Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an ingestible vibrating device that mimics the sense of fullness a person experiences after eating a large meal.

The ingestible capsule — which is intended to help with appetite control and subsequently, weight loss — replicates the phenomenon that occurs after a subject consumes a large meal.

Source: MIT

According to the researchers, when a person is full, the stomach becomes distended and specialized cells dubbed mechanoreceptors detect the stretching that accompanies distention and subsequently signals to the brain via the vagus nerve. Consequently, the brain encourages insulin production as well as the production of hormones such as C-peptide, Pyy and GLP-1 — all of which work together to digest food and impart the feeling of fullness that encourages the person to stop eating. Simultaneously, levels of ghrelin, a hunger-promoting hormone, decrease.

To mimic this phenomenon, the capsule is designed to vibrate once in the stomach, thereby activating the stretch receptors that sense when the stomach is distended, thus giving the imaginary sense of fullness.

In the lab, animals given the ingestible vibrating capsule 20 minutes before eating experienced the simulated release of hormones that is associated with satiety. The researchers also noted that the capsule reduced the food intake of these animals by roughly 40%.

"For somebody who wants to lose weight or control their appetite, it could be taken before each meal," the researchers explained. "This could be really interesting in that it would provide an option that could minimize the side effects that we see with the other pharmacological treatments out there."

The device is detailed in the article, "A Vibrating Ingestible BioElectronic Stimulator Modulates Gastric Stretch Receptors for Illusory Satiety," which appears in the journal Science Advances.