A bariatric device and procedure configured to control the amount of food and nutrients entering a person's duodenum and reduce the weight of the person, in one aspect, comprises a gastrostomy tube having a proximal end and a distal end; a feeding tube assembly, said assembly including a feeding tube having a proximal end and a distal end; a gastrostomy tube anchor for securing the distal end of said gastrostomy tube inside the stomach; and a first feeding tube anchor designed to be expanded after the pyloric sphincter so as to anchor the distal end of said feeding tube in the duodenum.

Adapters for a connector assembly for percutaneous tubing are provided. A male adapter (FIG. 22a, 1000) includes a connector fitting (1002) proximate a first end, the connector fitting configured to join to a connector for a tubing system or device, and a male connector (656) proximate a second end. The male connector includes a plug end with a fluid lumen defined therethrough, the plug end having a circumferential groove defined therein to receive a locking extension of a female connector sized to be received within the circumferential groove of the plug end to allow the female connector to rotate relative to and maintain axial engagement with the male connector when the locking extension is received within the groove. An adapter having a female connector (FIG. 24, 1300) is also provided.

Connector assembly (FIG. 4a) includes a shell (210), a connector body (230), and a plug (250). The shell (210) has a sidewall (212) defining an interior, a first shell end having a first opening (214) defined therein, and a second shell end having a second opening (216) defined therein, each of the first (214) and second openings (216) in communication with the interior to receive percutaneous tubing therethrough, the shell (210) further having an engagement portion. The connector body (230) has a first body end (234) and a second body end (236) with a tube lumen defined therethrough, the first body end (234) having a connector tip (237), the connector body (230) having an engaging portion to engage the engagement portion of the shell (210). The plug (250) has a first plug end and a second plug end with a fluid lumen defined therethrough, the first plug end having a plug tip (257) extending therefrom.

A computer-implemented method of treating a patient's and automated enteral feeding, comprising: monitoring a plurality of reflux-related parameters and at least one reflux event while the patient is automatically enterally fed by an enteral feeding controller according to a baseline feeding profile including a target nutritional goal, training a classifier component of a model for predicting likelihood of a future reflux event according to an input of scheduled and/or predicted plurality of reflux-related parameters, the classifier trained according to computed correlations between the plurality of reflux-related parameters and the at least one reflux event, feeding scheduled and/or predicted reflux-related parameters into the trained classifier component of the model for outputting risk of likelihood of a future reflux event, and computing, by the model, an adjustment to the baseline feeding profile for reducing likelihood of the future reflux event and for meeting the target nutritional goal.

A feeding tube position confirmation device 102, operable to confirm the position of a predetermined portion of a medical feeding tube in a predetermined portion of a human or animal body, the position confirmation device comprising an optical waveguide 106 dimensioned to be insertable into the lumen of the feeding tube, the optical waveguide having a sensing distal end 108 comprising a distal end material and a sensing material mixed with the distal end material, the sensing material operable to provide a change in optical properties at the distal end 110 of the optical waveguide dependent on the environment to which the sensing distal end 108 of the waveguide is exposed. The sensing material may comprise a reflective material. Methods of manufacture and use of such devices are also described.

Systems and methods for biofilm inoculation including a feeding tube having a distal end for placement in the gut of a patient, and a biofilm coated or otherwise provided on the distal end of the feeding tube for introducing the biofilm to the gut of the patient. In example embodiments, the biofilm can be colostrum, breast milk or one or more probiotics.

The invention provides systems and methods for reducing injury to patients by dislodgement of implanted or attached medical tubing. The inventive systems and methods provide medical tubing with a releasable magnetic connection. When a stretching force is applied to the medical tubing that would cause the implanted or attached portion to be pulled or separated from the patient, the medical tubing instead separates at the point of the releasable magnetic connection, preventing the force from reaching the portion of the tubing implanted in or attached to the patient, thereby reducing the risk of injury to the patient. The releasable magnetic connection allows the tubing to be easily reconnected once the stretching force on the tubing has been terminated.

A method for performing a medical procedure in an intestine of a patient is provided. The method comprises providing a system comprising: a catheter for insertion into the intestine, the catheter comprising: an elongate shaft comprising a distal portion; and a functional assembly positioned on the shaft distal portion and comprising at least one treatment element. The catheter is introduced into the patient, and target tissue is treated with the at least one treatment element. The target tissue comprises mucosal tissue of the small intestine, and the medical procedure can be configured to treat one or more diseases or disorders based on a measured physiologic parameter of the patient.

A device for administering a fluid to a patient anatomy includes a flexible catheter. The catheter includes a lumen extending therethrough. The catheter is sized and shaped to extend from a proximal end outside a human body to a distal end that can be guided to a target location. A distal portion of the catheter includes one or more exit ports communicating with a first lumen for administering the fluid. A deformable portion of the catheter is formed so that, in a first state, the deformable portion assumes a first shape suitable for guiding the catheter to the target location and, in a second state, the deformable portion assumes a second shape in which the deformable portion curves to extend in at least one radial direction for engaging an inner wall of the target location to anchor the catheter in the target location while administering the fluid.

Disclosed is a system for administrating fluids to a patient, such as an infant. The system comprises a container that defines a drip chamber, a source of nutritive fluid fluidically communicating with the drip chamber, and a tube connecting the drip chamber to the gastric cavity of a patient, the chamber including a membrane that is gas-permeable but that is resistant to fluid passage. The system allows fluids to be introduced to the patient and for gastric gases to be released while they are resistant to the leak and spillage.