There is provided an apparatus for monitoring the ingestion of food and/or drink by a subject, the apparatus comprising a control unit that comprises a first obtaining module configured to obtain measurements of one or more physiological characteristics of the subject; a second obtaining module configured to obtain measurements of eddy currents generated in the body of the subject by an externally-applied magnetic field; a setting module configured to set a respective cut-off frequency for one or more filtering stages based on a respective frequency for each of said one or more physiological characteristics; a filtering module configured to filter the measurements of eddy currents using the one or more filtering stages to remove signal components due to the one or more physiological characteristics; and a processing module configured to process the filtered measurements to determine whether food and/or drink is present in the stomach of the subject.

A minimally invasive system and method for providing weight loss by inducing the feeling of satiety whereby an intragastric device is inserted into the gastric lumen via the esophagus and an external magnetic device is used as needed to magnetically attract the intragastric device towards the inner wall of the stomach and impart tactile stimulation sufficient to induce the feeling of satiety.

A method and apparatus for applying pressure to the abdomen of a patient to facilitate the insertion of a colonoscope is characterized by the use of a tensile compression device in the form of an elastic band which is wrapped around the patient's abdomen and secured in place. The tension of the band is adjusted to apply a desired degree of pressure to the patient's abdomen to reduce loops in the patient's colon so that the colonoscope can be fully inserted into the colon with minimal discomfort to the patient. The ends of the device are connected together when the desired degree of tension is obtained so that constant pressure and support are provided to the patient's colon. Addition pressure can be manually applied simultaneously with the pressure from the tensile device to reduce or eliminate more distal loops in the colon.

A method and apparatus for improving adenoma detection, including applying compression to the abdomen of a patient and maintaining compression of the abdomen of the patient during withdrawal of an endoscope. The compression may be applied by wrapping a band of elastic material around the abdomen of a patient and connecting one end of the band to another portion of the band to maintain tension in the band in order to apply compression to the abdomen of the patient. Aspects may also include tensioning the band prior to connecting the one end of the band to the another portion of the band to apply a desired degree of pressure to the patient's abdomen through contraction of the band across at least a portion of the patient's abdomen.

An endoscopy support apparatus that includes a primary wrap sized for placement around a subject's lower abdomen. At least one elastic strap extends from the primary wrap and is configured to extend across at least a portion of the primary wrap and to fasten to a third portion of the primary wrap to adjust the amount of pressure applied by the endoscopy support apparatus. The endoscopy support apparatus includes at least one visual indicator provided on the primary wrap or the at least one elastic strap that indicates placement of the endoscopy support apparatus relative to the subject or adjustment of the at least one elastic strap.