CN113030069B - Electric field generating device for electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The application discloses an electric field generating device for electrochemiluminescence's check out test set, characterized in that, this electric field generating device includes: a base plate fixedly or movably arranged on the frame; the mounting plate is detachably arranged on the base plate and is provided with an electrode interface and a circuit board electrically connected with the electrode interface; and the electrode assembly is arranged at the electrode interface in a pluggable manner and is positioned below the detection pool of the detection equipment.

Description

Electric field generating device for electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of inspection and detection, and more particularly to an electric field generating device for an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus.

Background

Electrochemical luminescence (ECL) detection technology has been increasingly used in a wide variety of detection tasks in various fields including biology, medicine, pharmacy, clinic, environment, food, immune and nucleic acid hybridization analysis, and industrial analysis. Moreover, current immunoassay systems based on electrochemiluminescence detection techniques have relatively sophisticated products. For example, WO2017/129803A1 discloses an electrochemiluminescence method and device for detecting an analyte in a liquid sample. However, such a conventional ECL detection device has the defects of complex structure, high cost, repeated cleaning, influence on detection accuracy, and the like in practical application. In particular, the electric field generating device is embedded, and once the electric field generating device fails, the electric field generating device needs to be integrally disassembled and replaced, so that the maintenance difficulty is high and the cost is relatively high.

In order to solve the above drawbacks at least to some extent, the applicant of the present application has previously proposed a solution: CN111198181a, this solution is more around the improvement on the detection method, but in this application, more around the specific structure of the ECL detection device and its operation process, a more specific improvement is proposed relative to the previous application, so that ECL is suitable for a wider application scenario, such as emergency department, treatment department, food safety, inspection and quarantine, etc., and is a technical problem that needs to be solved in the field.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present application proposes a solution for electrochemiluminescence detection, which proposes an electric field generating device for a detection apparatus for electrochemiluminescence, comprising: a base plate fixedly or movably arranged on the frame; the mounting plate is detachably arranged on the base plate and is provided with an electrode interface and a circuit board electrically connected with the electrode interface; and the electrode assembly is arranged at the electrode interface in a pluggable manner and is positioned below the detection pool of the detection equipment.

Preferably, the electrode assembly includes a socket part, which is pluggable into the electrode interface, and a grip part, which protrudes from the base plate.

Preferably, the base plate includes a mounting portion on which the mounting plate is provided, and a supporting portion higher than the mounting portion, and the electrode assembly is inserted into the electrode interface from the rear side on the supporting portion.

Preferably, a groove is provided on an upper surface of the support part, and the electrode assembly is dropped into the groove to be inserted into the electrode interface.

Preferably, the thickness of the electrode assembly is not greater than the depth of the groove.

Preferably, the support part is detachably supported with a detection cell, and the detection cell is positioned above the electrode assembly.

Preferably, the support portion is provided with a magnetic assembly movably up and down, and the magnetic assembly, the electrode assembly and the detection cell are aligned with each other in a vertical direction.

Preferably, the support portion is provided with a vertically extending through hole, and the magnetic assembly has a degree of freedom to move up and down within the through hole.

Preferably, the detection cells and the corresponding electrode assemblies thereof are all multiple and respectively correspond to each other.

According to the technical scheme of the application, because the electrode assembly is in a detachable design mode of pluggable, the electrode assembly generating an electric field can be conveniently replaced even if the electrode assembly fails, so that the maintenance is convenient and the cost is relatively low.

Additional features and advantages of the present application will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application, illustrate embodiments of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view (partially) from the oblique front side of an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present application, wherein a part of a cover member or the like is cut away.

Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view (partially) from the oblique rear side of an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a detection device in an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement structure of a temporary storage device, a pretreatment device and a detection device in an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5, 8 and 11 are exploded views of the arrangement shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 6 and 7 are perspective views of the pretreatment device.

Fig. 9 and 10 are perspective views of a reagent vessel according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic view of a portion of a pipetting device in an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 13 to 15 are schematic views showing the state in which the pipetting device is at different positions with respect to the temporary storage device and the pretreatment device in the electrochemical luminescence apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 16 is a schematic view showing an arrangement structure of a detection device in an electrochemical luminescence apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 17 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the detecting device of fig. 16.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in combination with embodiments.

As described above, the present application is an improvement proposed by the applicant on the basis of CN111198181a more around the specific structure of ECL detection device and its operation process, especially, the present application makes specific structural design, such as modularization, on each component part of the electrochemiluminescence detection device, so each component part may also form independent product subject, and for fully protecting innovative schemes, the applicant makes patent layout around different subjects. The technical content disclosed in the prior application can be referenced or consulted in basic detection methods. Thus, all technical solutions of the prior application may be incorporated into the present application while the present application naturally also enables and achieves all the technical advantages and technical effects described in the prior application.

For example, in the technical solution of the present application, a process of preparing a complex sample of a detected object (the complex sample of the detected object has a complex including a label, a detected object or a control thereof, and magnetic particles) from a liquid sample to be detected by a pretreatment device is isolated from a detection step of performing electrochemiluminescence detection after mixing a luminescent agent and the complex sample of the detected object in a detection cell, not in the same one working vessel or working space. Therefore, the problem of cross contamination in the traditional scheme can be avoided, and the requirement and difficulty for flushing and/or cleaning are greatly reduced.

The technical scheme of the application is also applicable to the detection field of various biochemical projects, including but not limited to: thyroid function detection, anemia detection, hormone detection, early pregnancy Down screening detection, various tumor marker detection, myocardial marker detection, bone marker detection, various infectious disease marker detection, autoimmune detection, etc. For example, the detected target may be, but is not limited to: hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B surface antibody, hepatitis B e antigen, hepatitis B e antibody, hepatitis B core antibody, hepatitis C antibody, HIV antibody, syphilis serum specificity antibody, myocardial troponin, c-reactive protein, N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor, procalcitonin, etc. Thus, depending on the detection situation, sample processing may be performed using a sandwich method, a competition method or a bridging method using a pretreatment device and a pipetting device to obtain a corresponding complex sample of the target substance, which may include a label, the target substance to be detected (as in the sandwich method) or a control thereof (as in the competition method), and a complex of magnetic particles. The magnetic particles can be magnetic ferric oxide particles with the particle size of 100nm-50um, and can be coated with streptavidin. The target substance may be a modified target substance, for example, free thyroxine (FT 4) may be used as the target substance, and the target substance may be biotin-modified on one of its amine groups.

In the technical scheme of the application, through preprocessing device and pipetting device, can carry out sample processing procedure and detection when electrochemiluminescence mutually physical isolation (so-called "physical isolation" means that instrument, household utensils, region or space that carries out sample processing step is different and separates in order to avoid mutual interference with instrument, household utensils, region or space that carries out detection step (especially refer to the detection cell)), therefore the technical scheme of this application can realize step-by-step ECL detection mode, and not the integrated ECL detection mode that detects the sample liquid continuous flow reaction cell or detection cell in traditional ECL detection scheme.

In the technical solution of the present application, specific implementation manners are put more emphasis on structural aspects of the detection device, and these improvements include, but are not limited to: the arrangement mode of the electrode assembly, the arrangement mode of the magnetic assembly, the relation between the magnetic field and the electric field, the encapsulation and the temperature control of the reagent, the structure of the pipetting device and the like. This will be explained in detail below. These improvements can be protected as independent solutions.

1. Detection device for electrochemiluminescence

According to an aspect of the present application, there is provided a detection apparatus for electrochemiluminescence, the detection apparatus comprising: the rack, the temporary storage device 12, the pretreatment device 13, the pipetting device 14 and the detection device 15 are shown in fig. 1 to 3.

The frame forms the basic part of the whole detection equipment and provides a mounting basis for other devices, components or structures. As shown in fig. 1, the frame may be divided into a base 10 and a bracket 11 provided on the base 10. The term "disposed" in this application may be taken to mean either directly disposed or indirectly disposed, either fixedly disposed or movably disposed. The base 10 is typically a bottom portion of the frame and the support 11 is typically an upper portion extending from the base 10, both of which may provide a mounting base for other devices, components or structures, the base 10 and/or the support 11 being selected as a mounting base for the particular operating conditions required during design and manufacturing.

The temporary storage device 12 is disposed on the frame, such as the base 10, and may be fixedly disposed or may be movably disposed. The temporary storage device 12 has a sample temporary storage portion 101 for removably disposing a sample container containing a liquid sample to be measured. The temporary storage device is typically arranged in front of the entire detection apparatus, in particular the base 10, so that the direction from the temporary storage device to the detection device is defined as the front-to-back direction. It should be noted that, in the description of the present application, terms of front and back, left and right, up and down, longitudinal, transverse, and the like are merely used for convenience in describing the relative positional relationship between the devices or components, and do not limit the scope of protection of the present application.

The pretreatment device 13 is located at the rear side of the temporary storage device 12, and is preferably provided on the base 10 of the frame so as to be longitudinally movable back and forth. The pretreatment device comprises a reagent container arrangement part 102 for removably arranging at least one reagent container. The liquid sample to be detected and each reagent in the reagent container are reacted and/or cleaned by the cooperation of the liquid transfer device and the pretreatment device, so that the detected target compound combined with the magnetic particles can be finally obtained by using the liquid sample to be detected.

The pipetting device 14 is fixedly or movably arranged on the rack 11 of the rack and above the preprocessing device 13, and as shown in fig. 1, 2 and 9, the pipetting device and the preprocessing device have a degree of freedom of relative horizontal movement back and forth along the longitudinal direction, and the pipetting device is provided with a pipetting device (not shown) capable of moving up and down and used for sucking and discharging liquid, and the pipetting device and the preprocessing device are matched to work for obtaining a detected object complex combined with magnetic particles by using the liquid sample to be detected.

The detection device 15 is located at the rear side of the pipetting device 14 and comprises a detection cell 151, an optical detector 152, an electrode assembly 153 and a magnetic assembly 154. The detection cell is used for containing a detected target compound combined with magnetic particles; the electrode assembly 153 provides a direct current electric field for the detection cell; the magnetic assembly 154 is used for providing a magnetic field for the detection cell to hold the detected target complex bound with the magnetic particles; the optical detector 152 is used for optical detection under the photochemical reaction to obtain the required data information.

The above is described as the basic construction of the detection device or detection instrument for photochemistry according to the present application and the basic operation thereof. It can be appreciated that in the technical scheme of the application, the pretreatment process and the luminescence detection process of the liquid sample to be detected are separated from each other, so that the requirement and difficulty of the detection precision on flushing and/or cleaning can be greatly reduced. On the basis, the technical scheme of the application also especially realizes the association relation between the electric field and the magnetic field in the detection device, and further structurally provides a further improvement scheme. This and other specific improvements will be described in detail below.

First, the temporary storage device is seen.

2. Temporary storage device

The buffer 12 may have various structures, for example, may be a tube holder, or may be formed as a module fixedly disposed at the front of the base as shown in fig. 1 and 4, and a plurality of sample buffers 101 may be disposed on the module. By designing the device under test to be modular, its interchangeability can be provided to reduce repair and maintenance costs.

Thus, the liquid sample to be tested may be placed in a sample container (e.g., a test tube) after it has been sampled. Before the electrochemical luminescence detection is carried out by using the detection equipment, the sample container is arranged on the sample temporary storage part of the temporary storage device, and then the sample is extracted by other devices to carry out the detection process. After the test is completed, the sample container may be removed and replaced with another sample container. The sample container can be written with related information such as patient information in various forms, and the related information can be in the form of a commonly used two-dimensional code.

The number of the sample temporary storage parts 101 of the temporary storage device 12 may be one or more, which may be selected according to the specific application condition. When there are a plurality of sample temporary storage sections, the sample temporary storage sections are preferably arranged laterally so as to be capable of simultaneously processing a plurality of different liquid samples to be measured or individually processing a plurality of different liquid samples to be measured. Preferably, as shown in fig. 4, the plurality of sample temporary storage parts are formed as a plurality of concave holes 104 arranged laterally.

3. Pretreatment device

In the pretreatment device, the pretreatment device and the pipetting device work together to realize sample treatment of the liquid sample to be detected, so that the complex sample of the detected object is obtained by using a sandwich method or a competition method.

In this application, the liquid sample to be tested includes various biological samples such as various tissue treatment fluids or body fluids obtainable from the human or other animal body, in particular blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva, sweat, semen, milk, cerebrospinal fluid or any derivative thereof.

According to one embodiment, obtaining the sample of the complex of the object to be detected during the sample processing using a sandwich method comprises: mixing: mixing the liquid sample to be detected with a first reagent with a luminescent marker, a second reagent with a magnetic marker capable of being combined with magnetic particles and a third reagent with magnetic particles to obtain a complex sample of the detected object, wherein the complex sample of the detected object is provided with a sandwich complex comprising the luminescent marker, the detected object and the magnetic marker combined with the magnetic particles; and a cleaning step: and under the condition of applying a magnetic field, cleaning impurities which are not combined with the magnetic particles in the detected target complex sample by using a cleaning agent.

The sample of the complex of the object to be detected obtained in this way forms a so-called "sandwich" structure. The detected target (such as antigen) is combined with the luminous marker and the magnetic particles (or magnetic beads) by the mode of specific combination with the double antibodies. In the subsequent detection process, the magnetic particle-combined complex can be captured by utilizing a magnetic field, and impurities which are not combined with the magnetic particles in the detected target complex sample are washed away by utilizing a washing agent, so that the magnetic particle-combined complex is reserved. In order to achieve this, an improved solution is proposed in the technical solution of the present application with regard to the arrangement and design of the magnetic fields, which will be explained in the following. Furthermore, detection of electrochemiluminescence can be achieved in a subsequent detection step using a luminescent label.

The above-described sandwich method for obtaining a complex is generally applicable to a case where the object to be detected has a plurality of binding sites, such as an antigen having two or more binding sites.

According to another embodiment, obtaining the test object complex sample during the sample processing using a competition method comprises: mixing: mixing the liquid sample to be detected with a first reagent with a luminescent marker and a second reagent with a magnetic marker capable of being combined with magnetic particles, and then mixing the liquid sample to be detected with a third reagent with magnetic particles to obtain a complex sample of the detected object, wherein the complex sample of the detected object is provided with an immune complex comprising the luminescent marker, a control substance of the detected object and the magnetic marker combined with the magnetic particles; and a cleaning step: and under the condition of applying a magnetic field, cleaning impurities which are not combined with the magnetic particles in the detected target complex sample by using a cleaning agent.

In the mixing step, the detected target in the liquid sample to be detected and the detected target control substance with the magnetic label combined in the second reagent are competitively combined with the luminous label in the first reagent, and then are combined with the magnetic particles (such as the streptavidin-coated) in the third reagent, so that the detected target compound sample is formed. However, unlike the sandwich method, an immunocomplex comprising a luminescent label, a target control, and a magnetic label bound to a magnetic particle is present in the target complex sample. Similarly, impurities in the sample of the complex of the object to be detected, which are not bound to the magnetic particles, can then be washed away with a washing agent under the application of a magnetic field, thereby retaining the immunocomplexes of the magnetic labels bound to the magnetic particles. Furthermore, detection of electrochemiluminescence can be achieved in a subsequent detection step using a luminescent label. In this embodiment, the level of the parameter in the sample of the object to be detected is indirectly reflected by detecting the level of the parameter of the control of the object to be detected.

In the mixing process, preferably, the mixing step further includes a heat-preserving and standing process after the mixing, wherein the temperature range is 0-50 ℃, preferably 20-40 ℃, and more preferably 35-38 ℃ in the heat-preserving and standing process, and the standing duration is 0-30 minutes. However, the technical scheme of the application is not limited to this, but different parameter ranges such as temperature, time and the like can be selected according to different detection working conditions. By the selection of the above temperature and/or time, the reaction can be allowed to proceed sufficiently to make the preparation of the complex or immunocomplex more sufficient. In order to achieve temperature control, the pretreatment device is further improved in the technical proposal of the application, namely, a temperature control device is arranged in the pretreatment device 13, and the temperature control device is used for enabling the reagent containers stored in the reagent container arrangement part 102 to be in a preset temperature range. This will be explained hereinafter.

Preferably, the washing step is performed at least once, preferably 3-5 times, in order to achieve a good washing effect, so as not to cause unacceptable interference with the detection result. In the washing step, the washing liquid used may be, for example, PBS buffer, naHCO buffer, tris buffer, boric acid buffer, TEAA buffer, or the like. The cleaning liquid may be contained in the reagent vessel in advance as a part of the reagent.

The sample processing steps are described in detail above. After the sample of the complex of the detected target is obtained, the sample is transferred to a detection pool of a detection device for detection. The pretreatment device for the electrochemiluminescence detection will be described in detail below. As shown in fig. 4, 5 to 7, the pretreatment device for electrochemiluminescence detection includes a pretreatment device body 131, and at least one reagent container arrangement part 102 for removably arranging a reagent container 16 containing a reagent is provided on the pretreatment device body 131.

The pretreatment device body 131 constitutes the basic construction of the pretreatment device, and has various configurations and options, for example, the pretreatment device body 131 may be formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, or may be formed in another disk shape, or the like, and the reagent container arrangement portion 102 may have a concave hole structure communicating independently or adjacently with each other so as to temporarily arrange the reagent container on the reagent container arrangement portion 102, and after completion of the operation, the reagent container is removed from the reagent container arrangement portion 102 to replace another reagent container.

In addition, different reagent containers may be used in combination with different reagent container arrangements 102, which may be selected for use according to different application conditions. For example, the reagent container arrangement part 102 may be one or a plurality as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the plurality of reagent container arrangement parts extending longitudinally in parallel with each other and each formed with a plurality of concave holes 105 arranged longitudinally, each reagent container arrangement part corresponding to a respective sample temporary storage part in the longitudinal direction. In the embodiment shown in fig. 6 and 7, each of the reagent container arrangement parts 102 forms one passage, and thus the plurality of reagent container arrangement parts are formed as reagent processing mechanisms of a plurality of passages, each of which can perform separate processing of the reagent, or can simultaneously perform a large number of reagent processing operations.

As described above, in order to ensure progress of each reaction process in the reagent processing process, it is preferable that a temperature control device is provided on the pretreatment device body 131 for bringing the reagent containers arranged in the reagent container arrangement part 102 within a proper temperature range. The temperature control device may be configured to bring the reagent container disposed on the reagent container disposing part of the pretreatment device body 131 to a proper temperature range, may be configured to have a temperature lower than room temperature, may be configured to have a temperature higher than room temperature as needed, and may be configured to maintain the temperature within a predetermined range for a predetermined time period.

The temperature control device preferably includes a temperature sensor, a heater, and a controller. The temperature sensor is arranged on the pretreatment device body 131 for sensing the temperature of the reagent container arrangement part 102. The heater is disposed on the pretreatment device body 131 at a position away from the temperature sensor for heating the reagent container arrangement part 102. The controller is connected with the temperature sensor and the heater and is used for sending a control signal for heating or not heating to the heater according to the temperature value of the reagent container arrangement part sensed by the temperature sensor.

Therefore, when the temperature sensor senses that the temperature of the reagent container arrangement part 102 is lower than a predetermined value, the controller controls the heater to start heating up until the temperature of the reagent container arrangement part 102 is within a predetermined range. In this way, the temperature of the reagent container arrangement 102 can be kept within a suitable temperature range, thereby facilitating the performance of the relevant reactions during mixing and washing.

The temperature sensor may be a conventional temperature sensor such as a patch type temperature sensor. According to different temperature sensors, which may be disposed at different positions on the pretreatment device body 131, it is preferable that, as shown in fig. 6, at least one hole structure 132 is provided on the pretreatment device body 131, and the temperature sensors are detachably disposed in the hole structure 132, so that the temperature sensors are deep into the interior of the pretreatment device body 131 to obtain more accurate temperature data. The aperture arrangement 132 preferably extends in a transverse direction so as to open into each reagent container arrangement 102 to enable detection of the temperature at each reagent container arrangement 102.

The heater may be in the form of an electric heating plate, a heating fluid, or the like, and for example, the bottom side of the pretreatment device body 131 may be provided with a heating plate (not shown) as the heater. The controller can be different controllers with temperature control programs built in, such as a singlechip, an industrial personal computer, a control chip and the like. Preferably, the plurality of heaters are provided, and the plurality of heaters heat the respective reagent container arrangement parts, or heat the concave holes 105 of the respective reagent container arrangement parts.

As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the pretreatment device body 131 is a single modular member in which a plurality of reagent container arrangement parts are integrated, but the present application is not limited thereto, and the pretreatment device body 131 may be an assembly in which a plurality of reagent container arrangement parts are detachably joined.

As described above, the reagent container 16 (as shown in fig. 9 and 10) is removably arranged on the reagent container arranging part of the pretreatment device, a pipetting device may be provided above, and a detecting device may be arranged on the rear side. These subjects will be described in detail one by one below. In the embodiment shown in fig. 6 and 7, a base plate 121 is integrally provided or mounted on the rear side of the pretreatment device body 131, and the base plate 121 provides a mounting base for the detection device. This will be described in detail below in connection with the detection means. The reagent vessel will be explained first.

4. Reagent container

The present application also provides a reagent vessel 16 for use with the pretreatment device described above. The reagent vessel 16 may have different forms, for example the reagent vessel 16 may be a single test tube, but preferably the reagent vessel 16 may be designed with a plurality of longitudinally arranged receiving chambers 161. Thus, the reagent containers 16 of a plurality of different reagents can be provided simultaneously for one liquid sample to be measured.

The preferred reagent containers provided herein are described with emphasis in conjunction with fig. 9 and 10.

As shown in fig. 9 and 10, the reagent vessel 16 according to the preferred embodiment of the present application can be used in the above-described electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus provided in the present application, in particular, in cooperation with a pretreatment device. The reagents contained in the respective receiving chambers 161 of the reagent vessel 16 may be varied depending on the liquid sample to be measured and the target object to be measured thereof, and this may be selected according to the specific application.

As shown in fig. 9, the reagent vessel 16 includes a reagent vessel body 160 having an upper surface 162, the reagent vessel body 160 extending in a longitudinal direction and having a plurality of reagent containing chambers 161 arranged in the longitudinal direction, each reagent containing chamber 161 being formed with an opening 163 at the upper surface 162.

The reagent vessel body 160 may be made of a suitable material, typically integrally formed of a plastic material, and meets the relevant hygienic or sterility requirements. Each reagent holding chamber 161 is formed with a respective opening 163 in the upper surface 162 to allow a corresponding reagent to be placed in or removed from the reagent holding chamber 161.

The upper surface 162 may take a variety of forms, for example, it may be configured with a stepped configuration with a height that varies, but is preferably configured as a horizontally extending flat surface to facilitate integral injection molding. The opening 163 may be open to the external atmosphere, for example in biological laboratory conditions in a clean environment; however, when operating in an environment where some clean conditions are not ideal, it is preferable that a film member for sealing at least one opening 163 in the reagent holding chamber 161 is provided on the upper surface 162, so that the reagent can be pre-packaged in the reagent holding chamber 161 where it is located to provide a protective effect thereto. In the case where there are a plurality of reagent chambers, one or more of the reagent chambers may be selectively sealed at the opening, or all of the reagent chambers may be sealed at the opening.

The membrane may be a plastic film, which facilitates the implementation of the package, as well as the penetration of a pipette (described below) into the reagent receiving chamber. The number of the membrane pieces can be plural, and each membrane piece encapsulates the opening part of the respective reagent accommodating cavity; but preferably, the membrane is one, which is disposed on the upper surface 162 while enclosing the opening portions of the plurality of reagent-containing chambers.

As shown in fig. 9 and 10, the reagent vessel body 160 includes: a top plate 164 and a connection plate 165, the top plate 164 being formed with the upper surface 162, the reagent accommodating chamber 161 being located at a lower side of the top plate 164; the connection plate 165 is fixedly provided on the lower side of the top plate 164 and connected between the reagent accommodating chambers 161. By the design of the top plate 164 and the connecting plate 165, a plurality of reagent holding chambers 161 can be integrated together while achieving a relatively good overall structural strength. There may be various relative positional relationships between the top plate 164 and the connection plate 165, such as parallel arrangement, etc., but preferably, as shown in fig. 9, the top plate 164 extends horizontally in the longitudinal direction, and the connection plate 165 extends vertically in the longitudinal direction. Thus, on the one hand, one-piece injection molding is facilitated and on the other hand, the positioning by means of the connection plate 165 is also facilitated.

Preferably, a limiting structure adjacent to the reagent accommodating chamber 161 is provided on the lower side of the top plate 164. The limiting structure may include the connecting plate 165, and other structures may be used as a limit. By providing this limit structure, after the reagent container 16 is disposed on the pretreatment device, the reagent container can be ensured to be positioned at an accurate and reliable position with respect to the pretreatment device, so as to be favorable for the proceeding of the subsequent operation. For example, the above-described limiting structure may limit the freedom of translation of the reagent vessel back and forth in the longitudinal direction, for which purpose at least one limiting plate 166 extending downwardly from the top plate 164 and arranged laterally is preferably provided; furthermore, the degree of freedom in the transverse direction can be limited by the cooperation of the connection plate 165 with the longitudinal grooves on the pretreatment device. Therefore, the above-mentioned limiting structure can preferably perform both limiting and positioning functions, as shown in fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 10, a schematic view of a single reagent container, but it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the single reagent containers shown in fig. 10 may be combined into a reagent container assembly. This may be selected for use in accordance with different operating mode applications. Alternatively, preferably, a plurality of reagent containers shown in FIG. 10 are combined with each other into a single member, and each reagent containing chamber 161 of the reagent container assembly or the reagent container assembly corresponds to each concave hole 105 of the reagent container arrangement part of the pretreatment device one by one.

The structure of the reagent vessel and its cooperation with the pretreatment device are described in detail above. The pipetting device is described with an emphasis in the following.

5. Pipetting device

The pipetting device 14 is used for extracting a liquid sample to be measured from a sample container arranged on the temporary storage device into each reagent container of the reagent container arranging part 102 of the reagent container arranged on the pretreatment device, sequentially pipetting (performing the above-mentioned mixing process and/or washing process) in the reagent accommodating chamber 161 of each reagent container, and finally pipetting the obtained complex sample of the object to be measured into the detection cell for detection.

The pipetting device 14 is mounted on the rack 11 or the base 10 above the pretreatment device 13 to facilitate pipetting operations, as shown in fig. 1, 12 to 15. In addition, the relative freedom of horizontal movement in the longitudinal direction is provided between the pipetting device and the pretreatment device, so that the reagent accommodating chambers in different positions of the reagent containers arranged on the pretreatment device can be operated.

According to various embodiments, the pretreatment device 3 can be designed to be translatable in the longitudinal direction and/or the pipetting device can be designed to be translatable in the longitudinal direction, but in any case the pipetting device is provided with a pipetting device (not shown) movable up and down for pipetting and draining liquid, which pipetting device cooperates with the pretreatment device for pipetting and transferring liquid between different positions for obtaining a complex of objects to be detected incorporating magnetic particles from the liquid sample to be detected and finally for supply to a detection cell of a detection device.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 12-15, the pipetting device 14 comprises: a longitudinally movable seat 141 and a vertically movable seat 142. The longitudinally movable seat 141 is longitudinally translatably mounted to the frame 11; the vertically movable base 142 is vertically and vertically movably provided to the vertically movable base 141 and is provided with at least one pipette directed downward toward the pretreatment device.

By providing the longitudinal movement base 141 and the vertical movement base 142, the pipettes mounted on the vertical movement base 142 can be provided with degrees of freedom of longitudinal forward and backward translation and vertical up and down translation. In a further preferred embodiment, the pipettes may also be provided with freedom of lateral translation on the vertical translation carriage 142, thereby giving the pipettes freedom of translation in three dimensions for more convenient working with the corresponding reagent containing chambers. The movements described above are typically referred to as translations, but in some preferred embodiments, the pipettes may also be provided with rotational degrees of freedom, for example with a robotic arm.

The number of pipettes may be one, but preferably there are a plurality of pipettes of the pipetting device 14 and each pipette corresponds to a respective reagent container or reagent container arrangement in the longitudinal direction. Thus, the work can be performed synchronously or independently with a plurality of pipettes, which are arranged at intervals from each other in the lateral direction, for example, to reciprocate synchronously or independently in the vertical direction. The pipettes may also take different forms, such as dropper form, syringe form, etc.

As described above, the pipette can extract the liquid reagent in the reagent holding chamber from the reagent holding chamber, or can inject the liquid such as the washing liquid into the reagent holding chamber, and thus the pipette is connected with an actuating device to suck the liquid into the pipette or discharge the liquid in the pipette to the outside. The actuator may take a variety of forms, for example it may be manual, moving the liquid in a manner similar to a dropper; however, the control of the liquid may preferably be achieved by means of positive and negative pressure by means of pneumatic means.

As described above, in the washing step, it is necessary to wash out the impurities in the sample of the target complex, which are not bound to the magnetic particles, with a washing agent under the application of a magnetic field. To achieve this, as shown in fig. 12, a permanent magnet 103 is provided on the frame, which permanent magnet 103 is arranged adjacent to the pipette. Due to the adjacent arrangement of the two, when the pipette is subjected to the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 103 during operation, the complex sample combined with magnetic particles (e.g. magnetic beads) will be adsorbed onto the inner side of the sidewall of the pipette facing the permanent magnet during liquid movement, while impurities not combined with magnetic particles will be washed away with the liquid flow.

In the technical solution of the present application, since the pipette generally has a degree of freedom of movement, in order to better enable the permanent magnet 103 to work in cooperation with the pipette, preferably, as shown in fig. 12, the pipetting device 14 includes an auxiliary longitudinally moving seat 143, which is located below the longitudinally moving seat 141 and adjacent to the pipette, and the permanent magnet 103 is fixedly disposed on the auxiliary longitudinally moving seat 143. By providing the pipette on the auxiliary longitudinally moving mount 143, the permanent magnet 103 can be allowed to approach or separate from the pipette. For example, the auxiliary longitudinally moving mount 143 has an operating position in which the permanent magnet 103 is adjacent to or attached to the pipette forward and a retreating position in which the permanent magnet 103 is away from the pipette rearward. Of course, the present application is not limited thereto, and for example, the permanent magnet 103 may be provided with translational degrees of freedom in the vertical direction and/or the lateral direction, and rotational degrees of freedom may be increased. The specific setting mode can be designed according to the relative position relation between the application working condition and the liquid dispenser.

In order to arrange the permanent magnet 103 and the pipettor, as shown in fig. 12, a plurality of through slots 144 open toward the front and extending in the vertical direction are provided on the auxiliary longitudinal moving seat 143, and the permanent magnet 103 is provided in each through slot 144. Thus, in the above-described operating position state, each pipette may extend downward from the vertically movable holder 142 through the respective through slot 144 so as to be in contact with the permanent magnet 103 in each through slot 144; in the state of the far away position, the pipettor can be far away from the through groove in the longitudinal direction. To facilitate a mating relationship between the pipettes and the through slots, each through slot 144 preferably has a shape that matches the corresponding pipette.

The structural features and the course of action of the pipetting device are described in detail above. As described above, the pipetting device finally pipettes the obtained complex sample of the target object to be detected into the detection cell for detection. The most central detection device is explained in detail below.

6. Detection device

After transferring the complex sample of the detected object to the detection cell, a detection operation can be performed, wherein the detection operation comprises applying a direct current electric field to the detection cell. Specifically, the detected target compound sample and the luminescent agent are injected into the detection cell simultaneously or sequentially or after being mixed in advance, and then the electrochemical luminescence detection is carried out after the direct current electric field is applied. The luminescent agent may be Tripropylamine (TPA), triethylamine, tributylamine, diisopropylethylamine, n-butyldiethanolamine, etc.

In the detection cell, the luminescent agent and the detected target compound sample are subjected to electrochemical reaction under the action of a direct current electric field. For example, in the electrochemical process of obtaining electrons provided by tripropylamine by bipyridyl ruthenium as a luminescent marker, photons are released, and the light intensity is detected to obtain the parameter level of the detected target complex or immune complex. For a specific procedure of the electrochemical reaction, reference is made to the above-mentioned related documents, without specific description.

Preferably, in the detection operation, a magnetic field is applied to the detection cell before the application of a direct current electric field and the direct current electric field is applied after the cancellation of the magnetic field. In this way, the complex or immunocomplex to which the magnetic particles are bound can be immobilized to obtain a good detection effect in the detection process of applying a direct current electric field. However, when the electric field is applied, the magnetic field is cancelled, so that electromagnetic interference of the magnetic field to the electric field is avoided, and further detection accuracy is affected.

In the technical scheme of the application, due to the separation design of the sample processing step and the detection step, the function of the detection cell is mainly concentrated on detection, and compared with the traditional scheme, the structure of the detection cell in the technical scheme of the application can be greatly simplified. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the electrode generating the direct current electric field may be disposed outside the detection cell and not in direct contact with the target complex sample to be detected. Moreover, the electrode is arranged outside the detection tank, so that the detection tank provided with the electrode can be conveniently maintained and repaired; and the electrode is not in direct contact with the complex sample of the detected object, so that the pollution problem in the detection process is reduced, and the service life of the electrode and the dependency degree of cleaning and/or flushing are reduced.

6.1 magnetic field generating device

To achieve the above magnetic field, an electromagnet may be used. In embodiments employing electromagnets, the adjustment of the magnetic field may be achieved by adjusting parameters associated with the electromagnet (e.g., current, voltage, etc.). According to another preferred embodiment, permanent magnets may be used instead of electromagnets, because: in the research and development process, the inventor of the application finds that in the implementation mode adopting the electromagnet, the electromagnet can generate an additional electric field in the detection cell besides the required magnetic field, and the additional electric field can generate additional interference with the preset electric field generated by the electrode, so that the normal operation of the electrochemiluminescence reaction under the action of the preset electric field is influenced.

Furthermore, the inventors of the present application have found that the magnetic field interferes with the dc electric field generated by the electrode assembly, and therefore preferably, in order to avoid the adverse effect of the magnetic field on the electrochemiluminescence reaction, the magnetic field of the magnetic assembly is optionally designed so as not to interfere at least to some extent with the dc electric field of the electrode assembly. Specifically, when a magnetic field is required to keep the complex of the detected target object combined with the magnetic beads fixed, the magnetic field can normally exert a magnetic field effect on the detection cell; when performing the electrochemiluminescence reaction, the magnetic field may be selected to reduce its magnetic flux or magnetic field strength such that the magnetic field does not interfere, at least in part, with the direct current electric field of the electrode assembly. In other words, the influence of the magnetic field on the detection cell is different when the electrochemiluminescence reaction is not performed than when the electrochemiluminescence reaction is performed, and in particular, the influence of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic assembly when the electrochemiluminescence reaction is performed is smaller.

As mentioned above, in an embodiment of the electromagnet, this is conveniently achieved by controlling the relevant parameters of the electromagnet, but with the consequent adverse effect of the additional electric field introduced by the electromagnet. For this purpose, the present application also proposes an alternative design of how to achieve a magnetic field when the magnetic assembly is a permanent magnet, as described in detail below.

As shown in fig. 16 and 17, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present application, the detection means includes a detection cell 151, an optical detector 152, an electric field generating means including an electrode assembly 153, and a magnetic field generating means including a magnetic assembly 154. The detection pool is fixedly or movably arranged on the rack and is used for receiving a detected target compound sample; an optical detector is movably arranged on the rack and positioned above the detection cell; the electrode assembly is arranged outside the detection cell and is arranged adjacent to the detection cell and is used for providing a direct current electric field for a space in the detection cell; the magnetic assembly is a permanent magnet and is arranged outside the detection cell, the magnetic field of the magnetic assembly being optionally designed so as not to interfere at least to a partial extent with the direct current electric field of the electrode assembly.

The detection cell 151 may include a detection cell body (not labeled) and a reaction chamber (not labeled) supported by the detection cell body, as shown in fig. 16 and 17, wherein the detection cell body forms a main structure of the detection cell 151, and the reaction chamber is specifically configured to receive a complex sample of a target object to be detected and perform an electrochemiluminescence reaction in the reaction chamber. After placing the sample of the complex of the object to be detected in the reaction chamber 151, the complex with magnetic particles or beads is first kept fixed under the action of a magnetic field by means of the magnetic assembly 154, for example, in the preferred embodiment of the present application, the complex with magnetic particles or beads is gathered at the bottom of the reaction chamber of the detection chamber under the action of the magnetic assembly located under the detection chamber; then, an electric field is applied to the detection cell by using the electrode assembly 153, so that electrochemical luminescence reaction occurs under the action of a direct current electric field, and the luminescence condition is detected by the optical detector 152 in the luminescence process, so that final detection result data is obtained.

In the technical solutions of the applicant's prior application document, it has been proposed that: it is advantageous to cancel the magnetic field generated by the magnetic assembly when performing electrochemiluminescence detection. However, it is necessary for the detection device to be either a magnetic field generated by the magnetic assembly or a direct current electric field generated by the electrode assembly. As mentioned above, in order to avoid the drawbacks of magnetic assemblies in the form of electromagnets, permanent magnets may be used in the preferred embodiment of the present application. However, unlike the solutions of the prior application, for permanent magnets, solutions are proposed in the present application to control the magnetic field strength of the magnetic assembly at the detection cell (in particular the reaction chamber) within a reasonable range, so as to achieve an ideal balance between operating efficiency, solution realisability and technical effects.

Specifically, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the magnetic field of the magnetic assembly need not be completely eliminated, but rather the magnetic field strength of the magnetic assembly 154 at the detection cell is designed to be no greater than 50 gauss, preferably no greater than 30 gauss, and more preferably between 10 gauss and 20 gauss, when the optical detector 152 detects the electrochemiluminescence reaction.

This is achieved mainly in two ways.

According to one embodiment, the magnetic assembly 154 is adjustable in distance from the detection cell, has a proximal position closer to the detection cell and a distal position farther from the detection cell, wherein the magnetic assembly is in the proximal position when the optical detector 152 is not detecting an electrochemiluminescent reaction; the magnetic assembly is located at the remote location when the optical detector 152 detects the electrochemiluminescence reaction.

The distance between the magnetic assembly 154 and the detection cell may be a distance in the longitudinal direction or a distance in the transverse direction, but is preferably a distance in the vertical direction as shown in fig. 16 and 17. That is, the magnetic assembly 154 is located below the detection cell 151 and is provided to the base 10 of the rack so as to be movable up and down to reciprocate between the adjacent position and the distant position. Specifically, when the magnetic assembly is used to hold the complex with the magnetic particles or beads bound thereto, the magnetic assembly may be brought into proximity to the detection cell, in which case the magnetic assembly 154 has a magnetic field strength at the detection cell of greater than 200 gauss, preferably greater than 500 gauss, more preferably greater than 800 gauss, still more preferably greater than 1000 gauss, and still more preferably between 800 gauss and 1300 gauss; when the fixation is completed, the magnetic component is far away from the detection cell before or during the electrochemiluminescence reaction, so that the magnetic field intensity of the magnetic component at the detection cell is adjusted to a preset low degree, and the adverse effect of the magnetic field on the direct current electric field can be reduced to an acceptable degree.

This embodiment is achieved by adjusting the distance from the magnet assembly to adjust the magnetic field strength.

According to another embodiment (not shown) a movable shield is provided between the magnetic assembly and the detection cell, the shield having a shielded position between the magnetic assembly and the detection cell and an unshielded position out of between the magnetic assembly and the detection cell, wherein the shield is in the unshielded position when the optical detector 152 is not detecting an electrochemiluminescent reaction; the shield is positioned in the shielding position when the optical detector 152 detects the electrochemiluminescent reaction. The shield may be made of an electromagnetic shielding material, such as conductive rubber, conductive coating, or the like.

The shield may be movably arranged between the magnetic assembly and the detection cell in a number of ways, so that the magnetic assembly may be fixedly arranged on the frame; or the shield may be rotatably mounted to the housing for reciprocal movement between a shielded position and an unshielded position. The magnetic assembly may be used to hold the composite body with magnetic particles or beads bound thereto in a fixed position when the shield is in the non-shielding position; when the magnetic component is fixed, the shielding piece moves to the shielding position before or during the electrochemiluminescence reaction, so that the magnetic field intensity of the magnetic component at the detection cell is shielded to a preset low degree, and the adverse effect of the magnetic field on the direct current electric field can be reduced to an acceptable degree. Reference may be made to the above embodiments for values of the magnetic field strength.

The detection cell 151 may be plural, and each of one or more detection cells may have plural reaction chambers. Thus, the plurality of detection cells are arranged at intervals in the lateral direction while corresponding to the reagent container arrangement portion of the pretreatment device in the longitudinal direction, thereby forming a multi-channel detection device.

The number of the magnetic assemblies may be plural, corresponding to the detection cells, and the plural magnetic assemblies may be arranged to move up and down simultaneously or to move up and down individually, respectively, so that each magnetic assembly corresponds to a respective detection cell.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the optical detector 152 is at least one with freedom of lateral translation and/or longitudinal translation to selectively photochemically detect the reaction chamber of one detection cell.

The arrangement of the magnetic assembly is described in detail above. In addition, the electrode assembly 153 also belongs to a core component of the detection device. The electric field generating means for forming a direct current electric field will be described in detail below.

6.2 about electric field generating apparatus

As shown in fig. 5, 16 and 17, the electric field generating apparatus for the electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus includes: a base plate 121, the base plate 121 being fixedly or movably disposed to the frame; a mounting plate 155 detachably provided on the base plate 121, the mounting plate 155 being provided with an electrode interface 156 and a wiring board 157 electrically connected to the electrode interface 156; and an electrode assembly 153, wherein the electrode assembly 153 is removably arranged on the electrode interface 156 and is positioned below a detection cell of the detection device.

The base plate 121 may be fixedly or movably or may be directly or indirectly provided to the rack, and provides a mounting base for the detection cell 151. Preferably, as shown in fig. 17, a portion of the pretreatment device at the rear serves as a base plate 121.

The mounting plate 155 is detachably provided on the base plate 121 to provide a mounting base for the electrode assembly 153, and thus the mounting plate 155 is provided with an electrode interface 156 for plugging the electrode assembly 153 and a wiring board 157 electrically connected to the electrode interface, as shown in fig. 16.

The electrode assembly 153 is removably inserted into the electrode interface 156 and is positioned below the detection cell 151. Thus, after assembly is completed, the base plate 121, electrode assembly 153 and detection cell 151 form a bottom-up "sandwich" stack. Since the electrode assembly 153 is positioned under the detection cell 151, the electrode assembly can be more closely positioned to the detection cell to provide a direct current electric field to the reaction chamber of the detection cell. Furthermore, the mounting plate 155 provides a pluggable design of the electrode assembly 153 through the arrangement of the electrode interface 156, thus not only facilitating the installation and removal of the electrode assembly 153, but also being more advantageous when the electrode assembly is damaged or needs to be replaced according to the working conditions. At the same time, it is also advantageous to improve interchangeability of the electrode assembly. The wiring board 157 may be electrically connected to an external controller or a power source, so that a controllable electric signal is supplied to the electrode assembly 153 through the wiring board 157, thereby generating respective direct current electric fields.

In order to facilitate the insertion and extraction of the electrode assembly 153, as shown in fig. 17, the electrode assembly 153 includes an insertion portion 1531 and a holding portion 1532, the insertion portion being inserted into the electrode interface 156 in a pluggable manner, the holding portion 1532 protruding from the base plate 121. Thus, when an operator pulls the electrode assembly 153 into the electrode interface 156, the operator can hold the grip portion 1532, thereby inserting or pulling the insertion portion 1531 into or out of the electrode interface. Meanwhile, after the electrode assembly is inserted into the electrode interface, since the grip portion 1532 protrudes from the base plate 121, it is very convenient to operate when an operator needs to pull out the electrode assembly. The electrode assembly 153 may be a conventional electrode assembly to be able to generate an electric direct current electric field.

The base plate 121 includes a mounting portion 1211 and a supporting portion 1212 higher than the mounting portion 1211, the mounting plate 155 is provided on the mounting portion 1211, and the electrode assembly 153 is inserted forward into the electrode interface 156 from the rear side on the supporting portion 1212. As shown in fig. 17, since the base plate 121 includes a stepped portion, that is, a mounting portion 1211 and a supporting portion 1212 higher than the mounting portion, the electrode interface 156 is substantially flush with the upper surface of the supporting portion 1212. In other words, the mounting portion 1211 provides a space for mounting the mounting plate 155, facilitating the limiting of the mounting plate on the one hand, while avoiding interference with the mounting space for the detection cell on the other hand.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 17, a groove 1213 is provided on the upper surface of the support portion 1212, and the electrode assembly 153 is inserted into the electrode interface 156 while falling into the groove 1213. By the provision of the grooves 1213, at least a portion of the electrode assembly 153 is dropped into the grooves 1213, thereby avoiding damage to the electrode assembly by the upper member. It is further preferred that the thickness of the electrode assembly 153 is not greater than the depth of the grooves 1213, to provide better protection for the electrode assembly.

As described above, the support 1212 is detachably supported with a detection cell positioned above the electrode assembly 153, thereby conveniently providing a direct current electric field to the detection cell. It is further preferred that the electrode assembly and the reaction chamber of the upper detection cell are aligned with each other in the height direction. As shown, the detection cells 151 and their corresponding electrode assemblies 153 are plural and correspond to each other, respectively.

As shown in fig. 16 and 17, a magnetic assembly 154 is provided below the support 1212 to be movable up and down, and the magnetic assembly, the electrode assembly, and the detection cell are aligned with each other in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the change in the magnetic field can be controlled by the upward and downward movement of the magnetic assembly. This has been described in detail above, and will therefore be omitted here.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 17, the support portion 1212 is provided with a vertically extending through hole 1214, and the permanent magnet of the magnetic assembly 154 has a degree of freedom to move up and down within the through hole 1214. Due to the provision of the through-holes, the permanent magnet of the magnetic assembly can be brought closer to the detection cell when it moves upward and approaches the detection cell, thereby applying a stronger magnetic field to the magnetic particles in the detection cell. Preferably, as shown in fig. 17, through holes 1214 are formed at the grooves 1213, thereby realizing that the permanent magnet of the magnetic assembly, the electrode assembly, and the detection cell correspond to each other in the height vertical direction.

The electric field generating means is described in detail above. The technical solution of the present application will be described below with reference to an example of a detection process, so as to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application.

7. Example detection procedure

First, a sample container containing a liquid sample to be measured is placed in a sample temporary storage section of a temporary storage device. In this case, the temperature is preferably controlled to 37 ℃.

Then, the liquid sample to be measured is pipetted into the reagent holding chamber of the reagent container by using the pipette of the pipetting device to be mixed with different reagents in a predetermined order, and a warm bath standing and/or washing treatment at a predetermined temperature (for example, 37 ℃) can be designed in between to remove the complex not combined with the magnetic particles or the magnetic beads, and finally the complex of the detected target object combined with the magnetic particles is obtained.

Subsequently, the target complex particles bound with the magnetic particles are transferred to (the reaction chamber of) the detection cell by a pipette using the electrochemiluminescence reaction solution as a medium. Firstly, enabling the magnetic component to move upwards to approach the detection pool, and enabling the detected target compound combined with the magnetic particles to be attracted to the bottom under the action of a magnetic field after the magnetic component is kept for 30-60 s; then controlling the magnetic component to move downwards away from the detection pool; then the optical detector is moved to the upper part of the (reaction cavity of the) detection cell and is aligned and then moved downwards so as to form an opaque closed space with the detection cell; in this case, the electrode assembly is energized, and the electrochemiluminescence reaction starts to proceed, and the detection is performed by the optical detector.

And finally, after the detection is finished, processing the data obtained by the optical detector to obtain a detection result. After the detection is finished, the detection cell also needs to be cleaned for the next detection procedure.

As described above, in the technical solution of the present application, numerous improvements have been made with respect to the previous application, such as pretreatment devices, pipetting devices, electric field generating devices, magnetic field generating devices, etc. These devices, which are part of the electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus, may be of modular design or as separately circulating products, and are therefore individually explained in detail in the description of the present application and may be laid out patent to the individual subjects mentioned above. In addition, the above examples of detection processes are merely exemplary, and parameters, reagents, steps, etc. may be adaptively adjusted according to different specific conditions, and thus, the present application is not limited thereto, and all such adjustments fall within the scope of the present application.

The preferred embodiments of the present application have been described in detail above, but the present application is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments, and various simple modifications may be made to the technical solutions of the present application within the scope of the technical concept of the present application, and all the simple modifications belong to the protection scope of the present application.

In addition, the specific features described in the foregoing embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner, and in order to avoid unnecessary repetition, various possible combinations are not described in detail.

Moreover, any combination of the various embodiments of the present application may be made without departing from the spirit of the present application, which should also be considered as the disclosure of the present invention.

Claims (6)

1. An electric field generating device for an electrochemiluminescence detection apparatus, characterized in that the electric field generating device comprises:

a base plate (121), the base plate (121) being fixedly or movably provided to the frame;

a mounting plate (155), wherein the mounting plate (155) is detachably arranged on the base plate (121), and the mounting plate (155) is provided with an electrode interface (156) and a circuit board (157) electrically connected with the electrode interface (156); and

An electrode assembly (153), wherein the electrode assembly (153) is arranged at the electrode interface (156) in a pluggable manner and is positioned below a detection pool of the detection equipment;

wherein the base plate (121) comprises a mounting part (1211) and a supporting part (1212) higher than the mounting part (1211), the mounting plate (155) is arranged on the mounting part (1211), the electrode assembly (153) is inserted into the electrode interface (156) from the rear side on the supporting part (1212), a groove (1213) is arranged on the upper surface of the supporting part (1212), the electrode assembly (153) falls into the groove (1213) and is inserted into the electrode interface (156), and the thickness of the electrode assembly (153) is not greater than the depth of the groove (1213).

2. The electric field generating apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the electrode assembly (153) includes a plug portion (1531) and a grip portion (1532), the plug portion being pluggable into the electrode interface (156), the grip portion (1532) protruding from the base plate (121).

3. The electric field generating apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the support portion (1212) is detachably supported with a detection cell provided thereon, the detection cell being located above the electrode assembly (153).

4. An electric field generating device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that a magnetic assembly (154) is arranged movably up and down below the support (1212), the magnetic assembly, the electrode assembly and the detection cell being aligned with each other in the vertical direction.

5. The electric field generating device as defined in claim 4, wherein the support (1212) is provided with a vertically extending through hole (1214), the magnetic assembly having a degree of freedom to move up and down within the through hole (1214).

6. The electric field generating apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the detection cells (151) and their corresponding electrode assemblies (153) are each plural and correspond to each other, respectively.

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