Patent ID: 7879355

Claim:
A food grade ingestible gastric device comprising a pouch formed from a food grade degradable film, said pouch having a first volume that allows normal ingestion of said gastric device into a subject's stomach, said pouch enclosing a sealed cavity having a core material disposed therein, said degradable film comprising a gel-forming agent selected from the group consisting of acacia (gum Arabic), agar, agarose, alginate gels, alginic acid, alginate gums, amylopectin, arabinogalactan, carob bean gum, carrageenan, chondroitin sulfate, eucheuma, fucoidan, furcellaran, gelatin, gellan, guar gum, gum ghatti, gum karaya, hypnea, laminaran, locust bean gum, natural gum, pectins, starches, polypeptides, polyamino acids, tragacanth, xanthan, psyllium, maltodextrin, like materials and mixtures thereof, said core material being adapted to produce a gas upon hydration of said gastric device and, thereby said core material, by an aqueous material, whereby said gastric device expands to a second volume greater than said first volume, said second volume being sufficient to preclude passage of said gastric device into said subject's duodenum while still allowing food to pass therethrough, said gastric device being adapted to commence said hydration after contact with said aqueous material for a period of time in the range of approximately 5-30 min, said gastric device being adapted to sufficiently degrade in said subject's stomach after a first period of time to allow passage of said gastric device into said subject's duodenum, said gastric device being further adapted to further degrade in said subject's stomach and lower gastrointestinal tract.