India’s regulator approved Allurion Technologies‘ swallowable, procedureless intragastric balloon used for losing weight. The Boston company has an Indian subsidiary in Hyderabad, India.
Dr. Shantanu Gaur, founder of Allurion, together with his partner and former Harvard professor Dr. Ram Chuttani, developed a gastric pill balloon (“elipse”) for weight loss.
The balloon system from Allurion comprises an expandable polyurethane balloon with a catheter attached to it. The patient needs to swallow a capsule that holds a deflated balloon with the catheter. The doctor confirms that the capsule is in place with the help of an X-ray. Once the capsule has entered the stomach, the doctor will fill the balloon with 20 ounces of saline solution, and gently remove the catheter. This is an outpatient procedure that takes about 20-minutes.
The founders claim, that in approximately 16 weeks, people on the Allurion program lose an average of 10-15% total body weight, while 95% of the weight loss is maintained at 1 year. To date, over 100,000 patients in over 50 countries have been treated with this capsule.
Balloon Benefits
- Doesn’t require endoscopy, anesthesia, or surgery for placement and removal
- Total weight loss expected from this procedure is about 30 pounds
- Useful for acute weight loss in 4 months, and to manage uncontrollable diabetes, without any bariatric procedure
- After 4 months, the balloon’s interval stitch disintegrates and releases the water; the balloon is excreted by the body
