JP3748902B2 - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer such as a biochemical analyzer or an immune analyzer, and more particularly to a stirring device for stirring a liquid in a reaction tube.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, an automatic analyzer is used in order to measure the concentration of a specific component by adding a desired reagent to a sample such as serum collected from a human body and reacting it. In such an automatic analyzer, a stirrer is attached to stir the inside of a test tube containing a sample and a reagent.
[0003]
A conventional stirring device is fixed to a stirring drive unit having a small motor and fixed with a stirring rod formed of polypropylene (PP) like a ship's screw, for example, using an iron needle as an axis, and washed sequentially for each sample. While stirring.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional stirrer, the same stirrer is always used for all reagents to be used, so depending on the reagent used, the sample and reagent at the previous stirring may not be completely washed. There is a drawback that the measurement accuracy is lowered because the so-called carry-over that causes the current stirring is generated. Further, there is a problem that the life of the stirring rod is shortened.
[0005]
The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer that can perform stirring using a suitable type of stirring rod according to the reagent to be used. Is to provide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention described in claim 1, a plurality of types of stirring rods for stirring a mixed solution of a sample and a reagent dispensed in a reaction tube, and the stirring rods can be attached and detached. A stirring drive unit that supports and moves the stirring rod so that the stirring rod is inserted into or pulled up from the reaction tube, and applies a driving force to the stirring rod for stirring; and the type of the reagent Based on the information stored in the storage means, the reagent dispensed into the reaction tube and the information stored in the storage means, the stirring rod attached to the stirring drive unit and used for stirring is stored. It comprises selection means for selecting, and attachment / detachment means for performing an operation of attaching the stirring rod selected by the selection means to the stirring drive unit.
[0010]
[Action]
According to the present invention configured as described above, a suitable type of stirring bar can be used for stirring according to the reagent to be used, so that carryover can be reduced and the life of the stirring bar can be extended.
[0011]
【Example】
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of an automatic analyzer in which a stirrer according to the present invention is used.
[0012]
The automatic analyzer shown in the figure is a reagent in which a sample portion 7 in which a plurality of sample tubes 6a in which samples 6 such as serum collected from a human body are placed and a reagent 4 corresponding to a test item are placed for each type. A reagent part 8 having a tube 4c and a reaction part 9 having a plurality of reaction tubes 5 for mixing the sample 6 and the reagent 4 to react the sample 6 are provided.
[0013]
Further, it includes an operation unit 15 for inputting information such as test items, a CRT 16 for displaying measurement results, a printer 17, and a system controller 18 for controlling the entire automatic analyzer.
[0014]
The sample section 7 has a sample suction / dispensing mechanism 7a for sucking and dispensing the sample 6 in the sample tube 6a. The sample suction / dispensing mechanism 7a is controlled by a system controller 18 under a desired condition. After selecting the sample tube 6a and sucking a predetermined amount of sample in the sample tube 6a, the sample tube 6a is configured to be dispensed into the predetermined reaction tube 5 of the reaction unit 9.
[0015]
The reagent unit 8 has a reagent suction / dispensing mechanism 8a that sucks and dispenses the reagent 4 corresponding to the test item in the reagent tube 4c from the nozzle 1, and controls the reagent suction / dispensing mechanism 8a and the system controller 18. Then, a desired reagent tube 4c is selected and a predetermined amount of reagent 4 in the reagent tube 4c is aspirated and then dispensed into the reaction tube 5 of the reaction unit 9.
[0016]
The reaction unit 9 includes a stirring unit 11 that stirs the mixed solution of the sample 6 and the reagent 4 dispensed in the reaction tube 5, and the analysis unit 9 performs analysis in the reaction tube 5 before and after the analysis. And a constant temperature unit 14 that keeps the liquid mixture in the reaction tube 5 constant so that stable measurement can be performed.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the stirring unit 11. As shown in the figure, the stirring unit 11 has a drive motor 21 mounted on a plate branched in a Y-shape from the rotary shaft 23, and the drive motor 21 can be attached to and detached from the drive motor 21 by an attractive force of a magnet. A stirring rod 22 is attached. Then, the stirring rod 22 is inserted into the desired reaction tube 5 by the rotation and vertical movement of the rotating shaft 23, and stirring is performed by the operation of the drive motor 21.
[0018]
The stirring rod 22 can be made of various materials depending on the type of reagent 4 dispensed in the reaction tube 5 and is stored in a storage container 24 as shown in FIG. The storage container 24 shown in the figure includes a plurality of storage portions 28 (three in the figure) for storing the stirring rods 22 made of various materials, and each storage portion 28 is cleaned from the water supply passage 25. Water is injected, drained from the drainage channel 26, and the stirring rod 22 is washed. In addition, in order to control the attachment and detachment of the stirring rods 22, a cylinder box 27 that switches between fixing and releasing the stirring rods 22 is provided.
[0019]
4 and 5 are explanatory views showing a detailed configuration of the cylinder 29 disposed in the cylinder box 27, FIG. 4 is a side view, and FIG. 5 is a plan view. As shown in the figure, a spring 33 is provided in the cylinder 29, one end of the spring 33 is connected to the end of the cylinder 29, and the other end is connected to the metal plate 31. In addition, an electromagnet 32 is attached at a position slightly away from the metal plate 31 in the cylinder 29. When the electromagnet 32 is energized, the metal plate 31 comes into contact with the electromagnet 31, and the stroke of the cylinder 29 moves inward. When the energization is released, the stroke moves outward by the biasing force of the spring 33.
[0020]
An arm 30b for fixing the stirring rod 22 is attached to the tip of the stroke, and an arm 30a is attached at a position facing the arm 30b. Accordingly, the fixing and releasing of the stirring rod 22 can be controlled by the stroke operation of the cylinder 29. The cylinder 29 operates under the control of the system controller 18.
[0021]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the reagent 4 is dispensed from the reagent section 8 into the reaction tube 5 shown in FIG. 1, the stirring section 11 selects the stirring rod 22 made of the material corresponding to the dispensed reagent 4 from the storage container 24 shown in FIG. .
[0022]
The selection of the stirring bar is performed by a command from the system controller 18 based on the information registered in advance by the user according to the measurement conditions of the system to use which stirring bar corresponds to the reagent. Which stirrer is used may be determined by incorporating a certain criterion in the system controller 18 such as FEP (Teflon) for oxygen reagents and SUS for latex reagents in advance. Good.
[0023]
Then, the rotating shaft 23 of the stirring unit shown in FIG. 2 is rotated, the drive motor 21 is positioned on the stirring rod 22 to be selected of the storage container 24 shown in FIG. 3, and the drive motor 21 is lowered. At this time, since at least one of the drive motor 21 and the stirring bar 22 is a permanent magnet, the driving motor 21 and the stirring bar 22 are coupled by a magnetic force.
[0024]
Thereafter, the electromagnet 32 of the cylinder 29 of the storage unit 28 in which the selected stirring bar 22 is stored is energized under the control of the system controller 18, the fixing by the arms 30 a and 30 b is released, the stirring bar 22 is pulled up, and the stirring bar 22 is pulled up. Is completed and stirring is performed.
[0025]
Moreover, what is necessary is just to reverse the above-mentioned attachment procedure, when removing the stirring rod 22. FIG. That is, the stirring rod 22 attached to the drive motor 21 is put into the empty storage portion 28 in which the arms 30a and 30b are released, and the electromagnet 32 is deenergized. Thus, the stirring rod 22 is fixed by the arms 30a and 30b, and when the drive motor 21 is pulled up in this state, the stirring rod 22 is removed.
[0026]
In this way, the stirring rod 22 made of a material corresponding to each reagent 4 can be automatically selected and detached.
[0027]
Next, the material of the stirring rod 22 suitable for each reagent 4 will be described. Table 1 shown below shows carryover (%) when the materials of the reagents 4 and the stirring rods 22 are used. In addition, this result has shown the value at the time of using a stirrer without wash | cleaning, and compares the degree of contamination of each material single. By adding the cleaning system according to the present invention, further reduction in carryover can be expected.
[0028]
“FEP” and “PFA” shown in Table 1 are types of Teflon (registered trademark) materials. In addition, “AST” of the reagents shown in Table 1 is glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), “ChE” is cholinesterase, “γ-GT” is γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, and “ALT” is pyruvate glutamate transaminase (GPT). "LD" indicates lactate dehydrogenase, and "CRP" indicates C-reactive protein.
[0029]
From the data shown in Table 1, it can be seen that the carryover is reduced as compared with the conventional stirring bar. Further, if the material having the smallest carryover is selected according to each reagent among the materials of FEP, gold, PFA, and stainless steel, the effect of carryover can be reduced as much as possible. For example, in order to stir the reaction tube into which the reagent “CRP” is dispensed, it is desirable to use a stainless stir bar.
[0030]
In this way, according to the present embodiment, since the stirring bar 22 suitable for each reagent is selected and stirred, the carryover can be reduced and the life of the stirring bar can be extended. it can.
[0031]
Further, when the stirring rod 22 is placed in the storage container 24 shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning water is sequentially washed with the washing water from the water absorption passage 25, so that reliable washing can be performed and the washing efficiency is improved. Can be improved. In the above embodiment, the storage container 24 includes a plurality of types of stirring rods 22. However, a plurality of stirring rods 22 made of the same material may be provided. In this case, for example, if stirring bars made of the same material are used alternately, the cleaning efficiency can be improved and the carryover can be further reduced.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a suitable type of stirring rod can be used for stirring according to the reagent to be used, so carry-over can be reduced and the life of the stirring rod is extended. be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an automatic analyzer to which a stirring device of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of a stirring unit.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a storage container for storing a stirring rod.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing fixing of a stirring rod by a cylinder.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing fixation of a stirring rod by a cylinder.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nozzle 4 Reagent 5 Reaction tube 6 Sample 7 Sample part 8 Reagent part 9 Reaction part 11 Stirring part 18 System controller 21 Drive motor 22 Stirring rod 23 Rotating shaft 24 Storage container 25 Water supply path 26 Drainage path 29 Cylinder 30a, 30b Arm 31 Metal Plate 32 Electromagnet 33 Spring

Claims (5)

A plurality of kinds of stirring rods for stirring the mixed solution of the sample and the reagent dispensed in the reaction tube;
Stirring drive that detachably supports the stirrer, moves the stirrer so that the stirrer is inserted into the reaction tube or pulls up from the reaction tube, and applies a driving force to the stirrer for stirring. And
Storage means for storing the type of stirring bar used in accordance with the type of the reagent;
Selection means for selecting a stirring rod attached to the stirring drive unit and used for stirring based on the reagent dispensed into the reaction tube and the information stored in the storage means;
An automatic analyzer comprising: attachment / detachment means for performing an operation of attaching the stirring rod selected by the selection means to the stirring drive unit.   2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing the stirring bar.   3. The automatic analyzer according to claim 2, further comprising a cleaning unit for cleaning the stirring rod stored in the storage unit.   The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of stirring bars are a plurality of stirring bars made of different materials.   The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the stirring bar has a plurality of stirring bars of the same type.

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