Efficacy and safety of intragastric balloon for obesity in Korea

Background/Aims Intragastric balloon (IGB) is the only available endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapy in Korea. End-ball (Endalis) has the longest history of clinical use among the IGBs available in Korea. However, little clinical data on this system have been reported. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of End-ball in Korea. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent IGB insertion (End-ball) from 2013 to 2019. Demographic and anthropometric data were collected. The efficacy and safety of IGB treatment were analyzed. Results In total, 80 patients were included. Mean age was 33.7 years and 83.8% were female. Initial body mass index was 34.48±4.69 kg/m2. Body mass index reduction was 3.72±2.63 kg/m2 at the time of IGB removal. Percent of total body weight loss (%TBWL) was 10.76%±6.76%. Percentage excess body weight loss was 43.67%±27.59%. Most adverse events were minor, and 71.4% of participants showed nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain. Conclusions IGB treatment showed good efficacy and safety profile in Korean patients with obesity. In terms of %TBWL and percentage excess body weight loss, the efficacy was similar to that in the Western population

Overview of the KoRIA Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

The Korea Rare Isotope Accelerator, currently referred to as KoRIA, is briefly presented. The KoRIA facility is aimed to enable cutting-edge sciences in a wide range of fields. It consists of a 70 kW isotope separator on-line (ISOL) facility driven by a 70 MeV, 1 mA proton cyclotron and a 400 kW in-flight fragmentation (IFF) facility. The ISOL facility uses a superconducting (SC) linac for post-acceleration of rare isotopes up to about 18 MeV/u, while the SC linac of IFF facility is capable of accelerating uranium beams up to 200 MeV/u, 8 p mu A and proton beams up to 600 MeV, 660 mu A. Overall features of the KoRIA facility are presented with a focus on the accelerator design.close5