A magnetic soft endoscopic capsule for non-surgical overweight and obese treatments

Obesity is defined as an unhealthy excess of body fat, which increases the risks of medical illness and premature mortality. There are multiple health risks linked to obesity such as heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancers, gallbladder disease and gallstones, osteoarthritis, gout, and breathing problems like sleep apnea, and asthma. Intragastric balloons (IGBs) have become an efficient and less invasive method for obesity treatment. However, the use of traditional IGBs requires complex insertion tools and flexible endoscopes to place and remove the balloon inside patient's stomach. This causes abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and gastric mucous damage. To overcome these limitations, we designed a novel magnetic soft capsule robot for obesity treatment with magnetically actuated inflatable IGB. The balloon is made from a thin, flexible, biocompatible material, and is inflated to a desired volume using biocompatible effervescent chemicals. Instead of using complex deflation mechanism, a biodegradable material is developed to automatically deflate the balloon after a predetermined period of treatment. In addition, multiple capsules can be simultaneously swallowed. As the source of actuation is provided via external magnetic fields, the magnetic soft capsule size can be significantly reduced with no limitations on the power consumption. A prototype of magnetic soft capsule is developed. Experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.