Tiny implantable device may cut hunger pangs, aid weight loss

Scientists have developed a battery-free, easily implantable device that fools the brain into thinking that the stomach is full after just a few nibbles of food -- an advance that could help combat the obesity epidemic.

In laboratory testing, the devices developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US helped rats shed almost 40 per cent of their body weight.

More than 700 million adults and children worldwide are obese, say researchers who dubbed the growing weight-related health problems a "rising pandemic."