i believe it's a gradual and progressional band on your stomach. It's a surgery in wish a band of some fashion is wrapped around your stomach, and at certain time intervals you return to the dr and he tightens the band, thereby making the stomach capacity smaller. It's said to be less extreme than gastric bypass. I thought I read somewhere that only a certain level of overweightness can be handle with this procedure. I don't recall the numbers though. My sister had considered this but was to heavy and had the bypass instead.