The latest radical weight-loss tool will come with batteries included.

Federal regulators on Wednesday approved a surgically implanted device that zaps the nerves connecting the stomach and brain, thus suppressing the appetite.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s green light for the Maestro Rechargeable System makes it the first new device approved for fighting obesity since the 2007 OK of a gastric band.

“Obesity and its related medical conditions are major public health problems,” said Dr. William Maisel, deputy director for science and chief scientist at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
“Medical devices can help physicians and patients to develop comprehensive obesity-treatment plans.”

The implanted, battery-operated device would be installed just below the rib cage and send electrical impulses to the vagus nerve, which goes from the stomach to the brain, and should abate feelings of hunger, according to manufacturers EnteroMedics of St. Paul, Minn.

“For the first time, [patients in clinical trials] tell us, they feel full” from eating smaller portions, EnteroMedics COO Gregory Lea said.

FDA approval triggers an 18-month period of negotiations between insurance carriers and the unit’s manufacturer, Lea said.

“We feel confident that over time, we can seek coverage and will get coverage,” Lea said. “That’s our next step.”

He added, “If you lose weight and keep it off, there will be dramatic improvement in general health.”

Eligible patients must be at least 18, have shown that conventional dieting and exercise have failed, have an obesity-related condition such as type 2 diabetes and have a body-mass index between 35 and 45.

For example, a 5-foot-9 patient between 237 pounds and 305 pounds would fall into that range.

The company estimates as many as 20 million Americans have a BMI between 35 and 45.

Patients should drop about 10 percent of their body weight after 12 months of treatment, EnteroMedics claims.

The company is still working out pricing, but Lea estimated that the cost — without insurance — for the device and initial surgery would run between $15,000 and $35,000.

After surgery, the implant’s battery would be fueled by an external recharger that would pump in energy-carrying radio waves.

Recharging would take about 90 minutes and have to be done every other day.

The internal battery should last 10 years before another surgical procedure — costing between $1,000 an $5,000 — is needed to replace it, Lea said.