Israeli students have created an innovative device to help fight obesity.

The MetaboShield is a gastric sleeve which can be inserted endoscopically, meaning that any operation would be non-invasive, requiring no incisions, tissue damage or general anaesthesia.

A group of experts and undergraduates at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem developed the medical tool, which helps patients lose weight by blocking nutrients from being absorbed by the bloodstream.

Tutor Dr Yaakov Nahmias, who is Director of the Centre of Bioengineering at the university, said the invention “doesn’t cause damage to the intestinal wall, which makes it unique.”

Dr Nahmias stated that the device, which would be inserted into the body through “a cavity, normally the mouth,” currently requires funding from a major company, but “will hopefully be on the market in the next five years.”

The World Health Organisation has estimated that more than 1.4 billion adults worldwide are overweight, costing the global economy hundreds of billions of pounds every year.