CN112986590A

CN112986590A - Sample analysis apparatus and control method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112986590A
Application number: CN201911277012.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 苏哲欣
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-12
Filing date: 2019-12-12
Publication date: 2021-06-18
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-12
Also published as: CN112986590B

Abstract

The present invention provides a sample analyzing apparatus and a control method thereof, including: a sample carrying mechanism; a reagent carrying mechanism; the liquid suction mechanism comprises a driving part, a moving part and a needle part, wherein the needle part is fixed on the moving part, the driving part drives the moving part to move on a preset moving path so as to drive the needle part to move in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, so that the needle part can change positions among a liquid suction position, a liquid discharge position and a cleaning position, the liquid suction position comprises a sample suction position or a reagent suction position, and the cleaning position is positioned above the cleaning pool; a zero-crossing detection mechanism for detecting whether the needle member passes a preset calibration position in the vertical direction; the processor is used for controlling the action of the driving part and controlling the suction and discharge operation of the needle part, and the processor ascends and passes through the calibration position after controlling the needle part to finish the liquid discharge operation every time, so that the occurrence of cup scratching faults is effectively reduced by triggering calibration.

Description

Sample analysis apparatus and control method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of sample analysis, in particular to sample analysis equipment and a control method thereof.

Background

Sample analysis devices, which are a type of instrument for analyzing and measuring samples, may include, for example, biochemical analyzers, immunological analyzers, cellular analyzers, and the like. Typically a periodic test flow may include: the sample analysis equipment controls the sample needle to suck a sample, controls the reagent needle to suck a reagent, then discharges the sucked sample and the reagent into the reaction container, uniformly mixes the sample and the reagent, incubates for a period of time, and then measures the solution in the reaction container to obtain a measurement result. The sample analysis device periodically repeats the above-described procedure to perform the measurement on the next sample to be measured.

After the sample or reagent is discharged into the reaction container, the needle member is required to move a certain distance up, on one hand, to facilitate the conversion of the reaction container, and on the other hand, to move the needle member to a cleaning position to perform a cleaning operation, for example, to avoid cross contamination of the sample and affect the measurement result, and after the sample is sucked or the sample sucked in the sample needle is discharged into the reaction container, the sample needle is required to be cleaned; also, in order to prevent the reagents from cross-contaminating and affecting the measurement result, the reagent needle needs to be cleaned after the reagents are aspirated or after the reagents aspirated in the reagent needle are discharged into the reaction vessel.

After the needle component moves a certain distance upwards, no matter the reaction container is switched or the needle component is moved to the cleaning position, the needle component and the reaction container can generate relative displacement in the horizontal direction, and in the actual operation process, when the needle component and the reaction container generate relative movement in the horizontal direction, a cup scratching fault sometimes occurs, namely, the needle component rubs against the reaction container, and therefore the normal operation of the test is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a sample analysis apparatus and a control method thereof, which are used for reducing cup scratching faults when relative displacement in the horizontal direction occurs between a needle component and a reaction container.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a sample analysis apparatus, including:

the sample bearing mechanism is used for bearing a sample container containing a sample;

the reagent carrying mechanism comprises a plurality of reagent placing positions and a plurality of reagent containers, wherein the reagent containers are used for containing reagents;

the liquid suction mechanism comprises a driving part, a moving part and a needle part, wherein the needle part is fixed on the moving part, the driving part drives the moving part to move on a preset moving path so as to drive the needle part to move in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, so that the needle part can change positions among a liquid suction position, a liquid discharge position and a cleaning position, the liquid suction position comprises a sample suction position or a reagent suction position, and the cleaning position is positioned above the cleaning pool;

a zero-crossing detection mechanism for detecting whether the needle member passes a preset calibration position in the vertical direction;

and the processor is used for controlling the action of the driving part and the suction and discharge operation of the needle part, and ascending and passing through the calibration position after controlling the needle part to complete the liquid discharge operation each time.

In one embodiment, the processor passes the calibration position during the movement from the discharge position to the cleaning position after each completion of the discharge operation by the control needle unit.

In one embodiment, the zero crossing detection mechanism outputs a trigger calibration signal to the processor upon detecting that the needle member passes the calibration position in the vertical direction, and the processor determines whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive member in response to the trigger calibration signal.

In one embodiment, the drive component includes a gear, and the processor determining whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive component in response to triggering the calibration signal includes: and responding to the trigger calibration signal to judge whether the gear hysteresis effect exists in the driving part, and if so, calibrating the driving parameter of the driving part.

In one embodiment, the calibration position is higher than the cleaning position, and the processor controls the needle assembly to move from the discharge position to the cleaning vertical position after completion of the discharge operation to a predetermined height higher than the calibration position.

In one embodiment, the predetermined height is a vertical initial position, and the vertical initial position is a position at which the hand member stops when the sample analyzer performs initialization.

In one embodiment, the processor controls the needle assembly to move horizontally to a cleaning horizontal position after reaching a predetermined height, and then controls the needle assembly to move downwardly to a cleaning vertical position to reach a cleaning position.

In one embodiment, the sample analysis apparatus further comprises a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the needle member, the cleaning mechanism comprises a cleaning pipeline and a pump valve arranged on the pipeline for controlling the flow of the cleaning liquid, and the processor controls the pump valve of the cleaning mechanism to be opened during the downward movement of the needle member to the cleaning vertical position.

In one embodiment, the calibration position is lower than the cleaning position, and the processor controls the needle assembly to move from the discharge position up through the calibration position to the cleaning vertical position after completion of the discharge operation.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a sample analysis apparatus, including:

the in-place detection mechanism is used for detecting whether the needle component ascends to reach a cleaning vertical position of the cleaning position or not, and outputting an in-place trigger signal when the needle component is detected to reach the cleaning vertical position;

and the processor is used for controlling the action of the driving part, controlling the suction and discharge operation of the needle part and the ascending movement after the liquid discharge operation is finished each time, and controlling the needle part to stop ascending in response to the in-place trigger signal.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling a sample analysis apparatus, including:

controlling the needle component to carry out liquid drainage operation at the liquid drainage position;

the control needle assembly travels up and through the calibration position after each completed drain operation.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

whether the drive parameter of the drive member is calibrated is determined in response to a trigger calibration signal that is output by the zero-cross detection mechanism upon detecting that the needle member passes through the calibration position in the vertical direction.

In one embodiment, determining whether to calibrate a drive parameter of a drive component in response to triggering a calibration signal comprises:

and responding to the trigger calibration signal to judge whether the gear hysteresis effect exists in the driving part, and if so, calibrating the driving parameter of the driving part.

In one embodiment, the controlling the needle part to go up and pass through the calibration position after each completion of the liquid discharge operation includes:

the control needle component ascends from the liquid discharge position after completing the liquid discharge operation, passes through the cleaning vertical position and reaches a preset height higher than the calibration position.

In one embodiment, after controlling the needle member to reach the preset height, the method further comprises:

the needle component is controlled to move horizontally and reach a cleaning horizontal position, then the needle component is controlled to move downwards to a cleaning vertical position, and a pump valve of the cleaning mechanism is controlled to be opened in the process of moving downwards to the cleaning vertical position.

In one embodiment, the controlling the needle part to go up and pass through the calibration position after each completion of the liquid discharge operation if the calibration position is lower than the washing position includes:

the control needle component ascends from the liquid discharge position to the cleaning vertical position through the calibration position after completing the liquid discharge operation.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling a sample analysis apparatus, including:

the control needle component ascends after completing the liquid discharging operation every time and controls the needle component to stop ascending in response to the in-place trigger signal, and the in-place trigger signal is output by the in-place detection mechanism when detecting that the needle component ascends to reach the cleaning vertical position.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a program, where the program can be executed by a processor to implement the method of any one of the above embodiments.

Some embodiments provide a sample analysis apparatus and a control method thereof, which trigger calibration by controlling a needle member to pass through a calibration position during an upward movement after completion of a liquid discharge operation each time, and eliminate a deviation between an actual upward movement distance and an expected upward movement distance by calibration, thereby eliminating a cup scraping failure when a relative displacement occurs between the needle member and a reaction vessel in a horizontal direction.

Some embodiments provide a sample analyzing apparatus and a control method thereof, which can eliminate a cup scraping failure when a relative displacement occurs between a needle member and a reaction vessel in a horizontal direction by controlling the needle member to ascend after each completion of a liquid discharge operation until an in-position detecting mechanism detects that the needle member reaches a cleaning vertical position and then to stop the ascending, thereby ensuring that an actual ascending distance is equal to a desired ascending distance.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a sample analysis apparatus according to an embodiment;

fig. 2A and 2B are a schematic top view and a schematic front view, respectively, of a sample analysis apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relative positions of various positions in the vertical direction according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a moving track of the needle unit according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the relative positions of various positions in the vertical direction in another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a sample analysis device according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of a sample analysis apparatus according to another embodiment;

fig. 8A and 8B are a schematic top view and a schematic front view, respectively, of a sample analysis apparatus according to another embodiment;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a control method of a sample analysis apparatus according to another embodiment.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. Wherein like elements in different embodiments are numbered with like associated elements. In the following description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that some of the features may be omitted or replaced with other elements, materials, methods in different instances. In some instances, certain operations related to the present application have not been shown or described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the core of the present application from excessive description, and it is not necessary for those skilled in the art to describe these operations in detail, so that they may be fully understood from the description in the specification and the general knowledge in the art.

Furthermore, the features, operations, or characteristics described in the specification may be combined in any suitable manner to form various embodiments. Also, the various steps or actions in the method descriptions may be transposed or transposed in order, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the various sequences in the specification and drawings are for the purpose of describing certain embodiments only and are not intended to imply a required sequence unless otherwise indicated where such sequence must be followed.

The numbering of the components as such, e.g., "first", "second", etc., is used herein only to distinguish the objects as described, and does not have any sequential or technical meaning. The term "connected" and "coupled" when used in this application, unless otherwise indicated, includes both direct and indirect connections (couplings).

First, the positions related to the present application will be explained:

the drain position is a position at which the needle member drains the liquid into the reaction vessel.

The cleaning position is a position where the needle member is located when the needle member is cleaned by the cleaning mechanism of the sample analysis apparatus. The needle component can move from the liquid discharge position to the cleaning position in various moving modes to form different moving tracks. In a first, more typical, manner, the needle member is moved to the cleaning position by Y-R movement, i.e., the needle member is moved upward from the discharge position to a certain position in the vertical direction (Y direction) and then rotated in the horizontal direction (R rotation) to the cleaning position. In a second typical mode, the needle unit is moved to the cleaning position by X-Y movement, i.e., the needle unit is moved upward from the liquid discharge position to a predetermined position in the vertical direction (Y direction) and then moved linearly to the cleaning position by a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction (X direction). In this manner, the cleaning position can be determined after the vertical and horizontal distances of the needle member from the discharge position are determined; or after the liquid discharge position and the cleaning position are determined, the vertical distance and the horizontal distance from the liquid discharge position to the cleaning position can be determined, and the moving direction and the moving distance of the needle component can be determined. The needle component reaches the cleaning vertical position after ascending a set vertical distance from the horizontal plane where the liquid discharge position is located, and the cleaning vertical position refers to a position which is in the same vertical plane as the liquid discharge position and in the same horizontal plane as the cleaning position. When the needle component moves horizontally from the vertical plane of the liquid discharge position by a set horizontal distance, the needle component reaches the washing horizontal position, and the washing position can be determined by the washing horizontal position and the washing vertical position. The horizontal position of the cleaning water refers to the position of the needle component in the horizontal direction when the cleaning mechanism cleans the needle component; the cleaning vertical position is a position where the needle member is located in the vertical direction when the cleaning mechanism cleans the needle member.

The vertical initial position refers to a position where the hand member is stopped in the vertical direction when the sample analysis apparatus performs initialization.

The calibration position is a predetermined fixed position in the sample analysis device for triggering the calibration. The control system performs the calibration operation by detecting whether an object passes through the calibration position or a designated area near the calibration position, and outputting a calibration signal when the position sensor detects the object. Typically, the calibration position is vertically disposed between the vertical initial position and the purge vertical position, and the needle assembly does not pass the calibration position, i.e., does not trigger a calibration signal, during normal draining and during the downspout and upstroke of performing the purge. When the system is initialized, the pin member will move to the vertical home position past the calibration position during the up stroke, thereby triggering a calibration signal.

Unless otherwise specified, the positions in the present application refer to the positions in the vertical direction, the distances refer to the distances in the vertical direction, the positional comparison refers to the comparison in the vertical direction, and the positional relationships refer to relative positional relationships, and are not limited to specific numerical values.

In order to analyze and measure a sample, a sample analyzing device usually sucks the sample from a sample container through a sample needle and discharges the sample into a reaction container, and also sucks a reagent from a reagent container through a reagent needle and discharges the reagent into the reaction container, and the reagent is mixed and incubated to form a solution to be measured. In order to ensure accurate discharge of the liquid (sample and reagent), the needle members (sample needle and reagent needle) each descend into the interior of the reaction vessel when discharging the liquid. Although the positions of discharging the sample and discharging the reagent may be different, they are lower than the upper edge of the reaction vessel in the vertical direction.

Because the needle component can descend into the reaction vessel during liquid drainage, namely the position of the needle component is lower than the upper edge of the reaction vessel, after liquid drainage is finished, no matter the reaction vessel is switched to prepare for next liquid drainage, or the needle component is moved to be cleaned to prepare for next liquid suction, in order to avoid the friction of the needle component on the reaction vessel, the needle component is firstly controlled to ascend to a safe height, and then the subsequent flow is continuously executed. The safety height must be higher than the height of the upper edge of the reaction vessel. For example, some sample analysis devices set the safety height at the purge vertical position by controlling the needle assembly to travel up to the purge vertical position after the needle assembly is drained.

The control needle part firstly ascends to the safety height after liquid drainage, so that the sample analysis equipment can smoothly execute the subsequent flow, and the test of the sample is completed. However, the applicant found that the sample analysis device still has a cup-scraping fault that the needle component rubs against the reaction container after a large number of tests are performed, and the normal performance of the tests is influenced. To eliminate scoring failures, applicants attempted to increase the value of the safety height. At the beginning of the increase of the numerical value, the scoring failure is surely eliminated. However, as the test proceeds, the sample analysis device may still experience a cup break after numerous tests have been performed.

To eliminate the scoring fault fundamentally, the applicant has made a number of observations, attempts and analyses. The control needle component of the existing sample analysis equipment ascends to the safe height after liquid drainage in the following way: firstly, determining the distance of the needle component needing to move upwards according to the height difference of the liquid discharge position and the safety height in the vertical direction; then, the stepping number of the motor is determined according to the distance of the needle component needing to move upwards and the unit stepping distance, wherein the unit stepping distance is the distance of the motor for driving the needle component to move in one step, and the unit stepping distance in the sample analysis equipment is a predetermined fixed value; and finally, controlling the motor to rotate according to the determined stepping number, and driving the needle component to reach the safe height. The applicant finds that after a large number of tests are carried out on the sample analysis equipment, the unit stepping distance is continuously reduced due to the hysteresis effect of the gear, so that the actual distance moved by the needle component is also continuously reduced under the condition that the stepping number is not changed, namely, the deviation between the expected ascending distance and the actual ascending distance occurs, and finally the cup-dividing fault is caused. By increasing the number of steps of the motor by increasing the number of safety heights, the cup-scoring fault can be temporarily eliminated, but the deviation between the expected uplink distance and the actual uplink distance is not eliminated, and the cup-scoring fault still occurs after the sample analysis equipment works for a long time.

In order to eliminate fundamentally the deviation between the desired uplink distance and the actual uplink distance, the applicant proposes two solutions: one is to ensure the distance of the needle component up-going by calibrating the hysteresis effect of the corresponding gear; the other is to control the needle part to stop in the ascending process through position detection. The following is a detailed description of specific examples.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a sample analysis apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the sample analysis apparatus provided in this embodiment may include: a sample support mechanism 10, a reagent support mechanism 20, a pipetting mechanism 30, a zero-crossing detection mechanism 40, and a processor 50. The pipetting mechanism 30 includes a sample adding mechanism 31 and a reagent adding mechanism 32.

The sample support mechanism 10 may be used to support sample containers containing samples. The sample may be, for example, blood, urine, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, ascites, amniotic fluid, feces, or the like. The sample container for accommodating the sample may be, for example, a sample tube, a sample cup, or the like. The sample carrying mechanism 10 for carrying the sample container may be, for example, a sample tray, and the sample tray may include a plurality of sample sites on which the sample containers can be placed, the plurality of sample sites are distributed in a ring shape, and the sample tray may dispatch the sample to a corresponding position, for example, a position where the sample is sucked by the sample adding mechanism 31, by rotating the tray structure; the sample rack can also be a sample rack, and the sample rack can comprise a plurality of sample positions for placing sample containers, and the plurality of sample positions are distributed in a matrix form.

The reagent carrying mechanism 20 may include a plurality of reagent placing positions for carrying a plurality of reagent containers, and the reagent containers are used for holding reagents, for example, a reagent disk may be adopted, and the reagent disk is arranged in a disk-shaped structure, and can rotate and drive the reagent containers carried by the reagent disk to rotate, so as to rotate the reagent containers to a specific position, such as a position where the reagent can be sucked by the reagent adding mechanism 32.

The pipetting mechanism 30 may include a driving part, a moving part, and a needle part, the needle part being fixed to the moving part, the driving part driving the moving part to move on a predetermined moving path so as to drive the needle part to move in vertical and horizontal directions to shift the needle part between a pipetting position including a sample pipetting position or a reagent pipetting position and a washing position, the washing position being located above the washing bath 70. The needle part in the present embodiment may include a sample needle for aspirating and discharging a sample and/or a reagent needle for aspirating and discharging a reagent.

The sample adding mechanism 31 is used to suck a sample from a sample container to be tested placed at the sample bearing mechanism 10 and discharge the sucked sample into a reaction container to be loaded. The sample adding mechanism 31 may include, for example, at least one sample needle, and the sample needle is driven by a two-dimensional or three-dimensional driving mechanism to perform a two-dimensional or three-dimensional motion in space, so that the sample needle can move to suck the sample to be measured carried by the sample carrying mechanism 10 and move to the reaction container to be subjected to sample addition, and discharge the sample to be measured to the reaction container.

The reagent adding mechanism 32 is for sucking a reagent from a reagent vessel placed on a predetermined position of the reagent carrying mechanism 20 and discharging the sucked reagent into a reaction vessel to be added with the reagent. The reagent adding mechanism 32 may include, for example, at least one reagent needle that is driven by a two-dimensional or three-dimensional driving mechanism to perform a two-dimensional or three-dimensional motion in space so that the reagent needle can move to suck up the reagent carried by the reagent carrying mechanism 20 and to a reaction vessel to which the reagent is to be added and discharge the reagent to the reaction vessel.

The reaction vessel in this embodiment may be, for example, a reaction cup. Optionally, the sample analysis device may further comprise a reaction part 80. The reaction part 80 may include a plurality of placing positions for placing the reaction vessels.

A zero-cross detection mechanism 40 for detecting whether the needle member passes a preset calibration position in the vertical direction. The number and the arrangement positions of the zero-cross detection mechanisms 40 can be set according to specific needs.

The processor 50 may be in direct or indirect communication with the sample support mechanism 10, the reagent support mechanism 20, the pipetting mechanism 30, and the zero-crossing detection mechanism 40, respectively. The processor 50 is at least used for controlling the action of the driving component and the suction and discharge operation of the needle component, and the processor ascends and passes through the calibration position after controlling the needle component to complete the liquid discharge operation. The Processor 50 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general-purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The sample analysis device provided in the present embodiment is further described below by way of a specific example. Referring to fig. 2A and 2B, fig. 2A and 2B are a schematic top view and a schematic front view of a sample analysis apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 2A, the sample support mechanism 10 of the sample analyzer is a sample tray, the reagent support mechanism 20 is a reagent tray, and the reaction unit 80 is a reaction tray. A cleaning pool 70 for cleaning the needle part of the sample adding mechanism 31 is arranged on the moving track of the sample adding mechanism 31 near the sample tray; near the reagent disk, on the moving track of the reagent adding mechanism 32, a cleaning bath 70 for cleaning the needle part of the reagent adding mechanism 32 is provided. The right side of the device is a Sample Delivery Module (SDM). As shown in fig. 2B, the sample adding mechanism 31 of the sample analyzing apparatus is provided with a zero-crossing detecting mechanism 40 for detecting whether the sample needle passes through a preset calibration position in the vertical direction; a zero-cross detection mechanism 40 is also provided on the reagent addition mechanism 32 for detecting whether the reagent needle passes through a preset calibration position in the vertical direction.

In an alternative embodiment, the zero crossing detection mechanism 40 may output a trigger calibration signal to the processor 50 upon detecting the needle member traveling vertically past the calibration position to cause the processor 50 to determine whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive member in response to the trigger calibration signal. The zero-cross detection mechanism 40 may include, for example, a sensor for detecting the needle member. That is, the zero crossing detection mechanism 40 outputs a trigger calibration signal to the processor 50 each time the needle assembly moves past the calibration position after completing the liquid discharge operation.

It will be appreciated that to avoid cross contamination, the needle assembly needs to be cleaned after each completion of a discharge operation, i.e. the needle assembly needs to be moved from the discharge position to the cleaning position, so that the processor 50 can pass through the calibration position during the movement from the discharge position to the cleaning position after each completion of a discharge operation by the needle assembly. That is, the zero crossing detecting mechanism 40 should output the trigger calibration signal to the processor 50 during the process of moving from the liquid discharging position to the cleaning position after the needle assembly completes the liquid discharging operation. Optionally, if the processor 50 does not receive the trigger calibration signal sent by the zero-crossing detection mechanism 40 within a preset time period after the needle assembly completes the liquid discharge operation, the sample analysis device may malfunction, and the processor 50 may control to output an alarm signal for prompting the user.

When the drive component includes a motor and a gear, the processor 50 determining whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive component in response to triggering the calibration signal may include: and responding to the trigger calibration signal to judge whether the gear hysteresis effect exists in the driving part, and if so, calibrating the driving parameter of the driving part.

For example, assuming that the initial unit step distance of the sample analysis device is S (theoretical or nominal), the distance in the vertical direction between the calibration position and the liquid discharge position is fixed, and assuming H, the number of steps N1 required for the needle member to travel from the liquid discharge position to the calibration position is H/S. The processor obtains the actual number of steps N2 of the motor as the needle assembly is advanced from the discharge position to the calibration position in response to triggering the calibration signal. When N2> N1, it is determined that a gear hysteresis effect exists in the drive member. At this time, the unit step distance may be calibrated, and the calibrated unit step distance S' is H/N2. Then, the driving parameters of the driving component are calibrated according to the desired upward distance T and the calibrated unit step distance S ', for example, the step number of the motor can be calibrated to T/S', the pulse number is determined according to the calibrated step number, and the motor is controlled to rotate. By calibration, the distance of the actual upward movement of the needle members can be made equal to the distance of the desired upward movement.

Furthermore, as the needle component moves upwards after the liquid discharging operation is finished every time and passes through the calibration position, the zero-crossing detection mechanism 40 is prompted to output a trigger calibration signal to the processor 50, once the gear has a hysteresis effect, the processor 50 can detect and calibrate in time, and the cup scratching fault is avoided.

The sample analysis device provided by this embodiment, through making the needle part go up and pass through the calibration position after accomplishing the flowing back operation each time, output the trigger calibration signal when detecting that the needle part passes through the calibration position in the vertical direction, carry out calibration according to the trigger calibration signal. The deviation between the actual upstream distance and the desired upstream distance is eliminated by calibration, thereby essentially eliminating cup scoring failures.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relative positions of various positions in the vertical direction according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, in the present embodiment, the calibration position of the sample analyzer is higher than the washing position, and the processor controls the needle assembly to perform the liquid discharging operation and then move upward from the liquid discharging position through the washing vertical position to reach a predetermined height higher than the calibration position. The preset height may be set at any position of the position section indicated by black hatching in fig. 3. Because the preset height is higher than the calibration position, the needle component passes through the calibration position after completing the liquid discharge operation every time, and the calibration is triggered. In an alternative implementation, the preset height may be set as a vertical initial position, where the pointer member stops when the sample analysis apparatus performs initialization. It should be noted that the reagent needle and the sample needle of the sample analyzing apparatus in the present embodiment may have different discharge positions, washing positions, calibration positions, and vertical initial positions, but the relative positional relationship of these positions in the vertical direction is shown in fig. 3.

In one embodiment, the processor controls the needle assembly to move horizontally to a cleaning horizontal position after reaching a predetermined height, and then controls the needle assembly to move downwardly to a cleaning vertical position to reach a cleaning position. When the needle component needs to be cleaned, the processor controls the needle component to horizontally move to reach a cleaning horizontal position after reaching a preset height, then controls the needle component to move downwards to a cleaning vertical position and finally reaches a cleaning position, and the cleaning mechanism of the sample analysis equipment is used for cleaning the needle component.

It will be appreciated that if only the needle assembly is to be cleaned, the needle assembly is raised to a cleaning vertical position after the needle assembly has completed the draining operation and then moved horizontally to a cleaning horizontal position. In the embodiment, in order to output the trigger calibration signal, the needle component is controlled to move upwards to reach the preset height higher than the calibration position, and the calibration position of the sample analysis device is higher than the cleaning vertical position in the embodiment, which results in increasing the displacement of the needle component in the vertical direction, and the displacement of the specific needle component in the vertical direction increases twice the height difference between the preset height and the cleaning vertical position, so that the cleaning time of the needle component is increased, and the detection efficiency of the sample analysis device is reduced.

On the basis of the above embodiment, in order to shorten the time consumed for cleaning the needle member and improve the detection efficiency of the sample analysis apparatus, the sample analysis apparatus provided in this embodiment further includes a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the needle member, the cleaning mechanism includes a cleaning pipeline and a pump valve disposed on the pipeline for controlling the flow of the cleaning solution, and the processor controls the pump valve of the cleaning mechanism to be opened in the process of moving the needle member downward to the cleaning vertical position. Since it takes a certain time for the cleaning liquid to flow out of the cleaning pipe after the pump valve of the cleaning mechanism is opened, it is necessary to wait if the pump valve is opened after the needle member moves down to the cleaning vertical position. The sample analysis device provided by the embodiment controls to open the pump valve of the cleaning mechanism in the process that the needle component moves downwards to the cleaning vertical position, so that the needle component does not need to wait when reaching the cleaning vertical position, the time consumed for cleaning the needle component can be shortened, and the detection efficiency of the sample analysis device is improved.

For the case where the calibration position is higher than the cleaning position as shown in fig. 3, in a specific embodiment, the preset height is set as the vertical initial position, and the processor controls the movement path of the needle member during the movement of the needle member from the liquid discharge position to the cleaning position as shown in fig. 4. As shown in fig. 4, the needle members are located in this process in the order: a liquid discharge position, a vertical initial position, a cleaning horizontal position and a cleaning vertical position. In an alternative embodiment, the movement of the needle member from the discharge position to the cleaning position may be performed by a discharge timing sequence, a pre-cleaning timing sequence, and a cleaning timing sequence.

In the liquid discharge time sequence, the processor controls the needle component to discharge liquid into the reaction container at the liquid discharge position, and after the liquid discharge is completed, the processor controls the needle component to move upwards from the liquid discharge position to the vertical initial position. Since the vertical initial position is located above the calibration position, the calibration position is passed during the process of the needle member moving up to the vertical initial position. The zero-crossing detection mechanism outputs a trigger calibration signal to the processor when the needle member passes the calibration position to cause the processor to determine whether and how to calibrate in response to the trigger calibration signal to account for gear hysteresis effects. After the needle component finishes the liquid discharging operation, if the processor does not receive the triggering calibration signal sent by the zero-crossing detection mechanism within a preset time period, the processor indicates that the sample analysis equipment is likely to have a fault and cannot go upwards to pass through the calibration position, and at the moment, the processor can perform zero-crossing alarm, such as controlling and outputting zero-crossing alarm prompt tones/prompts or corresponding prompt words on a display screen of the sample analysis equipment, and the prompt words are used for prompting a user.

In the pre-wash sequence, the processor controls the needle assembly to move to a wash water level position. In the pre-cleaning sequence, the processor controls the needle assembly to move from the vertical initial position to the cleaning horizontal position, specifically, the needle assembly can move to the cleaning horizontal position by rotating in a Y-R mode, and can also move to the cleaning horizontal position by linearly moving for a certain distance in the horizontal direction in an X-Y mode.

In the wash sequence, the processor controls the needle assembly to move to a wash horizontal position and then controls the needle assembly to move to a wash vertical position. In this embodiment, since the needle assembly has been moved to the cleaning horizontal position in the pre-cleaning sequence, the processor only needs to control the needle assembly to move downward to the cleaning vertical position in the cleaning sequence. Because the needle part moves up to the vertical initial position in this embodiment, the displacement of the needle part in the vertical direction is increased by twice the height difference between the vertical initial position and the cleaning vertical position, and therefore the cleaning time consumption of the needle part is increased, and in order to shorten the cleaning time consumption of the needle part, the processor controls to open the pump valve of the cleaning mechanism simultaneously in the process of controlling the needle part to move down to the cleaning vertical position in this embodiment, so that the needle part does not need to wait for the cleaning liquid to flow out when reaching the cleaning vertical position, the time is saved, and the detection efficiency of the sample analysis device is improved.

The needle component is moved in the vertical direction to ensure that the needle component moves upwards to a safe height, so that the needle component can be effectively protected. Therefore, in order to improve safety, with respect to the pre-washing timing and the washing timing, it is first determined whether the needle part is located at the vertical initial position in the vertical direction before execution, and the pre-washing timing and the washing timing are executed only when the needle part is located at the vertical initial position in the vertical direction.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the relative position relationship of various positions in the vertical direction in another embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, in this embodiment, the calibration position of the sample analyzer is lower than the washing position, and the processor controls the needle assembly to move upward from the liquid discharge position to the washing vertical position after the liquid discharge operation. The sample analysis equipment that this embodiment provided is through setting up calibration position in being less than and wasing vertical position department for the needle part is done at every turn and is gone up to the in-process of wasing vertical position by the flowing back position after the flowing back operation, all can pass through calibration position, can realize the calibration when not changing former washing flow, reduces and draws the cup trouble.

The above is some descriptions of the sample analysis device provided in some embodiments of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention also disclose a control method (hereinafter, referred to as a control method) of the sample analysis device, and the sample analysis device involved in the present invention may be the sample analysis device disclosed in the above embodiments.

Referring to fig. 6, a control method according to an embodiment may include:

and S101, controlling the needle component to perform liquid discharging operation at the liquid discharging position.

And S102, controlling the needle component to move upwards and pass through a calibration position after the liquid discharging operation is finished each time.

In an alternative embodiment, the zero-crossing detection mechanism may output a trigger calibration signal upon detecting the needle member traveling in the vertical direction past the calibration position, and determine whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive member in response to the trigger calibration signal. The zero-crossing detection mechanism is a component of the sample analysis device for detecting whether the needle component passes through a preset calibration position in the vertical direction, and the number and the setting position of the zero-crossing detection mechanism can be set according to specific needs.

In an optional embodiment, determining whether to calibrate the driving parameter of the driving component in response to the trigger calibration signal may specifically include:

The control method of the sample analysis apparatus according to this embodiment performs calibration by controlling the needle member to go up and pass through the calibration position after each completion of the liquid discharge operation, and in response to a trigger calibration signal output when it is detected that the needle member passes through the calibration position in the vertical direction. The deviation between the actual upstream distance and the desired upstream distance is eliminated by calibration, thereby essentially eliminating cup scoring failures.

Optionally, if the calibration position is higher than the cleaning position, the controlling the needle component to move upward and pass through the calibration position after completing the liquid discharge operation each time may specifically include:

Optionally, the preset height may be a vertical initial position, where the pointer member stops when the sample analysis device is initialized.

Optionally, after the needle component is controlled to reach the preset height, the control method may further include:

Optionally, if the calibration position is lower than the cleaning position, the controlling the needle component to move upward and pass through the calibration position after completing the liquid discharge operation each time may specifically include:

In another solution, the needle member is controlled to stop during the upward movement by position detection, for example, during the upward movement of the needle member from the liquid discharge position, whether the needle member reaches the cleaning vertical position is detected, and the upward movement of the needle member is not controlled to stop until the needle member reaches the cleaning vertical position is detected, thereby ensuring the upward movement height of the needle member. In this solution, the sample analyzing device may or may not include a zero crossing detection mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural view of a sample analysis apparatus according to another embodiment. As shown in fig. 7, the sample analysis apparatus provided in this embodiment may include: a sample support mechanism 10, a reagent support mechanism 20, a pipetting mechanism 30, an in-place detection mechanism 60 and a processor 50. The pipetting mechanism 30 includes a sample adding mechanism 31 and a reagent adding mechanism 32.

And a position detection mechanism 60 for detecting whether the needle member has ascended to reach a cleaning vertical position of the cleaning position, and outputting a position trigger signal when detecting that the needle member has reached the cleaning vertical position. This can be achieved, for example, by a position sensor corresponding to the vertical position of the cleaning.

And a processor 50 for controlling the operation of the driving part, controlling the sucking and discharging operation of the needle part and the ascending movement after each liquid discharging operation, and controlling the needle part to stop ascending in response to the in-place trigger signal.

The sample analysis device provided in the present embodiment is further described below by way of a specific example. Referring to fig. 8A and 8B, fig. 8A and 8B are a schematic top view and a schematic front view of a sample analysis apparatus according to another embodiment, respectively. As shown in fig. 8A, in the sample analysis apparatus, the sample support mechanism 10 is a sample tray, the reagent support mechanism 20 is a reagent tray, and the reaction unit 80 is a reaction tray. A cleaning pool 70 for cleaning the needle part of the sample adding mechanism 31 is arranged on the moving track of the sample adding mechanism 31 near the sample tray; near the reagent disk, on the moving track of the reagent adding mechanism 32, a cleaning bath 70 for cleaning the needle part of the reagent adding mechanism 32 is provided. The right side of the device is a Sample Delivery Module (SDM). As shown in fig. 8B, the sample adding mechanism 31 of the sample analyzing apparatus is provided with an in-position detecting mechanism 60 for detecting whether or not the sample needle ascends to reach the cleaning vertical position of the cleaning position; the reagent adding mechanism 32 is also provided with an in-position detecting mechanism 60 for detecting whether or not the reagent needle has ascended to reach a washing vertical position of the washing position. The in-position detecting mechanism 60 is located at a washing vertical position in the vertical direction.

The sample analysis apparatus of the present embodiment controls the needle member to move upward after the liquid discharge operation is completed at the liquid discharge position, and when the needle member reaches the washing vertical position, the in-position detecting mechanism 60 outputs an in-position trigger signal for instructing the needle member to move upward to the washing vertical position at the washing position, and the processor 50 controls the needle member to stop the upward movement in response to the in-position trigger signal. Then the needle component is controlled to move to the cleaning horizontal position of the cleaning position, and a pump valve of the cleaning mechanism is opened to clean the needle component. In the case where the drive means includes a gear and the gear produces a hysteresis effect, it may take more time/number of steps for the needle member to ascend from the liquid discharge position to the washing vertical position, but in the present embodiment, the reaching-position detecting mechanism 60 outputs the reaching-position trigger signal only when the needle member ascends to the washing vertical position, so that it is still possible to ensure that the needle member reaches the desired ascending position, avoiding the occurrence of the cup-scoring failure.

According to the sample analysis equipment provided by the embodiment, the needle component is controlled to move upwards after liquid discharge operation is finished every time, and the needle component stops moving upwards until the in-place detection mechanism detects that the needle component reaches the cleaning vertical position, so that the needle component can reach the expected upward position, the deviation between the actual upward distance and the expected upward distance is avoided, and the cup scraping fault is eliminated. Meanwhile, the sample analysis device provided by the embodiment does not need to change the existing cleaning process for the needle component.

The above is some descriptions of the sample analysis device provided in another solution of the present invention, and the embodiment of the present invention also discloses a control method (hereinafter, referred to as a control method) of the sample analysis device, and the sample analysis device involved in the control method may be the sample analysis device disclosed in the above embodiment.

Referring to fig. 9, a control method according to an embodiment may include:

and S201, controlling the needle component to perform liquid discharging operation at the liquid discharging position.

S202, controlling the needle component to move upwards after liquid discharging operation is finished each time, and controlling the needle component to stop moving upwards in response to a to-position trigger signal, wherein the to-position trigger signal is output when the to-position detection mechanism detects that the needle component moves upwards to reach a cleaning vertical position.

According to the control method of the sample analysis equipment, the needle component is controlled to move upwards after liquid discharge operation is completed each time, and the needle component does not move upwards until the in-place detection mechanism detects that the needle component reaches the cleaning vertical position, so that the needle component can reach the expected upwards moving position, deviation between the actual upwards moving distance and the expected upwards moving distance is avoided, and therefore the cup scraping fault is eliminated.

Reference is made herein to various exemplary embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope hereof. For example, the various operational steps, as well as the components used to perform the operational steps, may be implemented in differing ways depending upon the particular application or consideration of any number of cost functions associated with operation of the system (e.g., one or more steps may be deleted, modified or incorporated into other steps).

Additionally, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the principles herein may be reflected in a computer program product on a computer readable storage medium, which is pre-loaded with computer readable program code. Any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be used, including magnetic storage devices (hard disks, floppy disks, etc.), optical storage devices (CD-ROMs, DVDs, Blu Ray disks, etc.), flash memory, and/or the like. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including means for implementing the function specified. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified.

While the principles herein have been illustrated in various embodiments, many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, elements, materials, and components particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements may be employed without departing from the principles and scope of the present disclosure. The above modifications and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this document.

The foregoing detailed description has been described with reference to various embodiments. However, one skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure is to be considered in an illustrative and not a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope thereof. Also, advantages, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to various embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any element(s) to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the term "coupled," and any other variation thereof, as used herein, refers to a physical connection, an electrical connection, a magnetic connection, an optical connection, a communicative connection, a functional connection, and/or any other connection.

The present invention has been described in terms of specific examples, which are provided to aid understanding of the invention and are not intended to be limiting. For a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, several simple deductions, modifications or substitutions may be made according to the idea of the invention.

Claims

1. A sample analysis apparatus, comprising:

a reagent carrying mechanism comprising a plurality of reagent holding locations for carrying a plurality of reagent containers for containing reagents;

2. The sample analysis apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor passes through the calibration position during movement from the drain position to the wash position after each completion of the drain operation by the control needle assembly.

3. The sample analysis apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the zero-crossing detection mechanism outputs a trigger calibration signal to the processor upon detecting that the needle member passes the calibration position in the vertical direction, the processor determining whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive member in response to the trigger calibration signal.

4. The sample analysis device of claim 3, wherein the drive component comprises a gear, and wherein the processor determining whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive component in response to the trigger calibration signal comprises: and responding to the trigger calibration signal to judge whether the gear hysteresis effect exists in the driving part, and if so, calibrating the driving parameter of the driving part.

5. The sample analysis apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the calibration position is higher than the washing position, and the processor controls the needle assembly to travel from the draining position through the washing vertical position to a predetermined height higher than the calibration position after completion of the draining operation.

6. The sample analysis apparatus of claim 5, wherein the predetermined height is a vertical initial position, the vertical initial position being a position at which the needle member stops when the sample analysis apparatus is initialized.

7. The sample analyzing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor controls the needle assembly to move horizontally to a cleaning horizontal position after reaching a predetermined height, and then controls the needle assembly to move downwardly to a cleaning vertical position to reach a cleaning position.

8. The sample analysis apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a purge mechanism for purging the needle assembly, the purge mechanism comprising a purge line and a pump valve disposed on the line for controlling a flow of a purge liquid, the processor controlling the pump valve of the purge mechanism to be actuated during the downward movement of the needle assembly to the purge vertical position.

9. The sample analysis apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the calibration position is lower than the washing position, and the processor controls the needle assembly to travel from the draining position up through the calibration position to the washing vertical position after completion of the draining operation.

10. A sample analysis apparatus, comprising:

and the processor is used for controlling the action of the driving part, controlling the suction and discharge operation of the needle part and the ascending motion after the liquid discharge operation is finished each time, and controlling the needle part to stop ascending in response to the in-place trigger signal.

11. A method of controlling a sample analyzing apparatus, comprising:

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining whether to calibrate the drive parameter of the drive component in response to triggering the calibration signal comprises:

14. The method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein the controlling needle assembly moving up and past the calibration position after each completion of the draining operation if the calibration position is higher than the purge position comprises:

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined height is a vertical initial position, the vertical initial position being a position at which the needle member stops when the sample analysis apparatus is initialized.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein after controlling the needle assembly to the preset height, the method further comprises:

17. The method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein if the calibration position is lower than the purge position, the moving the control needle member up and through the calibration position after each completion of the drain operation comprises:

18. A method of controlling a sample analyzing apparatus, comprising:

the control needle component ascends after completing the liquid discharging operation every time and controls the needle component to stop ascending in response to a position-in trigger signal, wherein the position-in trigger signal is output by a position-in detection mechanism when detecting that the needle component ascends to reach a cleaning vertical position.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising a program executable by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 11-18.