Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for optimizing radiation therapy to a patient to treat cardiac arrhythmias. The system generally includes an ultrasound device placed within the esophagus to image and map cardiac structures in real-time. The system may also control the ventilation of the patient to optimize ultrasound monitoring and radiation delivery.

The device in the esophagus is designed to position and monitor the esophagus and/or nearby structures to optimize radiation delivery to targets while minimizing radiation to other key structures. In addition, different ablation technologies may be delivered from within the esophagus to ablate certain tissues that cannot be safely ablated with radiation therapy. Finally, the esophageal device may have electrical or magnetic properties that can be used to guide the radiation therapy.

There is provided a system for managing reflux during an enteral feeding, comprising: (i) a non-transitory memory having stored thereon a code for execution by at least one hardware processor of a computing device, the code comprising: code for receiving electrical signals outputted by at least one reflux event sensor disposed within a digestive system of a patient; code for determining a gastric reflux event based on an analysis of the electrical signals; code for outputting instructions to pause enteral feeding of the patient by a feeding controller that regulates enteral feeding of the patient using an enteral feeding tube positioned within the digestive system of the patient; and (ii) an evacuation controller that directs back-flow of digestive contents from the digestive system of the patient to an external evacuation reservoir through an evacuation tube.

A method of estimating a spatial relationship between at least a part of a patient esophagus and a heart chamber, including :measuring at least one electric parameter at one or more positions within the heart chamber to obtain measured values; and estimating the spatial relationship based on the measured values.

A speaking valve adapter is disclosed for assisting with speech or language expression during the respiratory recovery of a human. The speaking valve adapter including a speaking valve port, the port being orthogonal to a first interface port, the first interface port adapted to support tracheostomy or endotracheal tubing, a second interface port adapted to support at least one of a suction tubing and a bronchoscopy tubing, and a third interface port adapted to support a connection to a ventilator. The speaking valve adapter may be used by the patient for introduction of at least one of sounds and words while connected to the ventilator. A corresponding respiratory management system which implements the speaking valve adapter and configurable ventilator settings adapted for assisting with more effective speech or language expression during patient recovery or use is also disclosed.

Methods and systems for position determination are described for using an intrabody probe having a plurality of electrodes to generate a plurality of different electrical fields, and to also measure, using the plurality of electrodes, a measurement set (a V.sub.e-e measurement set) comprising a plurality of measurements of the plurality of different electrical fields while the probe remains in one position. From the V.sub.e-e measurement set, spatial position coordinates for the intrabody probe are estimated within an intrabody coordinate system, using an established mapping between previously observed V.sub.e-e measurement sets and positions in the intrabody coordinate system. Systems and methods for generating and selecting such mappings are also described.

An apparatus for monitoring EMG signals of a patient's laryngeal muscles includes an endotracheal tube having an exterior surface and a first location configured to be positioned at the patient's vocal folds. A first electrode is formed on the exterior surface of the endotracheal tube substantially below the first location to receive EMG signals primarily from below the vocal folds. A second electrode is formed on the exterior surface of the endotracheal tube substantially above the first location to receive EMG signals primarily from above the vocal folds. The first and second electrodes are configured to receive the EMG signals from the laryngeal muscles when the endotracheal tube is placed in a trachea of the patient.

A method is proposed for determining a pulse rate through a sound-sensing means placed on an individual's trachea, the method comprising a preliminary step for recording sound signals for a lengthy duration, wherein it comprises subsequently the following steps: filtering digital signals representative of the sound signals by using an adaptive filter, applying a lowpass filter to the signals obtained in order to select the signals comprised in a specified passband, selecting a first temporal portion of filtered digital signals of a specified duration, intercorrelation with a temporal portion of filtered digital signals that follows the first temporal portion in time and is of a same duration, searching (4.6) for the intercorrelation, computing the time interval corresponding to this temporal position and computing the corresponding pulse rate throughout the recording duration, to obtain a temporal series of pulse rates S1.

A method is proposed for determining a pulse rate through a sound-sensing means placed on an individual's trachea, the method comprising a preliminary step for recording sound signals for a lengthy duration, wherein it comprises subsequently the following steps: filtering digital signals representative of the sound signals by using an adaptive filter, applying a lowpass filter to the signals obtained in order to select the signals comprised in a specified passband, selecting a first temporal portion of filtered digital signals of a specified duration, intercorrelation with a temporal portion of filtered digital signals that follows the first temporal portion in time and is of a same duration, searching (4.6) for the intercorrelation, computing the time interval corresponding to this temporal position and computing the corresponding pulse rate throughout the recording duration, to obtain a temporal series of pulse rates S1.

A method may include positioning a catheter, including at least one electrode, within an esophagus such that the electrode is proximate to at least one sympathetic ganglion. The methods may further include recruiting the sympathetic ganglion via an electrical signal, monitoring the recruitment of the sympathetic ganglion, and, based on the monitoring the recruitment of the sympathetic ganglion, adjusting the electrical signal from the at least one electrode.

A method may include positioning a catheter, including at least one electrode, within an esophagus such that the electrode is proximate to at least one sympathetic ganglion. The methods may further include recruiting the sympathetic ganglion via an electrical signal, monitoring the recruitment of the sympathetic ganglion, and, based on the monitoring the recruitment of the sympathetic ganglion, adjusting the electrical signal from the at least one electrode.