Apparatus and method for volume adjustment of intragastric balloons
View Patent ↗A gastric balloon and method of adding and removing fluid therefrom are disclosed. The gastric balloon includes a shell, a receiver, and a retractable tubing housed in the receiver and extendable from the stomach of a patient to the mouth of the patient. The shell is inflated and deflated from outside the body of the patient. The method of adding or removing fluid from the implanted gastric balloon includes steps of inserting a gastroscopic tool into the stomach of a patient and grasping an end of a retractable tubing housed in a receiver of the gastric balloon. Further steps of the method include withdrawing at least a portion of the retractable tubing from the stomach and out of a patient's mouth and adding or removing fluid from the gastric balloon via the retractable tubing withdrawn from the patient.
1. A gastric balloon comprising:
a shell;
a receiver dividing said shell substantially into two hemispheres and forming a small diameter portion of said shell;
an interface on said small diameter portion of said shell to allow fluid to enter or exit said gastric balloon;
a valve preventing the undesired addition or elimination of fluid from the gastric balloon; and
a retractable tubing being movable between a stowed position in which said retractable tubing is housed on said small diameter portion of said receiver and an extended position in which said retractable tubing is withdrawn from said small diameter portion of said receiver and is extendable from a stomach of a patient to a mouth of the patient, said retractable tubing having one end coupled to said interface, and wherein said shell is inflated and deflated from outside a body of the patient via said retractable tubing.
2. The gastric balloon of claim 1 wherein said retractable tubing is housed on said small diameter portion of said receiver by being wrapped around said small diameter portion of said receiver.
3. The gastric balloon of claim 1 wherein said small diameter portion of said receiver is an indentation in said shell that extends entirely around said shell.