New Noninvasive Device Could Control Diabetes

Sept. 18 -- WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Early trials of a new implantable, and removable, intestinal liner have shown promise as a noninvasive means to promote blood sugar control and weight loss.

In contrast to well-established invasive procedures like gastric bypass surgery, the application of the liner does not involve a scalpel. Rather, a doctor inserts it into a patient's small intestine through the mouth in a procedure known as endoscopy.

Once placed, it creates a physical barrier between incoming food and the intestinal wall, thereby altering the way food moves through, and gets processed by, the digestive system.

"Over the last few years, we've learned how effective bariatric surgery can be," explained study author Dr. Lee Kaplan. "But surgery is invasive, and because it has significant side effects in a small percentage of patients, it would be nice to come up with noninvasive things that can work effectively along the same principles of surgery. And this device does that."

The findings were presented Wednesday at the First World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, in New York City. Kaplan cited the results of extensive animal research alongside several small patient studies to indicate that the device, called the EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner, appears to be effective at both quickly reducing blood glucose levels and shrinking the waistline.

"Our earlier animal data was convincing and conclusive, and proved that the concept works," he said during a news conference. "And now this preliminary work with a small group of people appears to be completely consistent with what we've seen in animals -- namely, it has a very dramatic effect in terms of improving diabetes and a good, although not quite as dramatic effect, in terms of weight loss."

Kaplan is a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, as well as director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center in Boston. He noted that he has no investment in the marketing or capitalizing of the device. However, his current research is funded by a grant from the device's Massachusetts-based manufacturer, GI Dynamics, for whom Kaplan serves as a consultant.