Anchorable Size-Varying Gastric Balloon System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current gastric restriction devices, such as balloons, face challenges in maintaining a stable position within the stomach due to migration issues, leading to potential malfunction, gastric obstruction, and patient discomfort, and existing methods like endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures are complex and risky.
Innovation Solution
A transabdominal gastric system with a size-varying gastric balloon and specialized anchors provides a reliable and non-permanent anchoring mechanism, allowing precise positioning and control within the stomach lumen without the need for direct suturing or stapling, using a transabdominal gastric cannula for access and balloon manipulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gastric balloons are inflated to function as gastric restriction devices, then weight loss treatment efficacy is improved, but the balloons tend to migrate and increase the risk of malfunction and gastric obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring system is divided into multiple independent components: anchors with barbs that engage the gastric wall, tethers that connect anchors to the balloon, and a modular configuration that allows flexible positioning. This segmentation enables reliable anchoring while maintaining balloon stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchors are pre-positioned on the gastric wall before balloon inflation, and the tethers are pre-attached to both the anchors and the balloon. This preliminary anchoring action prevents migration before it can occur during balloon operation.
2Ease of operation
If endoscopic procedures are used to insert devices through the esophagus, then insertion is minimally invasive, but the number and size of devices are constrained and positioning control is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A transabdominal catheter is introduced as an intermediary tool to deliver the balloon and anchors into the gastric lumen from the abdominal wall. This mediator bypasses the esophageal route constraints, enabling easier device insertion and better positioning control without complex endoscopic manipulation.
3Ease of operation
If laparoscopic procedures are used with trocars, then direct access to the gastric lumen is achieved, but the peritoneal membrane must be punctured increasing infection risk and securing the trocar is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The transabdominal catheter serves as a mediator that provides controlled access through the abdominal wall without requiring peritoneal puncture. The catheter creates a safe, stable working channel that eliminates infection risks associated with trocar insertion while maintaining direct access to the gastric lumen.
Solution Approach 2:
The transabdominal catheter is designed as a temporary, disposable access tool that is inserted only when needed for device delivery and then removed. This short-lived intermediary avoids the need for permanent trocars or repeated peritoneal punctures, reducing infection risk.
4Reliability
If multiple sutures or staples are used to fix the stomach to the abdominal wall, then stable access is achieved, but the procedure becomes complex and carries higher risk
Solution Approach 1:
The transabdominal catheter acts as a mediator that maintains stable access through the abdominal wall without requiring multiple sutures or staples. The catheter itself provides the structural support and sealing function, simplifying the procedure while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided herein are balloon systems and related methods for the treatment of obesity. The system includes a trans-abdominal gastric cannula and size-varying balloons that, with the assistance of the cannula(s) and anchors, are specially positioned and anchored to the gastric wall. The size-varying balloon may have an annulus that in combination with reliable and precise balloon positioning, minimizes the risk of gastric obstruction during use. A malabsorption sleeve may be positioned in the small intestine to further restrict caloric intake through the small intestine. The specially-configured gastric cannula provides a platform for accessing the gastric environment that facilitates precise handling, manipulation, and placement of balloons, including an annular-shaped balloon, in the gastric environment, including by balloon anchors connecting the balloon wall to the lumen facing stomach wall.