A Magnetic Soft Endoscopic Capsule-Inflated Intragastric Balloon for Weight Management

Overweight and obesity have been identified as a cause of high risk diseases like diabetes and cancer. Although conventional Intragastric Balloons (IGBs) have become an efficient and less invasive method for overweight and obesity treatment, the use of conventional tools such as catheter or endoscope to insert and remove the IGBs from the patient's body causes nausea, vomiting, discomfort, and even gastric mucous damage. To eliminate these drawbacks, we develop a novel magnetic soft capsule device with gas-filled balloon inflation. The balloon is made from a thin and biocompatible material that can be inflated to a desired volume using biocompatible effervescent chemicals. In addition, both the outer balloon and inner capsule are designed to be soft and chemical resistance. The soft capsule shell is fabricated using scaffold-solvent approach while the outer balloon utilizes a novel fabrication approach for 3D spherical structure. A prototype of the proposed capsule and balloon is given. Experiments are successfully carried out in stimulated gastric environment and fresh porcine stomach to validate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed approach.