MetaCure, with offices in U.S., Germany and Israel, is a medical device firm working on a novel gastric stimulation system designed to help type II diabetes patients lower their blood glucose and control their eating habits and body weight. The electro-stimulating device, CE Marked in Europe and now marketed under brand name DIAMOND (Diabetes Improvement And MetabOlic Normalization Device), can be placed laparoscopically, its three bipolar leads attached to the gastric wall. The procedure also involves the creation of subcutaneous pockets for the stimulator and charge coil. Relying on a proprietary algorithm, the device is designed to stimulate gastric muscles around the time of food intake to induce satiety. A company representative tells us that the system’s name “reflects [company’s] findings that the DIAMOND not just facilitates glycemic control but also induces a comprehensive beneficial metabolic effect by leading to weight loss, waist circumference reduction, significant lowering of blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), as well as improvement in lipid profile. The DIAMOND has a CE mark since 2007 and has been implanted in over 200 patients in the US, Europe and Asia. It is well tolerated by patients and brings about a significant reduction in HbA1c levels… ”
Here’s how the product brochure explains the device’s physiologic impact:
MetaCure’s innovative patent protected technology is based on a novel algorithm for automatic food intake detection, and consequent electrical stimulation of the antral stomach muscles. Based on a proprietary technology developed for treating Chronic Heart Failure, the stimulation is non-excitatory and timed to coincide with refractory periods, enhancing gastric muscle contractility, and activating neurons that stimulate hormone secretion, which improves glucose metabolism. Simultaneously, the stimulation also enhances satiety and lowers food consumption. Both effects form a better balance of the post-Prandial metabolic process, resulting with an improvement in blood glucose levels, which is often accompanied by weight loss, and reduction of blood pressure and waist circumference.
The system has not yet received FDA approval.
Product page: DIAMOND system…
Technology page…