System and method for determining a fill status of a canister of fluid in a reduced pressure treatment system

1. A reduced pressure treatment system comprising:

a reduced pressure source adapted to provide a reduced pressure to a tissue site;

a fluid communication path having a source conduit, a canister, and a target conduit capable of delivering the reduced pressure to the tissue site, the source conduit being fluidly connected between the reduced pressure source and the canister, the target conduit being fluidly connected to the canister and adapted for fluid communication with the tissue site;

a sensing device in communication with the source conduit and configured to sense a pressure in the source conduit;

a valve in communication with the source conduit; and

a processing unit in communication with the sensing device and the valve, and configured to:

determine whether a blockage exists within the fluid communication path;

following determination that a blockage in the fluid communication path exists, open the valve for a selected amount of time;

receive sensing data from the sensing device during the selected amount of time to determine a decay of reduced pressure over the selected amount of time;

determine a fill status of the canister based on the decay of reduced pressure; and

if the fill status of the canister is not full, signal a blockage alarm to indicate a blockage in the target conduit.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fill status indicates that the canister is full or is not full.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the valve selectively vents the reduced pressure from at least a portion of the fluid communication path; and

the decay of reduced pressure is determined in the at least a portion of the fluid communication path.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

determine a pressure attained within the fluid communication path following the selected amount of time, and

determining the fill status of the canister based on the pressure attained.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to signal a canister-full alarm if the fill status of the canister is full.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a second valve fluidly coupled to the target conduit and configured to close when the first valve is open.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first valve and the second valve comprise electrically or mechanically-actuated valves.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a canister-full alarm in communication with the processing unit and configured to alert a user when the canister is full.

9. A reduced pressure treatment system having full canister detection capabilities, the system comprising:

a reduced pressure source to provide a reduced pressure;

a porous pad adapted to be positioned at the tissue site and configured to be fluidly connected to the reduced pressure source;

a canister fluidly connected between the porous pad and the reduced pressure source and adapted to collect fluid drawn from the tissue site;

a solenoid valve fluidly connected to a conduit between the canister and the reduced pressure source;

a processing unit configured to detect whether a blockage condition exists between the reduced pressure source and the porous pad;

means for determining a pressure decay in the conduit over a set time when the solenoid valve is opened;

means for signaling that a canister-full condition exists based on pressure decay data received from said means for determining a pressure decay; and

means for signaling that a blockage exists between the canister and the porous pad based on a determination that the canister-full condition is not full.

10. The system as defined in claim 9 , wherein the means for determining a pressure decay further comprises a flow sensor in communication with the conduit.

11. The system as defined in claim 9 , wherein the means for determining a pressure decay further comprises a pressure sensor in communication with the conduit.