or unfilled i e whether the band is inflated or un inflated this helps to ensure that upon initial positioning of the gastric band 10 there is no pinching of the stomach fig6 shows a cross sectional view of the inflatable shell 16 of fig3 taken along line 6 6 in fig6 the thickness of the rib 7 can be seen relative to the thickness of the inflatable shell 16 fig6 also shows that the width of the chambers 6 may extend beyond the width of an outer surface 22 of the inflatable shell 16 similarly fig8 shows the chambers 6 extending beyond the width of the body portion 11 designated by the dotted line the greater size of the chambers 6 relative to the body portion 11 helps to evenly distribute the forces applied to the stomach through the inflation of the gastric band 10 fig5 shows a close up view of a notch 8 and rib 7 of the inflatable shell 16 also shown in fig5 are chambers 6 on either side of the rib 7 from fig5 it can be seen that the portions of the inner surface 15 immediately adjacent to the notches 8 will not come in contact with one another upon inflation of a gastric band 10 having an inflatable shell 16 so designed this prevents wear and rubbing of the inner surface 15 also as a result of the notch 8 a crease will not form in the inner surface 15 of the inflatable shell 16 further because of this the chamber 6 can be inflated to a much greater volume forming a smaller stoma than similar sized gastric bands known in the prior art the effects of the notch 8 can be described as follows the notch 8 acts as.