction component and gradually separates the bone segments. (C) 2001 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.