Patent ID: 8244329

Claim:
A system for determining placement of a tracheal tube in a subject comprising: a tracheal tube comprising a plurality of optical conductors disposed circumferentially about a wall of the tracheal tube, wherein the plurality of optical conductors comprises at least four optical conductors having distal ends terminating at locations spaced about a circumference of the tracheal tube such that respective distal ends of the plurality of optical conductors correspond to an anterior, posterior, right, and left location of the tracheal tube; one or more light sources configured to emit light through each of the respective plurality of optical conductors when the tracheal tube is disposed in a subject; one or more light detectors configured to receive returned light from each of the respective plurality of optical conductors; a processor configured to determine a placement parameter based upon the returned light, wherein determining the placement parameter comprises: comparing the returned light from each respective location to a threshold to generate respective comparator values associated with each of the anterior, posterior, right, and left locations; and determining that the tracheal tube is properly placed based at least in part on a sum of the respective comparator values.