Medical/surgical waste collection portable rover capable of zero setting a float used to measure the volume of liquid in a waste container

A medical/surgical waste collection rover comprising:

• a portable cart;
• a first waste container disposed on said portable cart and adapted to receive medical/surgical waste with said first waste container comprising a connecting member adapted to be coupled to a suction line to draw the medical/surgical waste into said first waste container under the influence of a vacuum;
• a second waste container disposed on said portable cart;
• a transfer valve disposed between said first and second waste containers with said transfer valve operable between open and closed positions for allowing transfer of the medical/surgical waste from said first waste container to said second waste container;
• a fluid measuring system comprising:
• a sensor rod extending through said first waste container and said second waste container;
• a transceiver electrically coupled to said sensor rod and adapted to propagate an interrogation pulse along said sensor rod and receive a float return pulse;
• and
• a float element disposed within said first waste container and configured to float within said first waste container and further configured to reflect back to said transceiver the float return pulse along said sensor rod in response to receiving the interrogation pulse,
• wherein said fluid measuring system is configured to determine a volume of the medical/surgical waste within said first waste container based on a known geometry of said first waste container and signals generated by said transceiver associated with the interrogation pulse and the float return pulse.

A method of estimating a volume of liquid and/or medical/surgical waste within a first waste container of a waste collection rover including a reservoir in fluid communication with the first waste container, a second waste container, and a fluid measuring system including a transceiver, a sensor rod in electric communication with the transceiver, and float and reference elements, said method comprising the steps of:

• transferring the medical/surgical waste from the first waste container to the second waste container;
• prefilling the first waste container with liquid from the reservoir to subject the float element to an initial lifting from a bottom of the first waste container to a zero point level;
• propagating an interrogation pulse from the transceiver along the sensor rod at an interrogation time;
• receiving a float return pulse at the transceiver at a float return time;
• receiving a reference return pulse at the transceiver at a reference return time;
• determining with the fluid measuring system the volume of the liquid and/or the medical/surgical waste within the first waste container based on a known geometry of the first waste container and signals from the transceiver indicative of an irrigation time, the float return time, and the reference return time relative to the zero point level.