Patent ID: 8048169

Claim:
A device for obstructing a pyloric valve of a stomach, the device comprising: an expandable support portion adapted to reconfigure in the stomach from a first configuration to a larger second configuration, wherein the support portion in the second configuration is sized to prevent passage of the device through the pyloric valve; a compliant tissue engagement surface comprising a compliant outer shell which is formed external to the expandable support portion when in the larger second configuration such that the surface surrounds an inner plug within a hollow portion formed within the support portion and wherein the surface is adapted to be intermittently engaged to stomach tissue adjacent the pyloric valve whereby the pyloric valve is intermittently obstructed; a tubular positioning member having a length extending from the tissue engagement surface and having a shape adapted to pass at least partially through the pyloric valve to position the device over the pyloric valve, where the outer shell is movable from a first configuration in which it overlaps at least part of the positioning member to a second configuration in which it overlaps at least part of the plug; and a retaining member having a diameter larger than the positioning member and coupled with a distal end of the positioning member for maintaining the device in intermittent contact with the pyloric valve, where the retaining member has an atraumatic shape.