On Friday 25 September 2026, Auralia successfully performed the first MagDI™ procedures in Ireland and the UK, an important milestone for bariatric and metabolic surgery. We were delighted to welcome Professor Michel Gagner to Auralia Private Hospital in Dublin. Professor Gagner is the surgeon who pioneered MagDI™ and a co-founder of GT Metabolic Solutions, and he joined Dr John Loy to proctor the first cases.
The procedures included the first MagDI™ procedure and the first MagDI™ with a gastric sleeve. Together they introduce an innovative approach to metabolic surgery that uses magnetic technology to create a new intestinal connection without cutting, stapling or stitching the bowel at the connection site.
MagDI™ is a genuinely exciting development in metabolic surgery.
By using magnetic technology to create a bypass connection without staples or sutures at the connection site, it challenges some of the conventions of traditional bypass surgery. MagDI™ gives us a less invasive way to create that connection while delivering the metabolic effect we are looking for.
For appropriately selected patients, MagDI™ represents an exciting new treatment option — and a significant step forward in how we think about and perform bariatric surgery.
Dr John LoyConsultant Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeon, Head of Bariatric Surgery at Auralia
What is MagDI™?
MagDI™ is a new way to create the connection between two sections of the small intestine. That connection is the step that gives bypass-type surgery its powerful effect on hunger hormones and blood sugar.
Until now, surgeons made that connection by cutting the bowel and joining it with staples or stitches. With MagDI™, two small magnets are placed inside the intestine, and they attract each other through the bowel wall. Over the following two to three weeks, your body forms a pure connection between them. Once it has, the magnets pass out of the body naturally, usually within two to three weeks of surgery.
The procedure is carried out as keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic. When MagDI™ is combined with a gastric sleeve, the sleeve itself uses standard surgical staples on the stomach. The intestinal connection is still made without cutting, stapling or stitching the bowel.
From a masterclass to the operating theatre
This milestone began in October 2025. Auralia hosted its first International Bariatric Masterclass in Dublin, where Professor Gagner demonstrated MagDI™ live to Irish and international surgeons.
In June 2026, the GT Metabolic Magnet System received its European CE mark. Dr Loy completed GT Metabolic’s MagDI™ training and proctorship programme and became the first surgeon certified to perform MagDI™ in Ireland.
Who could MagDI™ be for?
Dr Loy currently offers MagDI™ in three ways:
- With a gastric sleeve, as a first procedure. The sleeve reduces portion size, and MagDI™ adds the metabolic effect of a bypass without a stapled intestinal connection.
- On its own. For selected patients, particularly those with type 2 diabetes.
- As a revision. For patients who have regained weight, or not lost enough, after a gastric sleeve, gastric band or other weight loss surgery.
MagDI™ is not suitable if you have an MRI scan planned in the weeks after surgery. Dr Loy will assess whether it is right for you at your consultation.
What we know so far
MagDI™ has been in clinical use since 2021. It received US FDA authorisation in 2024, Health Canada approval in 2025 and its European CE mark in 2026. Early published results are encouraging. Because MagDI™ is new, the studies are still small and follow-up currently runs to one to two years. Every Auralia MagDI™ patient is followed in a structured programme so that we track outcomes over time.
Find out if MagDI™ is right for you
Read more about MagDI™ magnetic weight loss surgery, or book a free consultation with Dr Loy to discuss your options.
