LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. researchers have designed a new type of gastric balloon that could help people lose weight, according to a new study published on Tuesday.
The new balloon, developed by engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), can be expanded before a meal to prevent overeating, then deflated when no longer needed.
In an animal study, the researchers showed that inflating the balloon before a meal caused the animals to reduce their food intake by 60 percent.
This type of intervention could offer an alternative for people who do not want to undergo more invasive treatments such as gastric bypass surgery, or people who do not respond well to weight-loss drugs, according to the study, published in the journal Device.
"The basic concept is we can have this balloon that is dynamic, so it would be inflated right before a meal and then you wouldn't feel hungry. Then it would be deflated in between meals," said Giovanni Traverso, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and senior author of the study.
