JP7725913B2 - Cell suction support system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cell suction support system.

Patent Document 1 below discloses a cell suction support system that supports the suction of cells or cellular components. This cell suction support system includes an XY stage, an suction unit, a tip rack, and a sample rack. A cell culture vessel is placed on the XY stage. The tip rack stores tips for suctioning cells or cellular components. The sample rack stores tips that have suctioned cells or cellular components.

The suction unit moves in the X, Y, and Z directions using the XYZ stage. When performing cell suction, the suction unit retrieves and attaches a tip from the tip rack. The suction unit then moves above the cell culture vessel and suctions the cells at a specified suction location. At this time, the XY stage moves the cell culture vessel so that the cells to be suctioned are positioned at the suction location. After suctioning the cells, the suction unit moves above the sample rack and releases the tip with the cells suctioned and stores it in the sample rack.

Patent No. 6066110

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, the suction unit passes above the sample rack before reaching above the cell culture vessel, so it was not possible to eliminate the possibility of DNA or other substances outside the sample falling onto the sample rack after the sample had been obtained and contaminating it. Therefore, the above-mentioned conventional technology left room for improvement in contamination prevention measures.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a cell suction support system that can prevent the occurrence of contamination.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention provides a cell suction support system comprising: a culture vessel for culturing cells; a tip rack for storing tip vessels for aspirating the cells from the culture vessel; a sample rack for storing the cells aspirated into the tip vessels; a tip transport mechanism that holds the tip vessels stored in the tip rack and moves them in a first direction, transporting the tip vessels in the order of the culture vessel and the sample rack; and a plurality of transport mechanisms that move each of the culture vessel, the tip rack, and the sample rack in at least a second direction intersecting the first direction.

In addition, the cell suction support system according to one aspect of the present invention may further include a waste box for disposing of the tip containers, and the tip transport mechanism may transport the tip containers stored in the tip rack in the following order: the culture container, the sample rack, and the waste box, and the culture container, the tip rack, the sample rack, and the waste box may be arranged in the following order in the first direction: tip rack, culture container, sample rack, and waste box.

Furthermore, in a cell suction support system according to one aspect of the present invention, the tip transport mechanism may be movable along two axes: the first direction and a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions, and the multiple movement mechanisms may be movable along at least one axis in the second direction.

Furthermore, in the cell suction support system according to one aspect of the present invention, the multiple movement mechanisms may be installed at a lower position than the tip transport mechanism.

Furthermore, in a cell suction assistance system according to one aspect of the present invention, the sample rack may have a plurality of sample containers and may include an operation processing unit that controls the operation of the tip transport mechanism and the plurality of moving mechanisms, and the operation processing unit may move the needle tip of the tip container in the first direction above between the sample containers, stop it near the target sample container, and then move the sample rack in the second direction to position the needle tip of the tip container directly above the target sample container.

Furthermore, in a cell suction support system according to one aspect of the present invention, the first direction may be the front-to-rear direction of the housing of the cell suction support system, and the range of movement of each of the multiple movement mechanisms may extend to the front side of the housing.

In addition, in a cell suction support system according to one aspect of the present invention, a work table equipped with a first opening/closing door, a second opening/closing door, and a third opening/closing door may be provided on the front side of the housing, and the multiple moving mechanisms may include a tip rack moving mechanism that moves the tip rack to the first opening/closing door, a culture vessel moving stage that moves the culture vessel to the second opening/closing door, and a sample rack moving mechanism that moves the sample rack to the third opening/closing door.

Furthermore, the cell suction support system according to one aspect of the present invention may include a shutter mechanism that covers the culture vessel while the tip container is moving in the first direction over the culture vessel.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a cell suction support system can be provided that can prevent contamination.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a cell suction support system according to one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the internal configuration of a cell suction support system according to one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a planar layout of the internal configuration of a cell suction support system according to one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a front view layout of the internal configuration of a cell suction support system according to one embodiment. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a contamination avoidance operation of the cell suction support system according to one embodiment. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the contamination avoidance operation of the cell suction support system according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modified example of the front view layout of the internal configuration of the cell suction support system according to one embodiment. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a contamination avoidance operation of the cell suction support system shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

The cell suction support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Below, we will first provide an overview of the embodiment of the present invention, and then provide details of the embodiment of the present invention.

〔overview〕
In the cell suction support system described in Patent Document 1, the suction unit passes above the sample rack and reaches above the cell culture vessel. At this time, it is possible that DNA or other substances outside the sample may fall onto the sample rack after the sample has been obtained and become mixed in.

In this cell suction support system, the tip rack and sample rack are installed in a fixed position. Therefore, in order to pick up a large number of tips with the suction unit, the entire surface of the tip rack and sample rack must fit within the movable range of the suction unit. This requires the XYZ stage that moves the suction unit to be large. In addition, the XYZ stage has three movable axes, which are heavy and require large components to support them. Furthermore, because the XYZ stage is installed at a high position away from the installation position of the optical system that observes the cells, the center of gravity of the device is high and it is prone to vibration. For this reason, measures must be taken to prevent vibration when moving the suction unit.

In addition, because the tip rack and sample rack are fixed, the user of the device must install them in a fixed location within the device. To shorten the travel distance of the aspiration unit, the tip rack and sample rack must be installed in the center of the device, but in that case, the user must reach out to the center of the device to install them. On the other hand, if the tip rack and sample rack are installed in front of the device, the range of movement of the aspiration unit must be expanded, which, as mentioned above, results in problems of increased size and vibration.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in a cell suction support system, a culture vessel, a tip rack, and a sample rack are each moved in a second direction intersecting the first direction relative to a tip transport mechanism moving in a first direction. This allows the culture vessel, the tip rack, and the sample rack to be moved directly below the tip vessel transported by the tip transport mechanism, thereby avoiding a situation in which contamination due to objects falling from the tip vessel may occur.
In addition, by moving the culture vessel, tip rack, and sample rack in the second direction, the movable axis of the tip transport mechanism in the second direction can be reduced, making it possible to make the tip transport mechanism smaller and lighter, and also suppressing vibration.
Furthermore, by extending the movable range of the culture vessel, tip rack, and sample rack to the front side of the housing, high accessibility for the user can be ensured.

[Embodiment]
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the appearance of a cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment.
The cell suction support system 1 is a device that supports the suction process of cells or cell components. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the suction of a cell will include not only the suction of a single cell but also the suction of cell components such as intracellular organelles.

As shown in Figure 2, the cell suction support system 1 includes a culture vessel 20 for culturing cells, an optical system 200 for observing the cells in the culture vessel 20, and an information processing unit 400 that acquires information about the cells via the optical system 200 and processes that information.

The culture vessel 20 is a microplate in which multiple wells 21 are formed. Note that the culture vessel 20 is not limited to a microplate, and may be a PCR tube plate, cell culture dish, cover glass chamber, petri dish, etc. The culture vessel 20 is mounted on the culture vessel moving stage 120. The culture vessel moving stage 120 is an XY stage that moves horizontally in two axes, the X-axis and the Y-axis, and aligns the well 21 to be observed with the optical system 200.

The optical system 200 includes a microscope 210 including an objective lens 211, a bright-field illumination 213, a dichroic mirror 220, a variable magnification lens 221, a bright-field observation camera 222, and a confocal scanner unit 230. Note that while the optical system 200 of this embodiment performs confocal two-color fluorescence observation and bright-field observation, it may also be possible to omit the confocal scanner unit 230 and bright-field observation system and use a single-color epifluorescence configuration, a single-color confocal configuration, or a combination of a single-color confocal and bright-field configuration.

The confocal scanner unit 230 includes a dichroic mirror 231, a pinhole array disk 232 (Nipkow disk), a microlens array disk 233, a relay lens 234, a dichroic mirror 235, a first bandpass filter 236a, a first lens 237a, a first camera for fluorescence observation 238a, a second bandpass filter 236b, a second lens 237b, a second camera for fluorescence observation 238b, and an excitation light source unit 239.

In bright-field observation, the bright-field illuminator 213 emits light toward the culture vessel 20. The bright-field signal light passes through the microscope 210, is reflected by the dichroic mirror 220, and is imaged by the bright-field observation camera 222 via the variable magnification lens 221. The bright-field illuminator 213 has a space formed in the center, and is, for example, a torus (donut-shaped).

In fluorescence observation, an excitation light beam with a specific wavelength is emitted from the excitation light source unit 239 toward the culture vessel 20. The excited sample emits a fluorescent signal with a wavelength longer than the excitation light beam, and the fluorescent signal that passes through the pinhole array disk 232 becomes a confocal image. The fluorescent signal is reflected by the dichroic mirror 231 and passes through the relay lens 234 to form an image on the first fluorescence observation camera 238a and the second fluorescence observation camera 238b.

A dichroic mirror 235 with the ability to disperse fluorescent signals is installed to accommodate the simultaneous use of excitation light sources of multiple wavelengths. Furthermore, a first bandpass filter 236a and a second bandpass filter 236b are installed to improve the S/N ratio of the image and to pass only the necessary wavelength band of the fluorescent signal. Samples emit a variety of fluorescent wavelengths, so it is desirable to prepare multiple first bandpass filters 236a and second bandpass filters 236b corresponding to the necessary wavelengths, using, for example, filter foil, etc.

The information processing unit 400 can be configured using a processing device such as a PC (Personal Computer). The information processing unit 400 includes an image acquisition unit 410, an image processing unit 420, a display unit 430, an operation reception unit 440, an operation processing unit 450, and a recording unit 460.

The image acquisition unit 410 acquires images from the brightfield observation camera 222, the first fluorescence observation camera 238a, and the second fluorescence observation camera 238b.

The image processing unit 420 performs various analyses after performing image processing on the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 410. Specifically, it recognizes cells and organelles using template matching, etc., and calculates feature quantities such as size, brightness, protein amount, and ion amount for each identified cell. It also uses the calculated feature quantities to perform processes such as listing and graphing information about the cells.

The display unit 430 displays the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 410 and the analysis results of the image processing unit 420. The operation reception unit 440 receives various operations from the user.

The operation processing unit 450 controls the operation of the tip transport mechanism 100, the culture vessel moving stage 120, the tip rack moving mechanism 110 (described later), the sample rack moving mechanism 130, etc., and moves the suction unit 101, the culture vessel 20, the tip rack 30, and the sample rack 40. The recording unit 460 records the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 410 and the analysis results of the image processing unit 420.

The cell suction support system 1 is equipped with a tip transport mechanism 100 that holds a tip container 31 and aspirates and transports cells or cell components from a culture container 20. The tip container 31 is equipped with a needle-shaped suction tube and can, for example, aspirate a single cell. It is also possible to aspirate specific cell components by using a nanospray tip equipped with an extremely fine suction tube as the tip container 31.

The chip transport mechanism 100 is equipped with a suction unit 101 to which a chip container 31 can be attached and detached. This suction unit 101 can aspirate and discharge cells or cellular components via the attached chip container 31. By moving the suction unit 101, the chip transport mechanism 100 picks up a chip container 31 from the tip rack 30, aspirates specific cells or cellular components from the culture container 20 based on, for example, the analysis results of the image processing unit 420, and discharges the aspirated cells or cellular components into a sample container 41 in the sample rack 40.

Then, the tip transport mechanism 100 releases the empty tip container 31 into the waste box 50, and the empty suction unit 101 returns to above the tip rack 30, repeating the above operation. Note that, as in Patent Document 1 mentioned above, if the tip container 31 itself, which has aspirated cells or cell components, is released into the sample rack 40, the waste box 50 may not be necessary.

Returning to Figure 1, the cell suction support system 1 includes a housing 10 that houses the various components described above. The housing 10 has a generally rectangular shape in a plan view. In the following description, an XYZ Cartesian coordinate system will be set up, and the positional relationships of the various components will be described with reference to this XYZ Cartesian coordinate system.

The X-axis direction is the first horizontal direction extending left and right across the housing 10 (the longitudinal direction of the housing 10). The Y-axis direction is the second horizontal direction extending in the front-to-rear direction of the housing 10 (the lateral direction of the housing 10), perpendicular to the X-axis direction. The Z-axis direction is the direction of gravity extending up and down across the housing 10, perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

The X-axis direction may also be referred to as the first direction, the Y-axis direction as the second direction, and the Z-axis direction as the third direction. A workbench 11 is provided on the housing 10. In the X-axis direction, the side on which the workbench 11 is provided is referred to as the front side of the housing 10. A device storage section 12, which is higher than the workbench 11, is provided on the rear side of the housing 10.

A first opening/closing door 13, a second opening/closing door 14, and a third opening/closing door 15 are provided on the upper surface of the workbench 11. The first opening/closing door 13 and the second opening/closing door 14 are arranged adjacent to each other. The third opening/closing door 15 is arranged at a distance in the X-axis direction from the first opening/closing door 13 and the second opening/closing door 14. A fourth opening/closing door 16 with a handle is provided on the front surface of the equipment storage section 12, at a position further away in the X-axis direction than the third opening/closing door 15.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a plan view layout of the internal configuration of the cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a front view layout of the internal configuration of the cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment.
As shown in Figure 3, in the cell suction support system 1, in the device storage section 12 of the housing 10, the culture vessel 20, the tip rack 30, the sample rack 40, and the waste box 50 are arranged in the following order in the X-axis direction: tip rack 30, culture vessel 20, sample rack 40, waste box 50.

The cell suction support system 1 includes a tip rack moving mechanism 110 that moves the tip rack 30 to the first door 13, a culture vessel moving stage 120 that moves the culture vessel 20 to the second door 14, and a sample rack moving mechanism 130 that moves the sample rack 40 to the third door 15.

The tip rack moving mechanism 110 is movable in the Y-axis direction and can move the tip rack 30 from the device storage section 12 of the housing 10 to directly below the first opening/closing door 13 on the workbench 11 at the front of the housing 10. This tip rack moving mechanism 110 includes, for example, a belt conveying mechanism.

The culture vessel transfer stage 120 is movable in the X-axis and Y-axis directions, and can move the culture vessel 20 from the device storage section 12 of the housing 10 to directly below the second opening and closing door 14 on the workbench 11 at the front of the housing 10. This culture vessel transfer stage 120 is equipped with a ball screw mechanism with two movable axes, for example, the X-axis and the Y-axis.

The sample rack moving mechanism 130 is movable in the Y-axis direction and can move the tip rack 30 from the device storage section 12 of the housing 10 to directly below the third opening and closing door 15 on the workbench 11 at the front of the housing 10. This sample rack moving mechanism 130 includes, for example, a belt transport mechanism.

The waste box 50 is fixed to the device storage section 12 of the housing 10 and can be accessed by opening the fourth opening and closing door 16.

As shown in Figure 4, the chip transport mechanism 100 can move the suction unit 101 in the X-axis and Z-axis directions, and can transport chip containers 31 stored in the chip rack 30 in the following order: culture container 20, sample rack 40, and waste box 50. This chip transport mechanism 100 is equipped with a ball screw mechanism with two movable axes, for example, the X-axis and the Z-axis.

The suction unit 101 is movably guided along a rail 102 extending in the X-axis direction. The rail 102 is supported by multiple support columns 103 and is installed above the culture vessel 20 (culture vessel moving stage 120), tip rack 30 (tip rack moving mechanism 110), sample rack 40 (sample rack moving mechanism 130), and waste box 50.

As shown in Figure 3, the movable range 111s of the tip rack moving mechanism 110 is set to intersect with the movable range 101s of the tip transport mechanism 100 in the X-axis direction at a 90° angle in a plan view. Therefore, by combining the movable range 111s of the tip rack moving mechanism 110 and the movable range 101s of the tip transport mechanism 100, tip containers 31 arranged two-dimensionally on the tip rack 30 can be picked up.

Furthermore, by extending the movable range 111s of the tip rack moving mechanism 110 to the front side of the housing 10, the user can easily install the tip rack 30 from the first opening and closing door 13. Furthermore, since the tip rack moving mechanism 110 has only one movable axis in the Y-axis direction, it can have a simple structure. Furthermore, by locating the movable axis of the tip rack moving mechanism 110 close to the base of the housing 10, the center of gravity of the device can be lowered.

The culture vessel transfer stage 120 has an X-axis movable range 121s that extends to the second opening/closing door 14, and an Y-axis movable range 122s that extends to the front of the housing 10, allowing the user to easily place a culture vessel 20 (e.g., a 96-well plate) through the second opening/closing door 14. At this time, the cells can also be fluorescently stained if necessary.

The movable range 131s of the sample rack moving mechanism 130 is set to intersect with the movable range 101s of the chip transport mechanism 100 in the X-axis direction at a 90° angle in a plan view. Therefore, by combining the movable range 131s of the sample rack moving mechanism 130 with the movable range 101s of the chip transport mechanism 100, cells and intracellular tissues can be ejected into sample containers 41 (e.g., PCR plates, 96-well plates, etc.) arranged two-dimensionally on the sample rack 40.

Furthermore, by extending the movable range 131s of the sample rack moving mechanism 130 to the front side of the housing 10, the user can easily install the sample rack 40 from the third opening and closing door 15. Furthermore, since the sample rack moving mechanism 130 has only one movable axis in the Y-axis direction, it can have a simple structure. Furthermore, by locating the movable axis of the tip rack moving mechanism 110 close to the base of the housing 10, the center of gravity of the device can be lowered.

The movable range 101s of the tip transport mechanism 100 in the X-axis direction extends from the left end of the tip rack 30 to the right end of the waste box 50. Therefore, by combining this with the Y-axis movement of the tip rack moving mechanism 110, culture vessel moving stage 120, and sample rack moving mechanism 130, the tip containers 31 can be transported two-dimensionally within the single-axis movable range 101s. The chip transport mechanism 100 of this embodiment does not have a movable axis in the Y-axis direction, allowing for a simple structure. This reduces the weight of the chip transport mechanism 100, which is installed far from the base of the housing 10 (higher part), lowering the center of gravity of the device and suppressing vibration.

When holding a tip container 31, the tip transport mechanism 100 moves only in one direction in the X-axis direction, in the order of tip rack 30, culture container 20, sample rack 40, and waste box 50, thereby minimizing the risk of contamination. Furthermore, by moving at least one of the multiple movement mechanisms (tip rack movement mechanism 110, culture container movement stage 120, sample rack movement mechanism 130) as needed and combining this with the contamination avoidance operation described below, contamination can be effectively prevented.

Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of contamination avoidance operation of the cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment. In this example, the culture vessels 20, tip racks 30, sample racks 40, and waste boxes 50 are arranged in the following order in the X-axis direction: tip rack 30, culture vessels 20, sample rack 40, waste box 50, and the tip transport mechanism 100 carrying the tip vessel 31 moves only in one direction in the X-axis direction. Note that, as a prerequisite for the following avoidance operation, the operation processing unit 450 stores map data that calculates the position of multiple sample vessels 41 from the current position of the sample rack 40. Below, the operation processing unit 450 controls the operation of the tip transport mechanism 100 and sample rack moving mechanism 130 based on this map data.

In this pattern, as shown in Figure 5(a), the tip transport mechanism 100 moves the needle tip of the tip container 31 in the X-axis direction above the space between the sample containers 41 in the sample rack 40 (a location where contamination will not occur) and stops it near the target sample container 41A. Next, as shown in Figure 5(b), the sample rack movement mechanism 130 moves the sample rack 40 in the Y-axis direction and positions the needle tip of the tip container 31 directly above the target sample container 41A.

Next, the tip transport mechanism 100 ejects cells or cell components from the needle tip of the tip container 31 into the target sample container 41A. Next, the sample rack moving mechanism 130 moves the sample rack 40 in the Y-axis direction, returning it to the state shown in FIG. 5( a), and positions the needle tip of the tip container 31 above the space between the sample containers 41 in the sample rack 40 (a location where contamination will not occur). Finally, the tip transport mechanism 100 moves the needle tip of the tip container 31 in the X-axis direction above the space between the sample containers 41 in the sample rack 40, and passes it above the sample rack 40.
This avoidance operation can be performed in the same way in the tip rack moving mechanism 110 and the culture vessel moving stage 120. The same applies to the avoidance operation described below.

Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the contamination avoidance operation of the cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment. In this example, the culture vessel 20, tip rack 30, sample rack 40, and waste box 50 are arranged in the X-axis direction in the following order: tip rack 30, sample rack 40, culture vessel 20, waste box 50. The tip transport mechanism 100 carrying the tip vessel 31 passes through the sample rack 40, aspirates cells or cell components from the culture vessel 20, and then returns to above the sample rack 40.

In this pattern, as shown in Figure 6(a), the tip transport mechanism 100 moves the needle tip of the tip container 31 in the X-axis direction above the space between the sample containers 41 in the sample rack 40 (a location where contamination will not occur) and stops it near the target sample container 41A. Next, as shown in Figure 6(b), the sample rack moving mechanism 130 moves the sample rack 40 in the Y-axis direction and positions the needle tip of the tip container 31 directly above the target sample container 41A.

Next, the tip transport mechanism 100 ejects cells or cell components from the needle tip of the tip container 31 into the target sample container 41A. Next, the sample rack moving mechanism 130 moves the sample rack 40 in the Y-axis direction, returning it to the state shown in Figure 6(a), and positions the needle tip of the tip container 31 above the space between the sample containers 41 in the sample rack 40 (a location where contamination will not occur). Finally, the tip transport mechanism 100 moves the needle tip of the tip container 31 in the X-axis direction above the space between the sample containers 41 in the sample rack 40, and passes it above the sample rack 40.

As described above, the cell suction support system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a culture vessel 20 for culturing cells, a tip rack 30 for storing tip vessels 31 into which cells are aspirated from the culture vessel 20, a sample rack 40 for storing cells aspirated into the tip vessels 31, a tip transport mechanism 100 that holds the tip vessels 31 stored in the tip rack 30 and moves them in the X-axis direction, transporting the tip vessels 31 in the order of the culture vessel 20 and the sample rack 40, and multiple transport mechanisms (tip rack transport mechanism 110, culture vessel transport stage 120, sample rack transport mechanism 130) that move each of the culture vessels 20, tip rack 30, and sample rack 40 in at least the Y-axis direction intersecting the X-axis direction. This configuration allows the culture vessels 20, tip rack 30, and sample rack 40 to be moved directly below the tip vessels 31 transported by the tip transport mechanism 100, thereby avoiding situations in which contamination due to objects falling from the tip vessels 31 may occur.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 , the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment further includes a waste box 50 for disposing of tip containers 31. The tip transport mechanism 100 transports the tip containers 31 stored in the tip rack 30 in the order of the culture container 20, the sample rack 40, and the waste box 50. The culture containers 20, the tip rack 30, the sample rack 40, and the waste box 50 are arranged in the X-axis direction in the following order: tip rack 30, culture container 20, the sample rack 40, and the waste box 50. With this configuration, the tip transport mechanism 100 carrying the tip container 31 can pick up the tip container 31, aspirate and discharge cells or cell components, and even release the tip container 31, all while moving in a single direction along the X-axis. Therefore, when the tip transport mechanism 100 returns to above the tip rack 30, it is empty, reliably preventing contamination.

Furthermore, in the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment, the chip transport mechanism 100 is movable on two axes: the X-axis direction and a third direction perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis directions, and the multiple transport mechanisms are movable on at least one axis, the Y-axis direction. With this configuration, the chip transport mechanism 100 does not require a movable axis in the Y-axis direction, allowing for a simple structure. This reduces the weight of the chip transport mechanism 100, which is installed far from the base of the casing 10 (at a high part), lowering the center of gravity of the device and suppressing vibration.

Furthermore, in the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment, the multiple movement mechanisms are installed at a lower position than the tip transport mechanism 100. With this configuration, by arranging the movable axes of the multiple movement mechanisms at a lower position than the tip transport mechanism 100, the center of gravity of the device can be lowered.

Furthermore, in the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment, at least one of the multiple movement mechanisms is equipped with a ball screw movement mechanism. This configuration can meet the required specifications of the culture vessel movement stage 120 and the like, which require high movement accuracy. On the other hand, for the tip rack movement mechanism 110 and sample rack movement mechanism 130, which do not require high-precision movement like the culture vessel movement stage 120, a belt conveyance mechanism that is simpler and lighter than a ball screw movement mechanism can be used to reduce the weight of the entire device.

In addition, in the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment, the sample rack 40 has multiple sample containers 41 and is equipped with an operation processing unit 450 that controls the operation of the tip transport mechanism 100 and multiple movement mechanisms. The operation processing unit 450 moves the needle tip of the tip container 31 in the X-axis direction above the sample containers 41, stops it near the target sample container 41A, and then moves the sample rack 40 in the Y-axis direction to position the needle tip of the tip container 31 directly above the target sample container 41A. This configuration makes it possible to minimize situations in which objects falling from the tip container 31 fall into sample containers 41 other than the target sample container 41A.

Furthermore, in the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment, the X-axis direction is the front-to-rear direction of the housing 10 of the cell suction support system 1, and the ranges of movement (111s, 121s, 131s) of each of the multiple movement mechanisms extend to the front side of the housing 10. This configuration allows the user to install the tip rack 30, culture vessel 20, and sample rack 40 at the front side of the housing 10 without having to reach to the center of the housing 10, thereby improving workability.

In addition, in the cell suction support system 1 according to this embodiment, a work table 11 equipped with a first opening/closing door 13, a second opening/closing door 14, and a third opening/closing door 15 is provided on the front side of the housing 10, and the multiple movement mechanisms include a tip rack movement mechanism 110 that moves the tip rack 30 to the first opening/closing door 13, a culture vessel movement stage 120 that moves the culture vessel 20 to the second opening/closing door 14, and a sample rack movement mechanism 130 that moves the sample rack 40 to the third opening/closing door 15. This configuration allows the first opening/closing door 13, the second opening/closing door 14, and the third opening/closing door 15 of the work table 11 provided on the front side of the housing 10 to be opened, allowing the tip rack 30, culture vessel 20, and sample rack 40 to be placed from above, further improving operability.

Furthermore, the cell suction support system 1 can adopt the configurations shown in Figures 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a modified example of the front view layout of the internal configuration of the cell suction support system 1 according to one embodiment. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contamination avoidance operation of the cell suction support system 1 shown in Fig. 7.
The cell suction support system 1 shown in Fig. 7 is provided with a shutter mechanism 140 that covers the sample rack 40 while the tip container 31 is moving in the X-axis direction on the sample rack 40. The shutter mechanism 140 moves in the Y-axis direction as shown in Fig. 8.

In this case, as shown in Figure 8(a), the tip transport mechanism 100 moves the needle tip of the tip container 31 above the target sample container 41A in the sample rack 40 while the sample rack 40 is covered by the shutter mechanism 140, and stops it. Next, as shown in Figure 8(b), the shutter mechanism 140 moves in the Y-axis direction, exposing the target sample container 41A.

Next, the chip transport mechanism 100 ejects cells or cell components from the needle tip of the chip container 31 into the target sample container 41A. Next, the shutter mechanism 140 moves in the Y-axis direction, returning to the state shown in Figure 8(a) and covering the sample rack 40. Finally, the chip transport mechanism 100 moves the needle tip of the chip container 31 in the X-axis direction above the shutter mechanism 140, and passes it over the sample rack 40.
According to the above configuration, the shutter mechanism 140 moves instead of the sample rack 40, which has the advantage of being light in operation and not shaking the cells or cell components stored in the sample rack 40.

The above describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The shapes and combinations of the components shown in the above embodiment are merely examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements, etc., without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the second direction is the Y-axis direction, which is perpendicular to the X-axis direction. However, the second direction is not limited to the Y-axis direction, and may be, for example, a direction that intersects with the X-axis direction at an acute or obtuse angle.

Furthermore, for example, in the above embodiment, the chip transport mechanism 100 and the culture vessel moving stage 120 are illustrated as being equipped with ball screw moving mechanisms, but the chip rack moving mechanism 110 and the sample rack moving mechanism 130 may also be equipped with ball screw moving mechanisms.

1...Cell suction support system 1...Housing, 11...Work table, 13...First opening/closing door, 14...Second opening/closing door, 15...Third opening/closing door, 20...Culture vessel, 30...Tip rack, 31...Tip vessel, 40...Sample rack, 50...Disposal box, 100...Tip transport mechanism, 110...Tip rack movement mechanism, 111s...Moving range, 120...Culture vessel movement stage, 121s...Moving range, 130...Sample rack movement mechanism, 131s...Moving range, 140...Shutter mechanism

Claims (8)

a culture vessel for culturing cells;
a tip rack for storing tip containers for aspirating the cells from the culture container;
a sample rack for storing the cells aspirated into the tip container;
a tip transport mechanism that holds the tip container stored in the tip rack and moves in a first direction to transport the tip container to the culture container and then to the sample rack;
a plurality of movement mechanisms that move the incubation vessel, the tip rack, and the sample rack in at least a second direction that intersects with the first direction ;
an operation processing unit that controls the operations of the chip transport mechanism and the plurality of moving mechanisms;
Equipped with
The sample rack has a plurality of sample containers;
The operation processing unit moves the needle tip of the tip container in the first direction above the space between the sample containers.
Cell suction support system. Further provided is a waste box for disposing of the tip container,
the tip transport mechanism transports the tip containers stored in the tip rack to the culture container, the sample rack, and the waste box in this order;
The cell suction assistance system according to claim 1 , wherein the culture vessel, the tip rack, the sample rack, and the waste box are arranged in the following order in the first direction: tip rack, culture vessel, sample rack, waste box. the chip transport mechanism is movable along two axes, that is, the first direction and a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction;
The cell suction support system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of movement mechanisms are movable on at least one axis in the second direction. The cell suction support system described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the multiple movement mechanisms are installed at a lower position than the tip transport mechanism. The cell suction support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation processing unit moves the needle tip of the tip container in the first direction above the sample containers, stops it near the target sample container, and then moves the sample rack in the second direction to position the needle tip of the tip container directly above the target sample container. the second direction is a front-to-rear direction of a housing of the cell suction assistance system,
The cell suction support system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the movable range of each of the plurality of movement mechanisms extends to the front side of the housing. a work table provided with a first opening/closing door, a second opening/closing door, and a third opening/closing door is provided on the front side of the housing;
The plurality of movement mechanisms include:
a tip rack moving mechanism that moves the tip rack to the first opening and closing door;
a culture vessel moving stage that moves the culture vessel to the second opening/closing door;
The cell suction assistance system according to claim 6 , further comprising: a sample rack moving mechanism that moves the sample rack to the third opening/closing door. The cell suction assistance system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a shutter mechanism that covers the sample rack while the tip container is moving over the sample rack in the first direction.