A system for monitoring spontaneous breathing of a mechanically ventilated target individual, the system comprising: a feeding tube having at least one sensor mounted thereon, the feeding tube is sized and shaped for being disposed within the esophagus so that at least a distal end of the feeding tube is in the stomach lumen of the mechanically ventilated individual, while the at least one sensor is placed in a lower portion of the esophagus within about 0-5 centimeters (cm) of the lower esophageal sphincter; wherein the at least one sensor is positioned for sensing values when contacting at least one of a lower esophageal sphincter and tissue in proximity to the LES; and 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: computing a band pass filter designed to extract a frequency band and a phase of movement of the diaphragm that is buried in signals sensed by the at least one sensor, according to a frequency corresponding to a maximum value of a Fourier transform of values sensed during a historical time interval and according to a frequency bandwidth based on the maximum value, applying the band pass filter to a current signal indicative of current values sensed by the at least one sensor for computing an indication of the frequency band and the phase of diaphragm movement of the mechanically ventilated target individual, wherein the band pass filter comprises a tunable filter that is dynamically adjusted according to dynamically computed Fourier transform of values sensed by the at least one sensor over a plurality of time intervals, and computing instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of a mechanical ventilator for mechanically ventilating the target individual; wherein the instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of the mechanical ventilator are computed while the feeding tube is in use for feeding the mechanically ventilated target individual. a feeding tube having at least one sensor mounted thereon, the feeding tube is sized and shaped for being disposed within the esophagus so that at least a distal end of the feeding tube is in the stomach lumen of the mechanically ventilated individual, while the at least one sensor is placed in a lower portion of the esophagus within about 0-5 centimeters (cm) of the lower esophageal sphincter; wherein the at least one sensor is positioned for sensing values when contacting at least one of a lower esophageal sphincter and tissue in proximity to the LES; and 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: computing a band pass filter designed to extract a frequency band and a phase of movement of the diaphragm that is buried in signals sensed by the at least one sensor, according to a frequency corresponding to a maximum value of a Fourier transform of values sensed during a historical time interval and according to a frequency bandwidth based on the maximum value, applying the band pass filter to a current signal indicative of current values sensed by the at least one sensor for computing an indication of the frequency band and the phase of diaphragm movement of the mechanically ventilated target individual, wherein the band pass filter comprises a tunable filter that is dynamically adjusted according to dynamically computed Fourier transform of values sensed by the at least one sensor over a plurality of time intervals, and computing instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of a mechanical ventilator for mechanically ventilating the target individual; wherein the instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of the mechanical ventilator are computed while the feeding tube is in use for feeding the mechanically ventilated target individual. computing a band pass filter designed to extract a frequency band and a phase of movement of the diaphragm that is buried in signals sensed by the at least one sensor, according to a frequency corresponding to a maximum value of a Fourier transform of values sensed during a historical time interval and according to a frequency bandwidth based on the maximum value, applying the band pass filter to a current signal indicative of current values sensed by the at least one sensor for computing an indication of the frequency band and the phase of diaphragm movement of the mechanically ventilated target individual, wherein the band pass filter comprises a tunable filter that is dynamically adjusted according to dynamically computed Fourier transform of values sensed by the at least one sensor over a plurality of time intervals, and computing instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of a mechanical ventilator for mechanically ventilating the target individual; wherein the instructions for adjustment of at least one parameter of the mechanical ventilator are computed while the feeding tube is in use for feeding the mechanically ventilated target individual.