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Having an electric shock device implanted in your stomach to stop you eating has to be nicer – just – than having your stomach or intestines sewn up or stapled together. Italian doctor Valerio Cigaina originally filed patents on the idea. But they have now been bought by medical company Transneuronix of New Jersey who has tried out the device in 300 patients around the world. Their patent (WO 0243467) explains how an implant fitted near nerves in the stomach wall can make the patient feel full and sated. It zaps the stomach painlessly with a tiny 10-milliampere current, 12 times a minute, for two seconds each time. This slows down peristalsis, the sequence of muscle contractions that force food along the digestive tract, so you won’t feel hungry again quickly. It also makes the sphincters at the entrance and exit of the stomach contract, restricting the amount of food that can pass through. The device can be left on all the time or triggered when the patient feels the urge to binge.