New High-Tech Weight Loss Program Comes to Michigan: Clinic

CLARKSTON, MI — An Oakland County medical clinic is the first in Michigan to offer a new weight loss procedure that involves an electronic device attached to the body.

It's called AspireAssist, and it allows patients to remove up to 30 percent of the food from the stomach after eating and before the calories are absorbed into the digestive tract, causing weight loss, according to the clinic, Endoscopic Solutions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the procedure in 2016.

Dr. Veslav Stecevic, the president of Endoscopic Solutions, recently performed the first two AspireAssist procedures in Michigan, "marking the first Michigan resident and Ohio resident to receive the therapy since FDA approval," the clinic said in a statement.

The AspireAssist procedure is a promising advance in weight loss, says Endoscopic Solutions. On average, patients in the program "can expect to lose about 40 percent of their excess weight in the first six months." In clinical trials, a number of patients lost more than 100 pounds in the first year of the program.

In the first step of the program, the patient undergoes a 15-minute procedure in the clinic's surgery center. A thin tube "is placed in the patient's stomach that connects the inside of the stomach directly to a discreet button on the outside of the abdomen," Endoscopic Solutions said.

The button can be connected to the electronic device, about the size of a smartphone. After the patient eats a meal, he uses the small electronic device to empty, or "aspirate," up to 30 percent of the meal into a toilet.

"Once desired weight loss is obtained, the tube can be taken out or remain in place and continued to be used indefinitely," the clinic says. "It's up to the patient to decide."

The AspireAssist Program includes physician follow-up and monthly nutrition counseling. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 248-625-4055 or visit www.endoscopicsolutions.org.

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