NTU Singapore and NUHS scientists develop swallowable self-inflating capsule to help tackle obesity

A team from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the National University Health System (NUHS) has developed a self-inflating weight management capsule that could be used to treat obese patients.

Called the EndoPil, the prototype capsule contains a balloon that can be self-inflated with a handheld magnet once it is in the stomach, thus inducing a sense of fullness. The concept behind the capsule is for it to be ingested orally.

Designed by a team led by Professor Louis Phee, NTU Dean of Engineering, and Professor Lawrence Ho, a clinician-innovator at NUHS, such an orally-administered self-inflating weight loss capsule could represent a non-invasive alternative to tackle the growing global obesity epidemic.