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.

Method for introducing and maintaining a level of negative pressure in a body cavity of at least 80 mmHg using a tube having an elongate distal portion and a proximal portion having first and second arms, each arm having a lumen in flow communication with one another and with the body cavity via apertures at or near the distal end of the tube, wherein the first arm or tubular extension therefrom is adaptable to receive suction from a suction source. An indicator, arranged in relation to the second arm, signals when a specific negative pressure has been exceeded in the tube, or a valve, arranged in relation to the second arm, admits ambient air into the lumen of the second arm when suction is applied to the tube and differential air pressure between the air in the lumens of the tube and ambient air exceeds a specified amount.

The present disclosure provides a micro-organismal product and a method for treating a patient with sickle cell disease. In one aspect, the method comprises determining a concentration of one or more biological markers in serum of the patient indicative of breach of an intestinal barrier in sickle cell disease; and administering a micro-organismal product to the patient that restores intestinal permeability of the patient by, for example, upregulating tight-junctions of the patient's intestine.

The present invention provides a catheter for assisting recovery from dysphagia.

An apparatus for monitoring for accumulation of lung fluid comprises a feeding tube having first electrode(s) positioned thereon for electrical contact with tissue of an esophagus of a target patient including a lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and/or tissue in proximity to the LES, second electrode(s) sized and shaped for contacting skin of the target patient, and a non-transitory memory having stored thereon code instructions for applying alternating current(s) to pair(s) of first and second electrodes, measuring a voltage over the pair(s), and computing an estimate of a change of lung fluid relative to a baseline in lung(s) of the target patient according to the applied alternating current and measured voltage, wherein the applying, the measuring, and the computing the estimate of the change in lung fluid are iteratively executed for monitoring the target patient for accumulation of lung fluid while the feeding tube is in use.

Systems and methods for effecting bariatric procedures are disclosed. Each system includes an instrument, a control valve and, optionally, a suction controller. The instrument is in the form of an elongated, flexible sizing tube having a distal end portion including a plurality of apertures. The control valve enables suction to be applied to the patient's stomach via the apertures to drain gastric fluids and to bring adjacent portions of the patient's stomach into engagement with the sizing tube to provide a visually perceptible delineation line along which a portion of the stomach may be resected, sealed and tested.

A tube assembly for placement within a patient includes a tube having a lumen, a proximal end portion, and a distal end portion attached to a dissolvable tip. The dissolvable tip may have an axial passageway and at least one non-axial vent. Once the assembly is positioned within the patient, the tip is dissolved by gastrointestinal fluids thereby providing an unobstructed distal tube end for material to flow through.

A system for purging air from a feeding line is set forth. The system includes a charging device configured to selectively provide an air charge in the system. A restricting tubing can be located between the charging device and a delivery tube. The restricting tubing can be configured to tunably limit the air charge delivered from the charging device to the feeding line through the delivery tube.

There is provided a system for monitoring a heart of a subject and monitoring impedance-related parameters, comprising: a feeding tube, an electrode disposed(s) on a distal end of the feeding tube, a controller that performs, while the feeding tube is in located in an esophagus and feeding is delivered to a subject via the feeding tube, in a plurality of iterations: continuously measuring voltage at the electrode(s) of the feeding tube, applying alternating current(s) between the electrode(s) of the feeding tube and at least one other electrode, computing impedance measurement(s) from the electrode(s) of the feeding tube according to the applied alternating current(s) and the measured voltage, computing impedance-related parameter(s) based on the impedance measurement(s), terminating the application of the alternating current(s), obtaining an electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement based on the voltage measured at the electrode(s) of the feeding tube, and providing the impedance-related parameter(s) and the ECG measurement.

Provided are a tube that has high inner-surface smoothness and outer-surface smoothness and a thickness distribution with a small variation, and a method for manufacturing the tube. The tube includes points a, b, c, and d that satisfy the following conditions (1) and (2): (1) 0.9<Rea/Rec<1.1 and 0.9<Reb/Red<1.1; and (2) Rea/Reb0.9 or Rea/Reb1.1. The points a, b, c, and d are four random points that are located on the circumference of the tube on any cross section in the axial direction of the tube, and are aligned in the stated order in a circumferential direction. Rea, Reb, Rec, and Red respectively indicate retardations at the points a, b, c, and d. The tube satisfies the following condition (3): (3) (10-point standard deviation/10-point average)1002 in the respective sets A, B, C, and D. Each of the sets A, B, C, and D includes retardations at ten random points present in a range between the point a, b, c, or d and a point 5 mm away from that point in the axial direction.