JPH0125423B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical field to which the invention pertains This invention belongs to the technical field of medical equipment for diagnosis, and relates to an automatic chemical analyzer that has a measurement item selection function and is capable of performing multi-item testing. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic chemical analyzer capable of performing multiple tests on test samples (hereinafter simply referred to as samples) such as blood, serum, or urine.

2. Prior art and its problems Analysis of components in body fluids such as blood, serum, or urine provides important information for discovering, diagnosing, and understanding the course of prognosis of diseases in subjects. . The measurement items selected to obtain such information generally range from a few items to more than a dozen items that are significant for the expected disease or the disease confirmed by diagnosis. For example, for diseases that cause liver dysfunction, glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP),
Tests include lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), pirirubin, total cholesterol, albumin, and total protein.
For diseases that cause renal dysfunction, tests include urea nitrogen, creatinine, uric acid, glucose, sodium, potassium, chloride, inorganic phosphorus, calcium, total cholesterol, albumin, and total protein. Therefore, there is a need for an automatic chemical analyzer that can perform the above-mentioned multi-item analysis on the same sample, and there is a multi-item component automatic chemical analyzer.

An example of a conventional multi-item component automatic chemical analyzer having a measurement item selection function will be described with reference to FIG.

In Fig. 1, 1 is a reaction line, in which a large number of reaction vessels are arranged in a line in the direction of the arrow x in the figure, and a plurality of reaction vessels are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the arrow x in the figure (y direction). The reaction containers are arranged in rows and arranged in the y direction, and are intermittently conveyed in the x direction to circulate on endless tracks. 2 is a constant temperature bath, which has a constant temperature medium maintained at, for example, 37°C, and by immersing the reaction vessel, which is moved intermittently, in this constant temperature medium, the reaction inside the reaction vessel is maintained at a constant temperature. It's starting to move forward. 3 is a sample dispensing nozzle, which moves horizontally over the reaction container in the y direction located in front of the thermostatic chamber 2 and the sample container placed on the sample stage 18, and is moved horizontally over the sample container placed on the sample stage 18, and is connected to the sample collection pump 4, such as a syringe pump. This makes it possible to aspirate a predetermined amount of the sample in the sample container and dispense the sample in predetermined amounts into the reaction container. Reference numeral 5 indicates a colorimeter suction nozzle, and a nozzle is arranged for each reaction container arranged in the y direction, so that the reaction liquid in the reaction container that has passed through the thermostatic chamber 2 is sucked by the suction pump 9. It is configured. 6 is a flow cell, which has a flow path through which the reaction liquid sucked by the colorimeter suction nozzle 5 passes, and a colorimeter light source lamp 7 and a photodetector 8 are connected relative to each other in this flow path. The absorbance of the reaction solution passing therethrough can be measured by arranging it facing the other direction. Note that 10 is a discharge pipe for discharging the reaction liquid after the measurement is completed, and 13 is a washing and drying device for washing and drying the reaction container after sucking the reaction liquid. . Further, numeral 17 indicates a nozzle moving device for moving the sample dispensing nozzle.

Next, the operation of the multi-item automatic chemical analyzer having the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.

Usually, analysis items are determined for each reaction vessel row A to I in FIG. Therefore, when analyzing different samples for different purposes, select a specific reaction vessel 11 (indicated by hatching) among the plurality of reaction vessels arranged in the y direction as shown in FIG. After dispensing one sample, a predetermined amount of reagent is dispensed into the specific reaction container using a reagent dispensing device (not shown). Then, the reaction container containing the sample and reagent is immersed in the constant temperature bath 2, and for example
Perform the reaction between the sample and reagent at 37°C. After passing through the constant temperature bath 2, the reaction solution obtained in the reaction container is
It is sucked in by the colorimeter suction nozzle 5 and sent to the flow cell 6, where it is irradiated with light by the colorimeter light source lamp 7. The light transmitted through the reaction solution is detected by a photodetector 8, and the absorbance is measured.

The multi-item component automatic chemical analyzer having the above configuration has the following problems. In other words, since all the reaction vessels in the reaction line move intermittently, as shown in FIG. It will be immersed in the constant temperature bath 2 in the same way as the reaction vessel 11 that was prepared. In this case, the inner wall of the reaction container 12 will be forcibly dried using a constant temperature medium of, for example, 37° C., and if the reaction container is insufficiently cleaned, dirt will firmly adhere to the inner wall of the reaction container 12. Further, the colorimeter suction nozzle 5 is inserted into each of the reaction vessels 11 and 12 that have passed through the thermostatic bath 2. Regarding the reaction vessel 12, the colorimeter suction nozzle 5 is heated in the thermostatic bath 2. As a result, the inner wall of the colorimeter suction nozzle 5, the inner wall of the flow path from the colorimeter suction nozzle 5 to the flow cell 6, and the inner wall of the flow cell 6 are dried by the heated air. In this case, the reaction liquid immediately remaining on the inner wall of the flow cell 6 is evaporated to dryness, and the inner wall of the flow cell 6 is contaminated. Therefore, the analysis results obtained by the multi-item component automatic chemical analyzer having the above configuration lack accuracy and stability.

3. Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the drawbacks of the multi-item component automatic chemical analyzer having the above-mentioned configuration, and provides a reaction vessel in which a sample is not dispensed, a colorimeter suction nozzle, a flow cell, and a colorimeter suction nozzle to a flow cell. The purpose of this invention is to provide an automatic chemical analyzer that can obtain highly accurate analysis results by preventing the inner walls of the flow paths (these are sometimes collectively referred to as sample flow systems) from drying out. It is.

4. Structure of the Invention The basic structure of the present invention to achieve the above object is to include a reaction tube array composed of a plurality of reaction tubes, and to drive the reaction tube array intermittently to perform a predetermined analysis step. , in an automatic chemical analyzer that performs multi-item biochemical analysis on a test sample, analysis of specified measurement items among the plurality of reaction vessels;
A dispensing mechanism for dispensing a predetermined test sample into a reaction container used for measurement, and a liquid close to pure water being dispensed into reaction tubes in the reaction tube array to which a test sample is not dispensed. The present invention is characterized by comprising a dispensing mechanism for dispensing.

5 Embodiment of the Invention An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings from FIG. 3 to FIG. 5.

The automatic chemical analyzer according to the present invention differs from the automatic chemical analyzer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in the following points. That is, a pure water injection nozzle placed adjacent to the sample dispensing nozzle 3 so as to be able to discharge a sample or pure water (including a liquid close to pure water; the same applies hereinafter) into the same reaction container. 15, and a pure water injection pump 14 for discharging a predetermined amount of pure water from the pure water injection nozzle 15.
, pure water injection pump 14 and sample color collection pump 4
and a circuit 19 for controlling the driving of. More specifically, both the sample dispensing nozzle 3 and the pure water dispensing nozzle 15 move from the front reaction vessel in the y direction to the rear side in FIG. They are sequentially moved to reaction containers and dispensed pure water or samples. Whether pure water or a sample should be dispensed is determined by a signal output by the control circuit 19. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the control circuit 19 sends a signal A that determines the timing at which the sample dispensing nozzle 3 moves over the reaction vessels arranged in the y direction, and a signal B that instructs sample dispensing. First AND gate with 2 inputs AND ₁
and a second circuit whose two inputs are the signal A and the signal obtained by inverting the signal B using the inverter _IN1 .
For example, as shown in FIG. ₅ , the sample dispensing nozzle 3 and the pure water dispensing nozzle 15 are intermittently moved over the reaction vessels arranged in the y direction. When the valve signal A and the pulse signal B at the "1" level, which commands dispensing the sample to a specific reaction container, are input to the control circuit 19, a "1" signal commands the drive of the sample collection pump 4. A level pulse signal C is output to the sample collection pump 4, and when a "0" level signal B that does not command sample dispensing is input to the control circuit 19, the pure water dispensing pump 14
A "1" level pulse signal D, which instructs the drive of the pure water injection pump 14, is output to the pure water injection pump 14.

With the above configuration, for example, when analyzing a certain sample for a specific purpose, the sample can be dispensed into the reaction vessel 11 (indicated by hatching) to be used for analysis, as shown in FIG. A predetermined amount of sample is dispensed by the nozzle 3, and a pure water injection nozzle 1 is placed in the reaction vessel 16 where the sample is not dispensed.
5, the pure water is dispensed, and the sample or pure water is dispensed to all the reaction containers arranged in the y direction. The reaction vessels arranged in the y direction are intermittently transported in the x direction and immersed in the constant temperature bath 2, but the reaction vessels containing pure water are
For example, the inner wall will be cleaned with pure water heated to 37°C. A colorimeter suction nozzle 5 is inserted into the reaction vessels 11 and 16 that have passed through the constant temperature bath 2.
Pure water and the resulting reaction solution are each sucked out,
It is sent to the flow cell 6 via the flow path. At this time, the inside of the sample flow system that sucks the pure water is cleaned with pure water.

With the above configuration, since pure water is dispensed into the reaction vessels that do not dispense samples, it is possible not only to prevent the sample distribution path including the reaction vessels from drying out, but also to prevent the sample distribution path from drying out. can be cleaned.

6 Modifications of the Invention This invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the gist of the invention.

In the embodiment described above, both the sample dispensing nozzle 3 and the pure water dispensing nozzle 15 moved intermittently over the reaction vessels arranged in the y direction. While the sample is being dispensed into the reaction vessel 11 with the sample dispensing nozzle 3, pure water is dispensed with the pure water dispensing nozzle 15 into the reaction vessel where no sample is being dispensed. It may be configured as follows.

Furthermore, in the above description, the reaction line was configured such that a plurality of reaction vessels arranged in parallel in the y direction moved intermittently in the x direction, but as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of reaction vessels 11, 16 may be arranged in a line along the traveling direction. In this case, it goes without saying that the reagent dispensing nozzle 3 and the pure water dispensing nozzle 15 move in parallel along the traveling direction.

7. Effects of the invention According to this invention, the following effects can be achieved. In other words, all the reaction containers from the reagent dispensing position to the reaction liquid suction position on the reaction line are filled with pure water or samples, and since the colorimeter suction nozzle aspirates the pure water or sample, a constant temperature bath is required. To prevent the inside of the reaction container from drying by immersing the empty reaction container in water, and to prevent drying of the inner walls of the colorimeter suction nozzle, flow path, flow cell, etc. by sucking the heated air inside the empty reaction container. In addition, it is also possible to clean reaction vessels, colorimeter suction nozzles, flow cells, etc. that are not used for analysis. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic chemical analyzer with significantly improved measurement accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing a conventional automatic chemical analyzer, FIGS. 3 to 5 are explanatory diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the present invention. FIG. 3...Sample dispensing nozzle, 11...Reaction container, 15...
Pure water injection nozzle, 16...reaction container.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic chemical analyzer that is equipped with a reaction tube array consisting of a plurality of reaction tubes, drives the reaction tube array intermittently to perform a predetermined analysis process, and performs multi-item biochemical analysis on a test sample, analysis of specified measurement items among the plurality of reaction vessels;
A dispensing mechanism for dispensing a predetermined test sample into a reaction container used for measurement, and a liquid close to pure water being dispensed into reaction tubes in the reaction tube array to which a test sample is not dispensed. An automatic chemical analyzer characterized by comprising a dispensing mechanism for dispensing.