Surgical object and comprehensive fluid monitoring system having capability of mobile monitoring and having highly sensitive and reliable detection of objects being placed in a container

A surgical object and comprehensive fluid monitoring system for a surgical patient, comprising:

• a support ring for securely supporting a container with at least one port opening of the container being disposed for receiving surgical objects placed into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity;
• a hollow spine structure vertically oriented and comprising a channel with channel walls along the length of the hollow spine structure;
• a rod movably disposed in the channel within the hollow spine structure, the rod moveable along the channel;
• a weight force sensing device mechanically coupled to the rod, the support ring mechanically coupled to the rod, and the rod being in a moving arrangement that transfers weight force from the support ring to the weight force sensing device;
• a flexure mechanically coupled with the rod and the hollow spine structure, the flexure adding very little if any downward force onto the rod and thereby onto the weight force sensing device while maintaining the rod vertically aligned in the channel with a gap separating the length of the rod from the channel walls, the gap allowing the rod to move vertically without friction from contact with the channel walls while the rod in the channel is protected from impact by the channel walls;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled with the weight force sensing device, wherein the processor, responsive to executing computer instructions, performs operations comprising:
• receiving an information signal indicative of fluid outflow and/or fluid intake amount associated with a surgical patient, the information signal comprising an indication of at least one of
• urine fluid outflow amount from a surgical patient;
• suction fluid outflow amount from a surgical cavity of the surgical patient;
• irrigation fluid intake amount into a surgical cavity of the surgical patient;
• and
• intravenous fluid intake amount into the surgical patient;
• determining an incremental weight of the contents of the container from a surgical object placed into the container through one of the at least one port opening, based at least on an information signal received from the weight force sensing device indicating a change in weight force sensed by the weight force sensing device contemporaneous with the placement of the surgical object into the container through the at least one port opening with the aid of gravity;
• identifying the type of surgical object placed into the container through the one of the at least one port opening;
• determining a fluid weight of the surgical object placed into the container through the at least one port opening by at least comparing the determined incremental weight of the contents of the container from the surgical object placed into the container to an expected “dry” (non-fluid-filled) weight value for the identified type of the surgical object;
• and
• accumulating a total amount of estimated net fluid volume loss for a surgical patient, based at least on the determined fluid weight of the surgical object placed into the container being accumulated with a fluid outflow amount and/or a fluid intake amount determined from the received information signal indicative of a fluid outflow amount and/or a fluid intake amount associated with the surgical patient.