StomaphyX is an
endoscopic
An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are insert ...
suturing
A surgical suture, also known as a stitch or stitches, is a medical device used to hold body tissues together and approximate wound edges after an injury or surgery. Application generally involves using a needle with an attached length of threa ...
system designed to treat
patients
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...
who have had previous
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several diff ...
. Following this surgery, the stomach pouch and stomach outlet (''stoma'') becomes enlarged in some patients. The StomaphyX device can be used to restrict the size of the stoma without exposing the patient to further surgical risk.
Although initial post-procedure weight loss is evident in some trials, there is doubt as to whether such results are sustained over the long term.
The StomaphyX device was patented by