New technology to treat folks with obesity problems

We can really appreciate when technology does things for us that we never thought possible.  However, we do think there are times when technology can go a bit too far to deal with societal issues.  Those times however are often the most entertaining to dive into, so that’s what we’re going to discuss in today’s blog post.  Please keep in mind that this is not a “real review”.  We’re just having some fun here and who knows….these could be major hits!

We have many Bariatric physicians that are also our clients, and think they play an important role with today’s obesity problems.  However, we have come across some new “tools”, and to be honest, when we first encountered them……we thought they were more of an SNL skit.  However, after further research, these are real

First up is the AspireAssist Aspiration Therapy System.  This nifty little system is all about removing the food you ingest before it is digested.  You connect the device to a tube that is already in your stomach, and it empties a good portion of what is in your stomach, directly into a toilet.  According to the website:

After eating, food travels to the stomach immediately, where it is temporarily stored and the digestion process begins. Over the first hour after a meal, the stomach begins breaking down the food, and then passes the food on to the intestines, where calories are absorbed. The AspireAssist allows patients to remove about 30% of the food from the stomach before the calories are absorbed into the body, causing weight loss.

To begin Aspiration Therapy, a specially designed tube, known as the A-Tube™, is placed in the stomach. The A-Tube is a thin silicone rubber tube that connects the inside of the stomach directly to a discreet, poker-chip sized Skin-Port on the outside of the abdomen. The Skin-Port has a valve that can be opened or closed to control the flow of stomach contents. The patient empties a portion of stomach contents into the toilet after each meal through this tube by connecting a small, handheld device to the Skin-Port. The emptying process is called “aspiration”.

There is a video that shows the device and how it exactly works, thankfully it’s animated!

Our second tool for today is called the Hapifork, produced by Hapilabs. Pretty much what this electric fork does is make sure you don’t eat too fast, I may be a canidate for this one…growing up in a household with 2 other brothers and limited seconds can cause. A “Fork Serving is defined by this company as every time you bring the fork up to your mouth.   It will alert you when you are eating too fast.  It will also measure:

1. How long it took to eat your meal
2. The amount of “Fork Servings” taken per minute.
3. Intervals between “fork servings”.  The information from your Hapifork is uploaded and you can track your progress.

Now of course we’re having fun here, but obesity is a serious issue.  We know these 2 companies that produce these tools take for the greater good and we wish them all the luck.

Have you heard of any “tools” that could make this list?  We’d love to hear from you!