JP5351823B2 - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an autoanalyzer capable of controlling a plurality of temperatures corresponding to analytes at the time of dilution or pre-processing. <P>SOLUTION: An analyte pre-processing mechanism is provided with a dilution disk 100. The dilution disk 100 is provided with a plurality of dilution disk units 110. Each of the disk units 110 can separately control temperature by a temperature control part 200. The temperature control part 200 controls the temperature of the disk units 110 using, for example, a temperature program for chronologically changing temperature. Each of the plurality of disk units 110 can be separately attached/detached. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for clinical testing, and more particularly to an automatic analyzer suitable for parent sample dilution and pretreatment.

  In automatic analyzers for clinical examinations, reduction of the amount of reaction solution is required for the purpose of reducing the running cost of examinations. Since the amount of the reaction solution is proportional to the amount of the sample used in the analysis, it is essential to reduce the amount of the sample in order to reduce the amount of the reaction solution. However, with the current sample sampling technology, there is a limit to the minimum sampling amount, and therefore it is difficult to significantly reduce the amount of reaction solution.

  Thus, as a technique for sampling a small amount of specimen, a specimen dilution process is generally performed. One having a pretreatment mechanism having a function of performing pretreatment such as sample dilution in an automatic analyzer is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

JP-A-8-194004 JP-A-5-80059

  However, in the one described in Patent Document 1, temperature control of the specimen is not performed, and temperature control is necessary in order to improve analysis accuracy by temperature management and to expand an analysis application range in the future.

  On the other hand, in the one described in Patent Document 2, it is possible to keep the temperature of the specimen or the mixed solution constant by using a container dedicated to pretreatment, but the temperature management unit is only a single temperature for the entire apparatus. I can't control it.

  In addition, when a pretreatment sample is already mounted on a pretreatment mechanism that is controlled to a constant temperature state, if a new pretreatment sample is mounted next, the temperature control state is changed depending on the temperature difference from the new pretreatment sample. Will affect the temperature control and affect the temperature of the pre-treated specimen already installed, so the accuracy of the pre-treatment solution that is sensitive to temperature will be lost. .

  Furthermore, pre-processing by a temperature program is expected as control for expanding the application range of the automatic analyzer. The temperature program is a function that enables temperature control with time. This is because, if temperature control by a temperature program becomes possible, not only biochemical tests but also inspection items can be expected to be expanded to fields that require heat treatment such as genes and DNA. However, in the thing of patent document 2, since temperature control becomes single control in the whole pre-processing mechanism, temperature control in the whole apparatus collectively, or processing a lot of samples at the same condition at the same time is not possible. Although it is possible, another temperature program cannot be executed while one temperature program is being executed. In addition, pre-processing specimens during temperature program execution, temperature control start before the pre-treatment specimens of the temperature program are completely installed in the pre-treatment mechanism, and all pre-treatment specimens are removed from the pre-treatment mechanism after the temperature control is completed. Before removal, it is difficult to lay the pretreatment specimen and start temperature control in the next temperature program.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer capable of controlling a plurality of temperatures according to a specimen during dilution or pretreatment.

(1) To achieve the above object, the present invention may have a sample pretreatment mechanism for performing dilution and pretreatment of the parent sample, a biochemical automatic analyzer for performing biochemical examination, the parent A dilution disk in which a plurality of dilution cells for storing a diluted specimen and a pretreatment liquid obtained by stirring and mixing the specimen and the diluted liquid are arranged, and the diluted specimen and the previous specimen stored in the dilution cell of the dilution disk A reaction disk in which a plurality of reaction cells for reacting a treatment liquid and a reagent are arranged; and a spectrophotometer for measuring the absorbance of the reaction liquid held in the reaction cell of the reaction disk. processing mechanism includes the dilution disk with a disk shape having a plurality of disk units, wherein each of the disk units can be temperature controlled individually for each disk unit.
With this configuration, it is possible to control a plurality of temperatures according to the specimen during dilution and pretreatment.

  (2) In the above (1), preferably, the specimen pretreatment mechanism includes the plurality of disk units and a temperature control unit that individually controls the temperature of each disk unit.

  (3) In the above (2), preferably, the temperature control unit controls the temperature of the disk unit by a temperature program for changing the temperature in time series.

(4) In the above (1), preferably, the plurality of disk units can be detached from the dilution disk for each disk unit.

  (5) In the above (1), preferably, each of the plurality of disk units can mount a sample container or an empty container on which a sample is mounted.

  (6) In the above (1), preferably, a stirring mechanism for stirring the solution held in the plurality of disk units is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to control a plurality of temperatures according to the specimen during dilution or pretreatment.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the dilution disk used for the automatic analyzer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the temperature control part of the dilution disk used for the automatic analyzer by one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the overall configuration of the automatic analyzer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a biochemical automatic analyzer will be described as an example of the automatic analyzer.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The automatic analyzer according to the present embodiment includes a specimen disk 2, a dilution disk 100, a reaction disk 6, a reagent cooler 5 and the like. A plurality of parent samples 1 collected in a test tube or the like are installed on the sample disk 2. The sample disk 2 can be rotated by a predetermined angle in a certain direction (for example, clockwise). A plurality of dilution cells 8 are arranged on the dilution disk 100. The dilution disk 100 can be rotated by a predetermined angle in a certain direction (for example, clockwise).

  The sample sampling mechanism 7 includes a nozzle at the tip of a rotating arm. The nozzle can be moved to a position above the sample disk 2 and a position above the dilution disk 100 by rotating the arm. The sample sampling mechanism 7 sucks a predetermined amount of the parent sample 1 installed on the sample disk 2 using a nozzle, and dispenses it to the dilution cells 8 arranged on the dilution disk 100.

  The diluent discharge mechanism 9 includes a nozzle at the tip of a rotating arm. The nozzle can be moved to an upper position of the dilution disk 100 by rotating the arm. The other end of the nozzle is inserted into the diluent bottle. The diluent discharge mechanism 9 discharges the diluent sucked from the other end of the nozzle to the dilution cell 8 into which the parent sample 1 is dispensed. Further, when the dilution disk 100 is used for pretreatment, the pretreatment liquid discharge mechanism similar to the dilution liquid discharge mechanism 9 is provided, and the pretreatment liquid is discharged into the dilution cell 8. The diluted specimen stirring mechanism 10 has a spatula attached to the tip of a rotating arm. The spatula is rotatable. The specimen stirring mechanism 10 inserts a spatula inside the dilution cell 8 and stirs and mixes the specimen and the diluent.

  A plurality of reaction cells 12 are arranged on the reaction disk 6. The reaction disk 6 rotates by a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction at a cycle of a constant interval. The diluted specimen sampling mechanism 11 includes a nozzle at the tip of a rotating arm. The nozzle can be moved to the position above the dilution disk 100 and the position above the reaction disk 6 by rotating the arm. The diluted specimen sampling mechanism 11 uses a nozzle to suck a predetermined amount of diluent or pretreatment liquid from the dilution cell 8 of the dilution disk 100 and dispenses it into the reaction cells 12 arranged on the reaction disk 6.

  The cleaning mechanism 15 includes a nozzle at the tip of a rotating arm. The nozzle can be moved to an upper position of the dilution disk 100 by rotating the arm. The cleaning mechanism 15 discharges the cleaning liquid from the tip of the nozzle to the inside of the dilution cell 8 and sucks the cleaning liquid to clean the inside of the dilution cell 8 and reuses it.

  A plurality of reagent bottles 4 are arranged in the reagent cold storage 5. The reagent bottle 4 holds reagents used for a plurality of analysis items. In the illustrated example, two reagent coolers 5 are provided. The reagent sampling mechanism 13 includes a nozzle at the tip of a rotating arm. The nozzle can be moved to a position above the reaction disk 6 and a position above the reagent bottle 4 of the reagent cooler 5 by rotating the arm. The reagent sampling mechanism 13 sucks a reagent necessary for analysis from the reagent bottle 4 and dispenses it to the reaction cells 12 arranged on the reaction disk 6.

  The reaction disk 6 is caused to react with the reaction solution while rotating at regular intervals. After a predetermined time, the reaction cell 12 is positioned at the position of the spectrophotometer 14. The absorbance of the reacted solution inside the reaction cell 12 is measured by the spectrophotometer 14. The measurement data is taken into an external computer and an analysis result is output.

Next, a detailed configuration of the dilution disk 100 used in the automatic analyzer according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the dilution disk used in the automatic analyzer according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the temperature control unit of the dilution disk used in the automatic analyzer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The dilution disk 100 is a composite dilution disk including a plurality of dilution disk units 110. In the example shown in the figure, eight dilution disk units 110 are provided. Each dilution disk unit 110 includes a temperature sensor 112, a Peltier element 114 for heating, a vibrator 116 for stirring, and a cylindrical hole 118. The temperature sensor 112 detects the temperature of each dilution disk unit 110. The Peltier element 114 heats each dilution disk unit 110. In the hole 118, a specimen, a diluent, and a pretreatment liquid are stored. Instead of directly storing the sample or the like in the hole 118, a sample container in which the sample is mounted or an empty container may be installed in the hole.

  The temperature control unit 200 includes a plurality of temperature control units 210 that can individually control the temperature of the plurality of dilution disk units 110. Details of the temperature control unit 210 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The temperature control unit 210 includes an A / D conversion unit 212, a calculation unit 214, and a heater power supply unit 216. The A / D converter 212 converts the temperature of each dilution disk unit 110 detected by the temperature sensor 112 into a digital signal. The calculation unit 214 adjusts the temperature of each dilution disk unit 110 to be adjusted from the temperature measurement value obtained from the temperature sensor 112 attached to each dilution disk unit 110 and the temperature setting value TS set from the main CPU 300. Calculate the value. The heater power supply unit 216 drives the Peltier element 114 based on the calculation result of the calculation unit 214 to heat each dilution disk unit 110. By repeating this operation, each dilution disk unit 110 and the sample installed on each dilution disk unit 110 are controlled to a desired temperature.

  As an example of the temperature set value TS, as shown in FIG. 2, a temperature program can be used in which the temperature is increased with a predetermined gradient, then decreased with a predetermined gradient, and this is repeated. When the first dilution disk unit 110 is held at a predetermined first temperature (for example, 37 ° C .; the solid line in FIG. 2), the second dilution disk unit 110 has a second temperature higher than the first temperature. (The broken line in FIG. 2), or the third dilution disk unit 110 can be held at a third temperature lower than the first temperature (dashed line in FIG. 2).

  The vibrator 116 vibrates each dilution disk unit 110 in accordance with a signal from the temperature control unit 200, and vibrates and agitates the held specimen or the like. Note that the signal agitation of each dilution disk unit 110 is individually controlled.

  Each dilution disk unit 110 is separable and can be individually removed and attached. Even when one of the plurality of dilution disk units 110 is removed, the other dilution disk units 110 can operate. For example, even when a failure of one dilution disk unit 110 occurs, it is possible to individually remove and repair the unit 110 in which the failure has occurred, and do not stop using other dilution disk units 110 during that time. That's it. Generally, when the replacement is performed due to a malfunction of the dilution disk unit 110, it is necessary to restart the automatic analyzer after stopping the automatic analyzer once. In general, it takes 1 to 2 hours to restart, and in this embodiment, the analysis operation can be continued without stopping the system.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to control the temperature control disturbance due to the installation of another specimen in units of temperature control blocks. Therefore, the temperature stability can be improved as compared with the conventional method, and the analysis accuracy can be improved.

  Further, since temperature control is possible for each block, the degree of freedom of the pretreatment method is expanded as compared with the conventional method, and it is possible to contribute to fine temperature management for each sample and each analysis item.

  Furthermore, in the time control of the sample pretreatment and the time efficiency of the sample erection, the continuous sample pretreatment operation as desired for the automatic analyzer can be realized even in a multisample / multiple condition.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Parent sample 2 ... Sample disk 4 ... Reagent bottle 5 ... Reagent cooler 6 ... Reaction disk 7 ... Parent sample sampling mechanism 8 ... Dilution cell 9 ... Diluent discharge mechanism 10 ... Diluted sample stirring mechanism 11 ... Diluted sample sampling mechanism 12 Reaction cell 13 Reagent sampling mechanism 14 Spectrophotometer 15 Dilution cell cleaning mechanism 100 Dilution disk 110 Dilution disk unit 112 Temperature sensor 114 Peltier element 116 Vibrator 200 Temperature control unit 210 Temperature control unit 212 ... A / D conversion unit 214 ... temperature control value calculation unit 216 ... heater power supply unit 300 ... main CPU

Claims (6)

Have a sample pretreatment mechanism for performing dilution and pretreatment of the parent sample, a biochemical automatic analyzer for performing biochemical examination,
A dilution disk in which a plurality of dilution cells for storing a diluted sample and a pretreatment solution obtained by stirring and mixing the parent sample and the diluted solution are arranged;
A reaction disk in which a plurality of reaction cells for reacting the diluted specimen and the pretreatment liquid and reagents stored in the dilution cell of the dilution disk are arranged;
A spectrophotometer for measuring the absorbance of the reaction liquid held in the reaction cell of the reaction disk,
The specimen pretreatment mechanism includes the dilution disk in a disk shape having a plurality of disk units,
Wherein each disk unit, biochemical automatic analyzer, characterized in that the possible temperature controlled individually for each disk unit. The biochemical automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
The sample pretreatment mechanism, biochemical automatic analyzer, characterized in that it comprises the dilution disk with a disk shape and a temperature controller for temperature controlling individually each disk unit having a plurality of disk units. The biochemical automatic analyzer according to claim 2,
The biochemical automatic analyzer characterized in that the temperature control unit controls the temperature of the disk unit by a temperature program that changes the temperature in time series. The biochemical automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
The biochemical automatic analyzer, wherein the plurality of disk units can be detached from the dilution disk for each disk unit. The biochemical automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
The biochemical automatic analyzer, wherein each of the plurality of disk units can be loaded with a sample container or an empty container. The biochemical automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
An automatic biochemical analyzer comprising a stirring mechanism for stirring the solution held in the plurality of disk units.

Images