Gastrointestinal module: a nonsurgical implant

Abstract

A nonsurgically implanted gastrointestinal module is described. The module consists of an ellipsoidal or spherical collapsible gastric anchor, a tether device, and an intestinal payload module. The device is inserted into the stomach via a gastric intubation technique. The gastric anchor unfolds within the gastric cavity and lodges itself prior to the sphincter. The smaller intestinal module passes through the sphincter and unfolds within the confines of the intestine. The intestinal module is held in place via a tether which binds the gastric anchor to the intestinal payload module. The intestinal module may contain slow release medicaments, bound enzymes, cofactors, buffers, microorganisms and the like. Thus biochemical processes of the intestine may be modified, and these in turn may affect other body compartments. The gastrointestinal module may be removed with a retrieval hook via a gastric intubation technique.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.