New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell is First New York Medical Center to Offer Tantalus Clinical Trial to Diabete...( Implantable Device Designed for Type-...),Health

Implantable Device Designed for Type-2 Diabetes Patients Who Are Overweight

and Do Not Respond to Current Oral Anti-Diabetic Treatments

Device Applies Electrical Stimulation to Stomach as Person Eats

NEW YORK, March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is recruiting patients for a national clinical research study of an investigational implantable device designed to help those with type-2 diabetes who are overweight and do not respond to current oral anti- diabetic treatments.

The Tantalus(R) System is designed to sense naturally occurring electrical activity of the stomach in real time and automatically apply electrical stimulation when a person eats. The device is implanted though a minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure that can be performed in an outpatient setting.

New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell is the first New York metro area medical center to recruit and actively enroll patients in this study. Diabetes affects more than one million New Yorkers.

"Even with current medications and lifestyle changes, controlling type-2 diabetes in patients who are overweight can be difficult. This new treatment potentially offers new hope for patients who have been unsuccessful in managing their diabetes and weight," says Dr. Louis Aronne, clinical site principal investigator, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell and clinical professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

An earlier, smaller study published in the Journal of Obesity Surgery found that the device reduced hunger and body weight in morbidly obese patients. Improvements in blood pressure were also seen.

"The primary objective of the current study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Tantalus in treating overweight patients with type-2 diabetes. The device's impact on weight loss, blood pressure and other clinical and metabolic parame
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