A tubing assembly for use in conjunction with electronic catheter guidance systems is provided and includes a catheter and a sensor. The catheter extends in a longitudinal direction and has a proximal end and a distal end that define a lumen therebetween. Further, the catheter is configured for placement within a digestive tract of a patient. The sensor includes a temperature sensor, relative humidity sensor, or both, and can be located within the lumen of the catheter or in an air sampling chamber connected to the catheter. The sensor can communicate with a processor to deliver temperature and/or relative humidity readings to a display device. A constant temperature or relative humidity profile, or both after a pre-determined amount of time can indicate placement of the catheter in the digestive tract. A catheter guidance system and a method for accurately placing a catheter in the digestive tract are also provided.

A system and method is provided for measuring a mechanical property of a biological tube. The system and method operate to arrange a plurality of piezoelectric elements about the biological tube and apply a predetermined force or transduce an endogeneous or exogeneous force to the biological tube. The system and method also operate to receive a respective signal from each piezoelectric element in the plurality of piezoelectric elements responsive to the application of the predetermined force or a transduced endogenous or exogeneous force and calculate the mechanical property of the biological tube based on the signals received from the plurality of piezoelectric elements.

There is provided a system for measuring impedance at multiple locations within a body of a patient, comprising: an elongated probe sized and shaped for being disposed within a cavity of the body of the patient or in an extracorporeal position, at least one pair of parallel transmission wires disposed along a length of the elongated probe, a plurality of impedance elements, each connected to the at least one pair of parallel transmission wires at a respective spaced apart location along the length of the elongated probe in a ladder arrangement, a transmitter configured for injecting an electrical signal to the at least one pair of parallel transmission wires, a receiver configured for measuring a plurality of reflections of the electrical signal from the plurality of impedance elements, and a processor configured for computing an impedance value for each of the impedance elements according to the measured plurality of reflections.

An oesophageal electrode probe for bioimpedance measurement and/or for neurostimulation is provided; a device for transoesophageal cardiological treatment and/or cardiological diagnosis is also provided; a method for the open-loop or closed-loop control of a cardiological catheter ablation device and/or a cardiological, circulatory and/or respiratory support device is also provided. The oesophageal electrode probe comprises a bioimpedance measuring device for measuring the bioimpedance of at least one part of tissue surrounding the oesophageal electrode probe. The bioimpedance device comprises at least one first and one second electrode. The at least one first electrode is arranged on a side of the oesophageal electrode probe facing towards the heart. The at least one second electrode is arranged on a side of the oesophageal electrode probe facing away from the heart. The device comprises the oesophageal electrode probe and a control and/or evaluation device.

An esophageal device is used to recognize, diagnose, characterize, or relieve an impact of an abnormal or defective UES anatomy, physiology, or functionality. In one implementation, the esophageal device measures a UES response to esophageal fluid infusion to detect or characterize an abnormality or defective UES anatomy, physiology, or functionality. An Upper Esophageal Sphincter compression device is used to increase intra-luminal pressure within the Upper Esophageal Sphincter of a patient in order relieve an impact of an abnormal or defective UES anatomy, physiology, or functionality.

A system for producing surface temperature estimations of a tissue surface is provided. A first optical assembly receives infrared light emitted from multiple tissue surface areas. A fiber receives the infrared light from the first optical assembly, and a sensor that is optically coupled to the fiber proximal end produces a signal that correlates to an average temperature of each of the multiple tissue surface areas.

An esophageal device is used to recognize, diagnose, characterize, or relieve an impact of an abnormal or defective UES anatomy, physiology, or functionality. In one implementation, the esophageal device measures a UES response to esophageal fluid infusion to detect or characterize an abnormality or defective UES anatomy, physiology, or functionality. An Upper Esophageal Sphincter compression device is used to increase intra-luminal pressure within the Upper Esophageal Sphincter of a patient in order relieve an impact of an abnormal or defective UES anatomy, physiology, or functionality.

There is provided herein a system and a method for guiding insertion of a gastroenteral tube including: an electromagnetic field generator configured to generate an electromagnetic field covering a treatment area; wherein said electromagnetic field generator is external to the patient; a registration sensor configured to mark anatomic locations on the patient's torso; a gastroenteral tube comprising a tip sensor configured to sense its position and/or orientation relative to the electromagnetic field generator; and a processing circuitry configured to: calculate an orientation of the subject relative to the field generator based on the anatomic locations marked by the registration sensor, load a predefined anatomic map representing a torso; aligning the map based on the anatomic locations marked by the registration sensor, and showing on the map a path of the gastroenteral tube insertion; wherein the path is generated according to changes in the strength of the electromagnetic field sensed by the tip sensor's during the insertion of the gastroenteral tube, independent of the subject's movement and independent of deviations in the position and/or orientation of said field generator.

This invention concerns a device (1) for detecting and monitoring the temperature of the esophagus (E) during cardiac ablation treatments, which makes it possible to continuously and automatically monitor the correct positioning of the temperature sensors (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e).

A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining if a previously carried out heart ablation has been effective in isolating tissue. The method involves inserting an esophageal device, e.g. a catheter, into the esophagus so that an electrode is adjacent the heart, pacing the electrode with an electrical pacing signal, and determining if the heart adopts the pacing signal. Adoption of the pacing signal is indicative of the tissue not being electrically isolated by the ablation, and so may signal that a re-ablation procedure is necessary. Non adoption of the pacing signal is indicative of the tissue being electrically isolated by the ablation. Also disclosed is a processing unit for comparing a measured heart signal with a predetermined pacing signal to determine heart adoption of the pacing signal. The device and processing unit may be used to measure natural heart signals in the esophagus to assist in correct catheter positioning.