Weight loss implant tricks brain into thinking the stomach’s full

Developed by engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison the tiny device, which measures less than 1 centimetre across, generates gentle electric pulses from the stomach’s natural churning motions and delivers them to the vagus nerve, which links the brain and the stomach. This dupes the brain into thinking that the stomach is full after only a few nibbles of food.

“The pulses correlate with the stomach’s motions, enhancing a natural response to help control food intake,” said Xudong Wang, a UW–Madison professor of materials science and engineering.

Said to be implantable via a minimally invasive procedure, the system has already been trialled on rats, which lost almost 40 percent of their body weight. Results of the study were published in the journal Nature Communications.

Unlike gastric bypass surgery, which permanently alters the capacity of the stomach, the effects of the new devices also are reversible. When Wang and his collaborators removed the devices after 12 weeks, the study’s rats resumed their normal eating patterns and regained weight.