JPH0452889B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a sample preprocessing device for an automatic analyzer used in medical institutions, and particularly relates to a sample preprocessing device for an automatic analyzer used in medical institutions, and in particular, a centrifuge is connected to the automatic analyzer to perform centrifugation of a specimen. The present invention relates to a sample preprocessing device having a control mechanism that automatically performs preprocessing up to sampling.

[Background of the invention]

Generally, automatic analyzers used in hospitals and other medical institutions are centrally managed in testing departments such as central laboratories in order to process huge samples, and after blood is collected from patients, it is preprocessed using centrifuges, etc. After that, it is applied to an automatic analyzer. Although this automatic analyzer itself has the ability to perform a large amount of analysis in a short period of time, the current situation is that it usually takes 2 to 3 days to obtain results after blood collection because preprocessing takes time. .

On the other hand, these medical institutions have recently seen an increasing desire to automate tests for patients who urgently need tests and for doctors who want tests immediately at the time of consultation, and to obtain analysis results from blood sampling. There is a need for a device that can automate the process and process the process in a short time. In particular, with conventional pretreatment using a centrifuge, it takes time to attach and detach test tubes to the rotor, centrifuge them, and identify the removed test tubes, so it is necessary to process a large number of samples, sample them, and input them into an automatic analyzer. This process took a lot of time and was inefficient.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide a sample preprocessing device that can automatically perform processing steps from sample centrifugation to sampling in a short time and accurately. There is something to do.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a test tube holder for storing a test tube containing a sample to be analyzed through an insertion port, a test tube up-and-down mechanism for raising or lowering the test tube holder, and a method for storing the test tube in the test tube holder. a centrifuge rotor to which a plurality of the test tube holders are attached; and a centrifugal separator rotor to which a plurality of the test tube holders are attached, and when the rotor rotates at high speed, the tilt angle of the test tube due to centrifugal force is approximately 45 degrees. a nozzle mechanism for aspirating the sample through a sample inlet port to send the sample to the analyzer after centrifugation of the sample by the centrifuge; a test tube rotation movement mechanism having an optical sensor and a clutch mechanism that progressively rotates the rotor so as to be at the position of the suction port or the test tube insertion port, and the test tube insertion port and the sample suction port, respectively, during centrifugation; The intended purpose is achieved by configuring a sample pretreatment device with a shutter that closes and opens after centrifugation, a shutter opening/closing mechanism, and a control unit that automatically controls each of these steps. .

[Embodiments of the invention]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a sample pretreatment apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic sample analysis system is comprised of a sample pretreatment section 1, a drive control section 2, a sample nozzle mechanism section 3, an analysis section 4, and a data processing section 5. As shown in FIG. 1 as a longitudinal sectional view and FIG. 2 as a partially cutaway plan view, the sample pretreatment device section 1 has a test tube insertion port 6 and a sample suction port 7 formed on its upper surface. Directly below the test tube insertion port 6 and sample suction port 7, a single shutter 8 is arranged to open and close them simultaneously, and this shutter 8 is rotatable about its center by a spindle 9. A notch 8a is formed at one end of the shaft and engages with a pin 12 implanted in the arm 11 of a rotary solenoid 10, so that the shutter 8 is rotated by the rotation of the rotary solenoid 10. The test tube insertion port 6 and the sample suction port 7 are opened and closed at the same time. Below the shutter 8, a rotor 13 is rotatably supported on the main body of the sample pretreatment section 1.
This rotor 13 is connected to a main motor 14 and rotates at high speed to perform centrifugal separation. A plurality of test tube holders 15 are provided on the outer periphery of the rotor 13 so that they can move up and down and swing up to about 45 degrees, making it easy to insert test tubes 16 into the test tube holders 15. A test tube up and down mechanism 17 for pushing the test tube holder 15 up to the upper surface of the shutter 8 is provided below the test tube holder 15 on the rotating circumference. This test tube up/down mechanism 17 is constituted by a rack and pinion mechanism driven by a pulse motor 18. Further, a test tube detector 19 using optical detection is provided on the upper side of the test tube holder 15 to confirm that the test tube 16 has been inserted into the holder 15.

The motor shaft 20 of the main motor 14 is used for inserting a test tube 16 containing a sample into the test tube holder 15 or sucking up a centrifuged sample from the test tube 16 by a nozzle mechanism 21. , a rotary disk 22 for rotating the rotor 13 at low speed to move the test tube 16 to a position directly below the test tube insertion port 6 or sample suction port 7; and an optical sensor for determining the stop position of the rotor 13. (not shown) and an index plate 23 are fixedly provided.

The test tube rotation movement mechanism 24 that rotates the rotary disk 22 includes a friction disk 26 that is rotated by a pulse motor 25 via gears, and a friction disk 26 that is rotated by a pulse motor 25 through a gear, and that rotates the friction disk 26 in contact with the rotary disk 22 during low-speed rotation during test tube transfer. During high-speed rotation for centrifugal separation, the rotary disk 22
The clutch mechanism includes a lever 27 which is rotatably supported on the shaft of the pulse motor 25 and rotatably supports the friction disk 26, and a lever 27 which is rotatably supported on the shaft of the pulse motor 25. Notch 27a formed at one end on the opposite side of the moving shaft
and a rotary solenoid 29 having an arm 28 that engages with the rotary solenoid 29.

An operation panel (not shown) provided in the control unit 2 includes various operation keys for loading a sample into the system, starting and stopping centrifugation, rotating the test tube 16, and aspirating the sample. These are used to operate the system.

The operating procedure of an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described below.

Blood taken from a patient can be inserted into this device as a sample in a vacuum blood collection tube for the purpose of immediate testing during emergency testing or doctor's consultation. When the loading key (not shown) on the operation panel of this device is pressed, the rotary solenoid 10 is activated, the shutter 8 is rotated, and the test tube insertion port 6 is opened.
Further, the pulse motor 18 rotates, and the test tube holder 15 is pushed up by the test tube up/down mechanism 17 and protrudes from the test tube insertion port 6. When a test tube 16 containing collected blood is inserted into the test tube holder 15 and an analysis start key (not shown) is pressed, the test tube holder 15 is lowered by the test tube up/down mechanism 17 and the test tube detector 19 The test tube 16 is attached to the test tube holder 15.
When it is confirmed that the shutter is at a predetermined position, the shutter 8 is closed by the operation of the rotary solenoid 10, and then the main motor 14 is started and the rotor 13 is rotated at high speed to perform centrifugal separation. The rotation speed is approximately 4000 RPM, the centrifugation time is approximately 1 minute, and the time required to accelerate and decelerate the rotation is approximately 20 seconds, and the plasma separation of the blood sample is performed in a total of approximately 1 minute and 40 seconds. . In a general centrifuge, the test tube holder 15 swings horizontally during separation, but in the present invention it swings to an angle of about 45 degrees as shown by the dotted line in FIG. This is because the slope of the inner wall of the test tube has the effect of promoting two-layer separation of blood due to centrifugal force.

At the same time that the centrifugation is completed and the rotor 13 stops, the friction disk 26 that was detached from the rotary disk 22 during centrifugation comes into contact with the rotary disk 22 due to the operation of the rotary solenoid 29, and the pulse motor 25 starts rotating and the index plate 23 and rotates the rotary disk 22 to an angle determined by an optical sensor (not shown). This index plate 23 is the test tube 16
The rotor 13 is configured to stop at a position directly below the sample suction port 7. Next, the nozzle mechanism 21 descends to suck up the centrifuged sample in the test tube 16, and the sample is transferred to the analysis section 4, where it is added a reagent, reacted at a constant temperature, etc. depending on the item to be analyzed, and spectrophotometric The concentration of the target component is measured using a measuring device such as a meter, and the results are sent to the data processing section 5 for data processing and displayed on a CRT or printed on a printer.

In the above embodiment, the case where one sample is inserted and measured is explained, but the rotor 13 of the centrifuge
Since multiple specimens can be placed in the chamber, multiple samples are set at the same time and centrifuged together.
Of course, it is also possible to sequentially suck up the data to the analysis section 4 and analyze it. In this case, the sample insertion method is to put the test tube containing the No. 1 sample into the test tube holder, then press the rotor feed key (not shown) on the panel, and the No. 1 test tube holder will descend. Then, the rotor 13 rotates and the No. 1 test tube holder is diagonally diagonally connected to the No. 1 test tube holder.
By moving the No. 2 test tube holder to the position of the test tube insertion port and pushing it up to receive the test tube containing the No. 2 sample, and then pressing the rotor feed key,
After No. 3, the test tubes containing samples can be sequentially inserted into the rotor 13 at positions that take into consideration the balance, and by pressing the start key after inserting the desired number of samples, the subsequent analysis work will be performed automatically in sequence. It will be done.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the previous embodiment in that two specimen pretreatment units 1 are incorporated into the automatic analysis system. In this case, two specimen preprocessing units 1, two sample nozzle machine units 3, and one drive control unit 5 aspirate each specimen sample, send it to the analysis unit 4, and send it to the data processing unit 5. It is designed to be sent and processed sequentially.

This method is one way to increase sample processing capacity, and if there is only one sample preprocessing unit 1 and the time from preprocessing to data output is 5 minutes, it is possible to process 12 samples per hour. Two sample preprocessing units 1
By installing this system, it is possible to double the processing capacity, and by adopting it in laboratories that require large processing capacity, it can also be used as a routine automatic analysis system that can perform analysis in a short time. By putting the collected blood into the sample pretreatment device according to the present invention, the process from centrifugation to sampling can be reduced by about 2 seconds.
If this device is used in a recently developed analysis system, analysis results for multiple items can be generated in 5 to 10 minutes, including centrifugation, compared to conventional systems. What used to take 2 to 3 days can now be drastically shortened.
Therefore, it is possible to immediately produce results even in emergency tests and bedside tests during medical examinations.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the processing steps from centrifugation to sampling of test tubes containing specimens are automatically performed in a short time and accurately. The effect is significant because it has become possible to easily perform automatic analysis at the bedside during emergency tests and consultations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of the sample pretreatment device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. . 1... Sample preprocessing section, 2... Drive control section, 3...
... Nozzle mechanism section, 4 ... Analysis section, 5 ... Data processing section, 6 ... Test tube insertion port, 7 ... Sample inlet port, 8 ... Shutter, 10, 29 ... Rotary solenoid, 13 ... Rotor , 14... Main motor, 15... Test tube holder, 16... Test tube, 1
7... Test tube up and down mechanism, 18, 25... Pulse motor, 19... Test tube detector, 21... Nozzle mechanism, 22... Rotating disk, 23... Index plate,
24...Test tube rotation movement mechanism, 26...Friction disk.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a sample pretreatment device that includes a rotor that rotates at high speed and a plurality of test tube holders that are rotatably provided around the periphery of the rotor and hold test tubes containing samples, the test tube holders are attached to the rotor. an elevating device that is movable up and down in the axial direction and that moves the test tube holder up and down; and a lifting device that moves the test tube holder to a test tube attachment/detachment position and a suction position for aspirating the sample into an analyzer via a rotor. A moving mechanism for rotationally moving, a detector for detecting attachment and detachment of the test tube, a detector for detecting movement of the test tube holder to the suction position, and a detection signal from each of these detectors to control the lifting device and the rotor. and a control device for controlling the moving mechanism.