Remote Control Lap Band for Fatties

This would be great if you could buy a universal remote and wade into
Wal-Mart.........

http://epaper.ocregister.com/Reposit...glish-skin-ocr

Allergan Inc. has purchased a Swiss company that makes a new technology for
weight-loss surgery - stomach-shrinking bands that can be tightened by
remote control instead of by needle.

Allergan paid $97 million for EndoArt, which last year received approval
to sell its Easyband system in Europe. The Irvine-based company announced
the purchase Thursday, as well as plans to seek Food and Drug Administration
approval for the device after it conducts clinical trials in the United
States.

Allergan already sells the Lap-Band, a less invasive alternative to
stomach stapling surgery. The purchase solidifies Allergan's dominance in
the rapidly growing beauty and wellness market, said Robert Grant, president
of Allergan Medical.

"We're very excited about it," Grant said. "It does represent a
significant advancement."

Last year, Allergan purchased Inamed, the Santa Barbara maker of the
Lap-Band, which recently has been gaining on the more widely performed
gastric bypass surgery.

In gastric bypass surgeries, the patient's stomach is stapled into an
egg-size pouch. The small intestine then is connected directly to the pouch,
bypassing part of the intestine to reduce calorie absorption.

In contrast, the Lap-Band does not reroute the digestive system. The
laparoscopic procedure implants an adjustable band that shrinks the stomach
so patients feel full with less food. Sales last year reached $130 million.

The band must be adjusted regularly, typically several times in the
first year. For that, the patient visits the doctor, who tightens the band
by injecting saline solution into the device through an external port
attached to abdominal muscles just below the ribs. The process is known as a
fill.

The Easyband technology changes the tightening method. It allows the
doctor or nurse to adjust the band with a remote-controlled unit that
receives information from a tiny antenna implanted in the patient, above the
sternum. Additionally, the band does not use saline.

Grant declined to describe in detail how the Easyband technology works,
but said it does not run on batteries and allows precise tightening of the
band.

Local weight-loss surgeons say the technology sounds like it could be
more comfortable for patients.

"If you have a technology that's automatic and can fill the patient
without a needle stick, that would make life so much simpler," said Dr. Ninh
Nguyen, a UC Irvine surgeon who performs Lap-Band and gastric bypass
surgeries. "Some patients do complain of pain."

The Easyband purchase comes on the heels of Allergan's increased
marketing of the Lap-Band, which is the only device of its kind sold in the
United States. In October, the company launched television ads that it said
have dramatically increased visits to the company's informational Web site.

"Allergan was the very first company to launch a direct-toconsumer
campaign around a surgical procedure," Grant said. "One of the major drivers
is when patients go to the doctor and ask them specifically for these type
of procedures."

Grant said the Swiss company did not have the resources for marketing
its invention, but that's where Allergan will step in to commercialize the
European market.

He said the Easyband will not replace the Lap-Band because of Lap-Band's
long track record of safety.