Patent ID: 8424529

Claim:
A method of intubating a subject having an airway ending with lungs and vocal cords, comprising: inserting an endotracheal tube into the airway; inflating a cuff associated with said endotracheal tube within the airway below the vocal cords; delivering a breathing gas through said endotracheal tube into the lungs; delivering at least one identifiable additive into the lungs or to a location outside said endotracheal tube and outside said cuff; monitoring a level of said at least one identifiable additive at a monitoring location in the body of the subject, to identify leakage of secretions near said cuff outside said endotracheal tube; and adjusting inflation of said cuff based on said monitoring so as to generally minimize leakage of said secretions from above said cuff to the lungs, while minimizing pressure associated damages to the airway.