JPH07119770B2 - Random access biochemistry automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a random access biochemical automatic analyzer for automatically and continuously analyzing liquid samples such as serum and urine and measuring enzyme activity values. Regarding

[Conventional technology]

Biochemical analyzers that analyze liquid samples such as serum and urine in clinical, chemical, and pharmaceutical fields improve analysis accuracy,
There are demands such as certainty of inspection, miniaturization of samples and reagents, reduction of total running cost, and efficient and rapid simultaneous analysis of multiple samples and multiple items with a small device with a small number of channels. It is diverse.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration outline of a conventional biochemical automatic analyzer, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a reagent distribution system. In the figure, 11 is a cup transport unit, 12 is a sample pipette, 13 is a sampling valve, 14 is a switching valve,
15 is a cool box, 16 is a reagent pump, 17 is a reagent switching valve, 18 is a rotary reactor, 19 is a detection unit, 20 is an analysis unit, 21 is a data processing unit, 22 is a controller, and 23-1 to 23-3 are Reagent switching valve, 24-1 to 24-3 are reagent groups, 25-1 to 25
-3 shows a reagent pipette.

In the biochemical automatic analyzer shown in FIG. 2, for example, 30 to 40 reaction cells are installed on the circumference of the rotary reactor 18, and the reaction cells are washed with the rotation, the first reagent and the sample (specimen). And the second reagent are dispensed, the mixture is stirred and reacted for a certain period of time, and then the colorimetric measurement is performed by the detection unit 19 to complete one cycle and return to washing.

In this system, a certain amount (1μ
About 10 μm) of serum or urine sample is weighed and led to the sampling valve 13 through the sample pipette 12,
From here, the first reagent and the sample are dispensed into the reaction cell. Further, in the detection unit 19, for example, a pre-spectral multi-wavelength detector using a concave diffraction grating is adopted, and the white light source light is dispersed by the diffraction grating to become a spectrum and the reaction cell is irradiated with the spectrum. Here, a wavelength selective slit is used, and
The wavelengths of are selectively transmitted. The detection signal is processed by converting it from an analog signal to a digital signal in the analysis unit 20, further processed in the data processing unit 21, and recorded in the memory.
CRT display and printer output are performed.

Since the biochemical automatic analyzer as described above requires one reagent corresponding to one analysis item, generally several tens (about 30 kinds) of reagents are prepared, and the amount of sample and the kind of reagent are Different items are being analyzed while changing. Since this analysis item is determined by the content of the analysis request for the sample, it differs depending on the sample. Usually, since the dispensing into the reaction cell is performed in a cycle of about 12 seconds, it is necessary to dispense the reagents without delay in order to perform continuous and efficient analysis. Therefore, a multi-channel system including a plurality of reaction lines has been developed and proposed. The outline will be described with reference to FIG.

The example shown in FIG. 3 is of a multi-channel system consisting of three channels, and the reagents used are grouped into reagent groups 24-1 to 24-3 corresponding to the channels, and the reagent switching valves 23-1 to 23-1 23-3 is switched and dispensed from the reagent pipettes 25-1 to 25-3 into the reaction cell. The controller 22 determines the reagent to be dispensed from the sample and the analysis item, and controls the reagent switching valves 23-1 to 23-3. Therefore, if there are 30 types of reagents,
Each of the reagent groups 24-1 to 24-3 is divided into 10 groups. In such a configuration, conventionally, a method in which the selection order of the reagent switching valves 23-1 to 23-3 is fixed and a method in which the selection can be freely performed have been proposed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The former method, in which the selection order is fixed as described above, is effective when the reagents used for each analysis item are in a continuous selection order for a plurality of analysis items and are evenly distributed in each channel. I can analyze it well. However, when the reagents to be used are not in a continuous order, useless cycles occur, and further, when the reagents to be used for analysis items are concentrated in one channel and the selection order is discontinuous. However, there is a problem that many cycles are wasted.

On the other hand, the latter method, in which the selection order of reagents in each channel can be set freely, allows the desired reagent to be continuously selected for each channel, which causes a problem like the former in which wasteful cycles occur in the middle. Disappears. However, when the reagents used for the analysis items are concentrated in one channel, the same problem as in the former method occurs.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a random access biochemical automatic analyzer capable of dispensing reagents in each cycle without waste and eliminating waste of analysis cycles. It is intended.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

Therefore, the present invention is a multi-channel biochemical automatic analyzer consisting of a plurality of reaction lines, a plurality of reagent pipettes fixedly installed for each channel for aspirating, dispensing, and washing a reagent, each independently movable. The first transfer means for moving only the reagent container group for analysis and the reagent container used according to the analysis item from the centrally installed reagent container group to the transfer position, and the transfer by the first transfer means A second transport means for moving the reagent container moved to the position to each suction position of the plurality of reagent pipettes.

[Action]

In the random access biochemical automatic analyzer of the present invention, the reagent is selected according to the analysis item, and is transferred between the reagent pipette fixedly installed for each channel and the concentrated analysis reagent group by the reagent transfer means. Therefore, even in the case of multi-channel, all the reagents in the analytical reagent group can be transported to each channel. Therefore, the reagents to be used according to the analysis items can be efficiently distributed and conveyed from one reagent group to each channel.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of the random access biochemical automatic analyzer of the present invention, in which 1-1 to 1-4 are reagent pipettes, 2 is a reagent group, and 3 is a reagent carrier.

The random access biochemical automatic analyzer shown in FIG.
The reagent pipette 1-1 is an example of a multi-channel system consisting of four-channel reaction lines.
1 to 4 are installed at fixed positions for each channel, and perform suction, dispensing, and washing operations of reagents at fixed positions.
The reagent group 2 contains a plurality of reagents required as a reaction line. The reagent transport unit 3 uses the reagent pipette 1
-1 to 1-4 and a desired reagent are selected and transported between the reagent group 2, and are transported to any of the reagent pipettes 1-1 to 1-4 and returned to their original positions. Is something that can be done.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the respective reagents are transported from the positions A, B, C, D of the sample group 2 to the reagent pipettes 1-1 to 1-4. Assuming that the reagents at the positions A, B, C, and D are used in the reagent group 2 from the sample analysis request item, the reagent transport unit 3 takes out the respective reagents from the reagent group 2 as indicated by arrows in the figure. Reagent pipette 1-1 to 1-4
To a fixed position. When the reagent is conveyed, the reagent pipettes 1-1 to 1-4 aspirate and dispense. After aspirating the reagent with each of the reagent pipettes 1-1 to 1-4, the reagent transporting unit 3 transports each reagent to the original position of the reagent group 2 through the reverse path.

As is clear from this transfer path, when four reagents are selected for the four-channel reagent pipettes 1-1 to 1-4, the reagent pipettes 1-1 are arranged in line along the transfer path.
Correspondence between 1-4 and reagents is determined. For example, in the case of the relationship between A and B, since A is the end, the reagent pipette 1-1 is transferred to the end. However, when the reagent of A is not used and the reagent in the position between C and D is used instead, the reagent of B becomes the most end, the reagent of B becomes the reagent pipette 1-1, C. The reagents of No. 1 are displaced from each other to the reagent pipette 1-2, and the reagent at the position between C and D is transferred to the reagent pipette 1-3. In this way, the transport path is connected to each reagent pipette 1-1 to 1-4.
On the other hand, even if they are not separately provided, they can be configured as a single and shared transport path, and the transport mechanism can be made compact.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, although the reagent group is linearly arranged in the above-mentioned embodiment, the reagent group may be arranged in a circle and the reagent transfer system and the reagent pipette may be arranged inside the circle. It goes without saying that it may be modified.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when a sample (specimen) is analyzed, the analysis designated item reagent of the sample is selected from the reagent group for all items and the reagent pipette of each channel is selected. Since the reagent is moved to the position and the reagent is dispensed, it is possible to provide a multichannel automatic biochemical analyzer capable of random access analysis. Further, according to the conventional method, it was necessary to use a large number of switching valves for item selection, but since the present invention eliminates the need for those switching valves, it is possible to achieve cost reduction and compact structure. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a random access biochemical automatic analyzer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration outline of a conventional biochemical automatic analyzer, and FIG. 3 is a reagent distribution system. It is a figure which shows the structural example. 1-1 to 1-4 ... Reagent pipette, 2 ... Reagent group, 3 ...
… Reagent transport section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a multi-channel biochemical automatic analyzer comprising a plurality of reaction lines, a plurality of reagent pipettes fixedly installed for each channel for aspirating, dispensing, and washing a reagent, each of which is independently movable. First transport means for moving only the reagent container group for centralized installation and the reagent containers used according to the analysis item from the reagent container group for centralized installation to the transport position, and the transport position by the first transport means The second access means for moving the reagent container moved to the suction position of each of the plurality of reagent pipettes, the automatic random access biochemical analyzer.