A small device that is deposited in the stomach, helps to overcome cravings and lose weight: a Stimulation of the nerves it tricks the brain that the stomach is filled. The device was developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, and in rats tested successfully.
Worldwide, more than 700 people are severely overweight. A stomach could help implant the a feeling of satiety. In animal studies it has conducted in rats to a weight loss of almost 40 percent.
The device is smaller than a centimeter in diameter, and is placed in a minimally invasive SURGERY in the stomach. It comes without a battery, because it can generate from the stomach, the movements of electricity. With the implant, the Vagus nerve is stimulated, nerve signals from the stomach to the brain is transmitted. The creates after only small meals a feeling of satiety. Xudong Wang, Professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin-explained Madison in the United States: "The electrical pulses correlate with the movements of the stomach. They reinforce a natural reaction, which controls the intake of food."
Unlike a gastric bypass, which changes the capacity of the stomach permanently, the effect of the Mini-implants is reversible. As the devices were removed after twelve weeks, ate the rats back to normal and gained weight.
More recently, the idea is not, there is already a device that stimulates the Vagus nerve and thus helps in weight loss. But in contrast to the new Mini-implant, a complicated control unit, and bulky batteries that must be frequently recharged.
ZOU