A system for monitoring a transpulmonary pressure of a mechanically ventilated target individual, the system comprising: a feeding tube for insertion into a distal end of an esophagus of the mechanically ventilated target patient; at least one esophageal body having a pressure dependent volume, coupled to a distal portion of the feeding tube; a pressure sensor that senses the pressure in the at least one esophageal body; at least one hardware processor; and a non-transitory memory having stored thereon a code for execution by the at least one hardware processor, the code comprising code for: computing an estimate of esophageal wall pressure of the esophagus according to the pressure in the at least one esophageal body when the at least one esophageal body is inflated and is contacting the inner wall of the esophagus, computing the transpulmonary pressure of the mechanically ventilated target individual according to the esophageal wall pressure and generating instructions for execution by a fluid controller for periodically inflating and deflating the at least one esophageal body for periodic monitoring of the transpulmonary pressure of the mechanically ventilated target patient while the feeding tube is in use characterised in that the code further comprises code for: computing a work of breathing WOB according to the computed transpulmonary pressure predicting a future WOB value at a future time interval based on an analysis of the monitoring of a plurality of historical computed WOB values, and computing instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of a mechanical ventilator that automatically mechanically ventilates the target individual according to the WOB, wherein the instructions are transmitted to the mechanical ventilator over a network, wherein the instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of the mechanical ventilator are computed while the feeding tube is in place without removal of the feeding tube. a feeding tube for insertion into a distal end of an esophagus of the mechanically ventilated target patient; at least one esophageal body having a pressure dependent volume, coupled to a distal portion of the feeding tube; a pressure sensor that senses the pressure in the at least one esophageal body; at least one hardware processor; and a non-transitory memory having stored thereon a code for execution by the at least one hardware processor, the code comprising code for: computing an estimate of esophageal wall pressure of the esophagus according to the pressure in the at least one esophageal body when the at least one esophageal body is inflated and is contacting the inner wall of the esophagus, computing the transpulmonary pressure of the mechanically ventilated target individual according to the esophageal wall pressure and generating instructions for execution by a fluid controller for periodically inflating and deflating the at least one esophageal body for periodic monitoring of the transpulmonary pressure of the mechanically ventilated target patient while the feeding tube is in use computing an estimate of esophageal wall pressure of the esophagus according to the pressure in the at least one esophageal body when the at least one esophageal body is inflated and is contacting the inner wall of the esophagus, computing the transpulmonary pressure of the mechanically ventilated target individual according to the esophageal wall pressure and generating instructions for execution by a fluid controller for periodically inflating and deflating the at least one esophageal body for periodic monitoring of the transpulmonary pressure of the mechanically ventilated target patient while the feeding tube is in use characterised in that the code further comprises code for: computing a work of breathing WOB according to the computed transpulmonary pressure predicting a future WOB value at a future time interval based on an analysis of the monitoring of a plurality of historical computed WOB values, and computing instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of a mechanical ventilator that automatically mechanically ventilates the target individual according to the WOB, computing a work of breathing WOB according to the computed transpulmonary pressure predicting a future WOB value at a future time interval based on an analysis of the monitoring of a plurality of historical computed WOB values, and computing instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of a mechanical ventilator that automatically mechanically ventilates the target individual according to the WOB, wherein the instructions are transmitted to the mechanical ventilator over a network, wherein the instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of the mechanical ventilator are computed while the feeding tube is in place without removal of the feeding tube.