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New Device for Non-Surgical Weight Loss Treatment

Imagine a weight loss treatment that requires no surgery… then imagine that it’s available on an outpatient basis. Fantasy, right? Maybe not — if the new Full Sense Device lives up to its promises.

Invented by Dr. Randal Baker, a weight loss surgeon in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Full Sense Device is similar to the stents that surgeons use to open up clogged arteries. The mechanism is threaded through the patient’s mouth into the upper stomach using an endoscope, then expanded to full size.

By pressing against the bottom of the esophagus and the top of the stomach, the device creates a feeling of satiety – but unlike other weight loss surgery treatments that affect how much food a patient can eat, the Full Sense Device essentially tricks the brain into thinking the stomach is full.

Tests outside of the United States so far have yielded positive results. The first three patients to receive the implants lost 18 percent of their excess body weight in less than three weeks, with no complications so far.

It may be several years before the Full Sense device is available in the U.S., but if it is approved by the FDA, it could open a new era of safe, non-surgical weight loss treatment –and offer hope to the millions of Americans who need treatment for obesity but can’t afford the cost or and possible complications of traditional weight loss surgery. Add to that the fact that Full Sense is completely reversible, requires no incision, and could be implanted on an outpatient basis, and the future of this new technology looks bright.