Abstract: The present disclosure is directed methods and apparatus of a V-Bank filtration system capable of maintaining desired air flow rates while effectively filtering the air. These methods and apparatus charge particles and then capture those particles in a filter medium. Once captured in the filter medium, micro-organisms are exposed to high energy electric fields that may degrade and ultimately destroy the captured micro-organisms. Electric fields generated within portions of the V-Bank filter apparatus may also be contained within the portions of the filter apparatus based on exterior parts of these portions being grounded at Earth ground potential. Magnetic fields (or electro-magnetic fields) associated with the generated electric fields may also be contained within the portions of the apparatus based on the exterior parts of these portions being grounded.

Abstract: An apparatus for reducing obesity in human beings having an inflatable bag to which a flexible tube is attached. The bag is positioned in the stomach, usually by swallowing, and the tube extends up through the esophagus and out of a nasal cavity or out from the abdomen when a gastrostomy is performed. The bag is inflated by attachment of a supply of fluid to the end of the tube, and then the tube is closed so that the bag will maintain its inflated conditon. With a portion of the open cavity of the patient's stomach occupied by the inflated bag, the patient will sense a feeling of being "filled-up" with only a small amount of food intake.