BOSTON -- People who are severely or morbidly overweight have few surgical options to achieve drastic weight loss. Gastric bypass surgery and the lap-band are the most common procedures currently performed, but bypass is irreversible.

New Device Targets Severe Obesity

Now Boston is one of 13 locations nationwide where doctors and patients are testing a device that could be the next big thing to help obese people lose weight. It's called V-Bloc. The lead investigator of the study is Dr. Scott Shikora, the chief of bariatric surgery at Tuffs Medical Center.

V-Bloc consists of several parts. A small disc-like device is implanted laproscopically, just under a person’s ribcage.

"It's under the skin but you can actually feel it," said Anne Marie Melanson, a nurse and clinical research coordinator for the study.

During surgery doctors thread two wires connected to the disc to the spot where the esophagus meets the stomach, and sew the ends to the vagus nerves.

Then patients wear a belt underneath their clothing for 12 to 16 hours a day, which activates the implanted device to send signals to a patient’s brain, via the vagus nerve, that their stomach is full.

However, "this isn't magic," Melanson said. Patients with V-Bloc still need to eat a sensible diet and exercise but, she said, it could offer some advantages.

"It’s reversible, and it doesn't change the things you can eat," said Melanson. “After gastric bypass and lap-band surgery you have to eat very small amounts.”

Brandon Clark, 36, of Lowell, knows the difficulty of being severely overweight. One year ago he weighed more than 400 pounds.

“I’ve been overweight all my life,” Clark said. “It’s lifestyle, it’s what you’re taught, it’s what your genetics are. Even as a child I was heavier than the other children. For me it was not a going up, going down, going up, going down it was just a steady progression throughout my life until it got to a point where I felt I really had to do something about it.”

Last year, after Clark began developing sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes, he decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery. In 12 months, he has lost 180 pounds. His goal is to weigh less than 200 pounds.

Investigators hope V-Bloc could offer obese people similar success. They expect patients who have V-Bloc implanted will lose between 15 and 20 percent of their weight in the first year.

Tufts Medical Center is enrolling 30 patients in all, 10 percent of the total worldwide. Researchers are still screening more people to participate in the five-year study. To qualify, a person’s body mass index must be between 35 and 45.

"The biggest changes in my life have just been mobility and energy," Clark said.

FDA approval for V-Bloc is at least five years away.