Intragastric balloon assembly

An intragastric balloon assembly for reducing the food intake of a person suffering from obesity, in the intragastric balloon assembly comprising:

• a balloon made of an acid resistant distensible material;
• an inflating catheter joinable at one end to the balloon and configured to inflate the balloon;
• a rigid support including an elongated element formed unitarily with the balloon and having a diameter that is larger at an end joined to the balloon and becomes smaller towards an opposing end, said rigid support being configured for use as a guideline and tractor to take the balloon into a stomach through a mouth and as a support to maintain the balloon in a substantially fixed position, said rigid support having a handle disposed at the opposing end of the rigid support and formed unitarily with the rigid support to permit said rigid support to be held during surgery;
• said inflating catheter being detachably joined to the balloon to permit the inflating catheter to be detached from the balloon after inflating;
• an inflating valve disposed at a point distant from the rigid support , fixedly attached to the balloon, and connected with detachable catheter for an initial inflating of the balloon;
• and
• a fixing plate having a first hole with a circular flange configured to adjust and fix the rigid support and a plurality of fixation holes to join the plate to abdominal tissue.

An intragastric balloon assembly for reducing food intake of a person suffering from obesity, comprising:

• a balloon;
• a tubular member for attaching the balloon to a gastric wall of a stomach of a person, the tubular member including a first end affixed to the balloon and a second end affixed to a handle;
• a catheter detachably connected to the balloon and configured to inflate the balloon;
• and
• an inflation valve connected to the catheter.

A method of installing an intragastric balloon assembly in a stomach of a patient, comprising the steps of:

• providing the intragastric balloon assembly including a tubular member having a first end affixed to a balloon and a second end affixed to a handle, a catheter detachably connected to the balloon, and an inflation valve connected to the catheter;
• identifying the stomach using the endoscope introduced through a mouth of the patient;
• identifying a puncture site on a portion of an exterior portion of an abdominal wall of the patient;
• piercing all layers of the abdominal wall at the puncture site and perforating the stomach to thereby introduce a first end of a suture into the stomach;
• grasping the first end of the suture with the endoscope and pulling the endoscope and the first end of the suture through the mouth of the patient;
• attaching the first end of the suture to the handle of the intragastric balloon assembly;
• pulling a second end of the suture so that the first end of the suture, the intragastric balloon assembly is pulled into the stomach, and the tubular member and the catheter are pulled through the gastric wall and the abdominal wall;
• inflating the balloon with a fluid through the catheter;
• and
• fixing the tubular member and the catheter to the abdominal wall with a fixing plate to thereby secure the balloon against the gastric wall of the stomach of the patient.