JPH0572977B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of the Invention) The present invention irradiates a measurement surface of a chemical analysis slide containing a sample with irradiation light, and receives reflected light from the measurement surface with an optical sensor. Regarding a photometric unit for chemical analysis that measures the reflection density of the measurement surface,
In particular, the present invention relates to a photometric unit for chemical analysis that performs incubation as well as photometry.

(Technical Background and Prior Art of the Invention) In recent years, it has become possible to quantitatively analyze specific chemical components or formed components contained in a sample liquid such as blood or urine by simply applying small droplets of the sample liquid. Dry-type chemical analysis slides that can be used for
It has been put into practical use.

In order to analyze the chemical components in a sample liquid using such a compound analysis slide, the sample liquid is dotted onto the chemical analysis slide, and then kept at a constant temperature for a predetermined period of time in an incubator (incubator). ) to cause a coloring reaction (dye-forming reaction), and optically measure the coloring optical density. This chemical analysis slide is irradiated with measuring irradiation light containing a selected wavelength and its reflected optical density is measured, thereby quantitatively analyzing the content of the substance to be measured mainly based on the principle of colorimetry. .

Conventional chemical analyzers that analyze chemical components as described above have at least an incubator that keeps the slide at a constant temperature, and a measurement surface of the slide after incubation that is irradiated with irradiated light. It was necessary to have both a photometric section for chemical analysis that receives the reflected light of the irradiated light with an optical sensor and measures the concentration on the measurement surface based on the output of this optical sensor. In a chemical analyzer with the above configuration, the incubator equipped with a heater etc. tends to be large, and it is necessary to insulate the incubator and the photometry section, so the entire device is
There was a problem in that the device was large and could not sufficiently meet the demand for making the entire device more compact.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a photometric section for chemical analysis that also has the function of an incubator and can downsize the entire chemical analysis device. The purpose is to

(Structure of the Invention) The photometry section for chemical analysis of the present invention includes a light source that irradiates a measurement surface with irradiation light, and an optical sensor that receives reflected light from the measurement surface. A temperature sensor that is fitted into a block made of a highly thermally conductive material and has a shape on which a chemical analysis slide can be placed, and that detects the temperature of the block, and a control that blinks the light source in accordance with the output of the temperature sensor. It is characterized by having means.

That is, in the photometry section of the present invention, the light source is fitted into a block made of a material with high thermal conductivity, so that the heat of the light source can be transmitted to the slide placed on the block. Further, the photometry section includes the temperature sensor and control means,
The temperature of the block can be controlled such that the slide is held at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time. Therefore, by using the above-mentioned photometry section, the light source can be used as a heater to maintain the constant temperature of the slide on the block, and after the constant temperature maintenance is completed, the light source can be used to emit the irradiation light, and at the same time the slide can be used as a heater. The photometer can perform both incubation and photometry using the photometer. Note that the material with high thermal conductivity may be any material as long as it can transfer heat from the light source to the slide, and metal is preferable, for example.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1C are schematic side views for explaining the operation of the photometric section for chemical analysis according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The photometering section 1 has a light source 3 and a plurality of optical sensors 4 fitted into a block 2 made of aluminum, and is supported by a support member 6 with its upper surface exposed. As shown in FIG. 2, the slide 5 for chemical analysis on which the concentration is measured by the photometer 1 has a dry multilayer film 5B formed by laminating a support, a reagent layer, and a developing layer in a frame 5A. A measurement surface 5a is formed on the back surface (upper surface in the figure). A predetermined amount of a sample (substance to be measured) such as urine or blood is dropped onto the film 5B from a circular hole (not shown) provided on the surface of the slide 5. Also, on the back of slide 5 is a barcode 5b.
is listed. The slide 5 is placed on the support member 6 so that its back surface is in contact with the support member 6.

As shown in FIG. 1A, on the photometering section 1, a reference white board 7W and a reference blackboard 7B are installed using a lever 8 to correct errors in the measured reflection density of the slide 5 prior to photometry of the slide 5. The photometer 1 measures the reflection density of the reference white board 7W and the reference blackboard 7B. Next, a slide 5 is moved onto the photometering section 1 by being pushed by a lever 8, but before it reaches the top of the photometering section 1, the slide 5 is read by a barcode reading means 9 provided in the support member 6. Barcode 5b attached to the back
is read. When the reading of the barcode 5b is completed, the slide 5 is moved onto the photometer 1 as shown in FIG. 1B. In the state shown in FIG. 1B, the slide 5 is incubated by the photometer 1.

The block 2 has a size and shape on which the slide 5 can be placed as shown, and the detailed structure of the block 2 is as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 and the bottom view of FIG. It's summery. That is, the block 2 has a light source fitting hole 2A formed in the center of its lower part, and four photosensor fitting holes 2B, for example, formed around it, and a light source 3 such as a tungsten lamp and four photosensors. 4 are attached to the block 2 by being fitted into the light source fitting hole 2A and the optical sensor fitting hole 2B, respectively. The light source 3 emits illumination light suitable for measuring the slide 5, which passes through the illumination light path 2C in the block 2 and impinges on the measurement surface 5a of the slide 5 perpendicularly to the measurement surface. The reflected light of the irradiation light reflected by the measurement surface 5a passes through a reflected light path 2D formed in the block 2 and is directed toward each optical sensor 4.

When using the photometer 1 as an incubator, the light source 3 is turned on. When the light source 3 is turned on, the heat emitted from the light source 3 is transferred to the block 2, which is made of aluminum and has high thermal conductivity, as described above.
The information is transferred to slide 5. Note that in this embodiment, the light source 3 is located on the measurement surface 5a of the slide 5.
The light source 3 is provided in the center of the block, facing the slide 5, and is effective in heating the entire block 2 and efficiently transmitting heat to the slide 5. Since there is a possibility that the light is transmitted toward the center, a heat insulating filter 15 is provided between the light source 3 and the measurement surface 5a to prevent such a problem from occurring. Further, a temperature sensor 10 is provided within the block 2, and is adapted to control the temperature of the block 2 to a predetermined temperature suitable for maintaining the slide 5 at a desired temperature (for example, 37° C.). . That is, the output from the temperature sensor 10 is as shown in FIG. 1B.
The information is transmitted to the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 12, and the CPU 12
sends a control signal to turn off the light source 3 when the temperature of the block 2 exceeds a predetermined temperature. Also, when the light source 3 goes out for a while and the temperature of the block 2 detected by the temperature sensor 10 falls below a predetermined temperature,
The CPU 12 issues a control signal to turn on the light source 3. When the slide is kept at a constant temperature for a predetermined period of time (for example, about 6 minutes), the photometer 1 stops functioning as an incubator and measures the density of the slide 5. In addition, in order to prevent the heat emitted from the photometering section 1 from affecting other slides located before and after the photometering section 1 when performing the above-mentioned incubation, and to prevent wasteful heat radiation, the support member 6 described above is installed. is made of a heat insulating material.

In the photometering section 1, when measuring the density of the slide 5 that has undergone incubation, the optical sensor 4 is activated and the irradiation light emitted from the light source 3 is detected as shown in FIG. Among them, the reflected light reflected by the measurement surface 5a is detected by the optical sensor 4. Note that since the time required for this measurement is approximately several meters to several hundred milliseconds, the state of the measurement surface 5a does not change during the measurement.

By the way, the light source 3 emits light over a relatively wide wavelength range, but the effective wavelength for measurement differs depending on the component to be measured in the sample in the slide 5. That is, the wavelength of light at which the amount of reflected light from the measurement surface changes most significantly when the concentration of a certain measurement component changes differs for each measurement component. For example, light around 510 nm is most effective for measuring glucose.
Therefore, the optical sensor 4 can most effectively measure the concentration of the component to be measured by selectively receiving only the light of the specific wavelength according to the measurement item. In order to make only the reflected light of a specific wavelength enter the optical sensor 4, it is sufficient to form an interference filter on the light receiving surface of the optical sensor that selectively allows only the light of a specific wavelength to enter, but the items to be measured There are multiple types of interference filters, and since the measurement items change, it is extremely troublesome to replace interference filters with different characteristics depending on the measurement items. Therefore, the photometry section 1 of this embodiment includes the four optical sensors 4 as described above, and interference filters 1 with different wavelengths of light that are selectively transmitted to each other are placed on the respective light receiving surfaces of these optical sensors 4.
1 is provided, and detection is performed using only the optical sensor 4 having an interference filter 11 with desired characteristics depending on the measurement item. If such a photometry section is used, it is possible to easily perform highly accurate measurements according to the item simply by electrically switching the output of each optical sensor 4. The output from the selected optical sensor among these four optical sensors is the 1st C.
As shown in the figure, an amplifier 13 and an A/D converter 1
4, the CPU (central processing unit) 12
The concentration of the component thus measured is displayed on an external display device (not shown) if necessary.

The photometry unit of the present invention has been described above using as an example a photometry unit in which the light source 3 is arranged in the center and a plurality of optical sensors are provided around it. It can be arbitrarily set as long as it can effectively heat the water and also allow good concentration measurement. Further, the temperature sensor does not necessarily need to be placed within the block, but may be placed at any position that can detect a temperature corresponding to the temperature at which the slide is held. Further, in the embodiment described above, the control means for blinking the light source according to the output of the temperature sensor is the CPU, but the control means may be provided separately and independent of the CPU. Also, depending on the required temperature accuracy, ON/OFF control, comparison control, PID control, etc. are used as control methods.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the photometric section for chemical analysis of the present invention, incubation is performed in the photometric section using heat emitted from the light source. There is no need to provide an additional incubator, and the entire chemical analysis apparatus can be downsized. Since a heater for incubation is also not required, the manufacturing cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C are schematic surface diagrams illustrating the operation of a photometric section for chemical analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a chemical analysis slide, and Figure 3 is a FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the block of the photometric section for chemical analysis according to the embodiment described above, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the block. 1...Photometry section for chemical analysis, 2...Block, 3
...Light source, 4... Light sensor, 5... Chemical analysis slide, 5a... Measurement surface, 10... Temperature sensor, 1
2...CPU (central processing unit).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A light source that irradiates the measurement surface of a chemical analysis slide containing a sample with irradiation light, and a light sensor that receives the reflected light of the irradiation light reflected by the measurement surface, and the measurement is performed using the output of the light sensor. In a chemical analysis photometry section that measures surface concentration, the light source is fitted into a block made of a highly thermally conductive material and has a shape that allows the chemical analysis slide to be placed thereon, and the temperature of the block is detected. A photometric section for chemical analysis, comprising a temperature sensor and a control means for reducing or decreasing the light source according to the output of the temperature sensor.