Improved Gastric Banding Device Developed

Current gastric banding devices use elastic in their function in nutritional modulation for bariatrics, ingestible electronics for diagnosis and monitoring, and gastric-retentive dosage forms for prolonged drug delivery. They have to be tough to survive the acid encountered in the stomach, yet flexible so they can be manipulated through the oesophagus and other narrow parts of the digestive system.
Unfortunately though, the elastic polymers are not degradable - so in the event of breakage or migration they can sometimes cause an obstruction.
US scientists have been able to produce a safer material based on gel. The elastic, pH-responsive supramolecular gel is stable in acidic gastrointestinal environments, but dissolves in the neutral-pH environment of the small and large intestines.
Their studies have been published in Nature Materials and is slated for use for a ‘wide range of gastric-retentive devices.’