CN114324938A

CN114324938A - Sample analysis device

Info

Publication number: CN114324938A
Application number: CN202011052375.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李鑫; 柴亮; 吕富尧; 郭文恒
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd; Beijing Shen Mindray Medical Electronics Technology Research Institute Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd; Beijing Shen Mindray Medical Electronics Technology Research Institute Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-29
Filing date: 2020-09-29
Publication date: 2022-04-12

Abstract

A sample analysis device comprises at least two processing units, wherein the processing units are used for receiving reaction cups which are dispatched by a dispatching component and bear samples prepared by samples and reagents, and processing the samples in the reaction cups; at least two reagent dispensing components for aspirating and dispensing reagents into reaction cups; the number of reagent dispensing parts is equal to the number of processing units, and one reagent dispensing part corresponds to one processing unit; wherein the reagent dispensing member and the corresponding processing unit are disposed such that the reagent dispensing member is perpendicular to the corresponding processing unit. Each processing unit is arranged vertically to the corresponding reagent dispensing component, so that the structure is more compact, each processing unit can surround the reagent bearing component more compactly, and the space miniaturization of the instrument is obviously achieved.

Description

Sample analysis device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a sample analyzer.

Background

A sample analyzer, such as a biochemical analyzer, an immunological analyzer, a blood coagulation analyzer, a cell analyzer, and the like, is an apparatus for analyzing and measuring a sample, and generally measures characteristics, chemical components, concentrations, and the like of the sample itself by adding a reagent to the sample and reacting the sample with the reagent in a predetermined manner.

For example, in a blood coagulation analyzer, according to a test procedure, after sample application of a sample and sample application of a reagent are completed in a reaction cup, a reaction solution or a sample is prepared, the reaction solution is mixed and incubated, the reaction cup is placed in a detection unit, the detection unit irradiates the reaction solution in the reaction cup with, for example, multi-wavelength light, and the multi-wavelength light is analyzed by a coagulation method, an immunoturbidimetry method, or a chromogenic substrate method to obtain a coagulation reaction curve that changes with time, so as to calculate coagulation time or other blood coagulation related performance parameters. In a blood coagulation analyzer, in order to obtain accurate measurement results, boundary conditions such as the time for adding a sample and a reagent, the incubation time, and the like need to be strictly set and controlled during the test.

How functional modules of a sample analysis device, such as a coagulation analyzer, can be arranged in a more compact and compact form, is a place where the skilled person is constantly concerned and desires to improve.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a sample analysis device having a novel structure and layout, as described in detail below.

In one embodiment, a sample analysis device is provided, comprising:

a reaction cup loading part for supplying and carrying empty reaction cups;

the scheduling component is used for scheduling the reaction cups;

the sample injection component is used for scheduling a sample to be injected;

the sample dispensing component is used for sucking a sample to be injected and discharging the sample into the reaction cup;

the reagent bearing part is provided with a plurality of positions for bearing reagent containers, and can rotate and drive the reagent containers borne by the reagent bearing part to rotate;

the processing units are used for receiving the reaction cups which are dispatched by the dispatching component and bear the samples prepared by the samples and the reagents, and processing the samples of the reaction cups; the processing unit is provided with a plurality of reaction cup placing positions;

at least two reagent dispensing components for aspirating and dispensing reagents into reaction cups; the number of reagent dispensing parts is equal to the number of processing units, and one reagent dispensing part corresponds to one processing unit; wherein the reagent dispensing member and the corresponding processing unit are disposed such that the reagent dispensing member is perpendicular to the corresponding processing unit.

In one embodiment, the processing unit is rectangular; the reagent dispensing component comprises a first beam, a reagent needle and a first driving assembly, wherein the reagent needle is movably arranged on the first beam, and the first driving assembly is used for driving the reagent needle to move along the first beam and move in the vertical direction; the reagent dispensing member and the corresponding processing unit are provided such that the longitudinal direction of the first beam of the reagent dispensing member is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction or the short-side direction of the rectangular shape of the corresponding processing unit.

In one embodiment, each processing unit is configured with a corresponding additive neutral position; the reagent dispensing unit is used for sucking a reagent from the reagent carrier and discharging the reagent into a cuvette indexed in a reagent in a corresponding processing unit.

In one embodiment, at least one of the processing units is a reaction component for incubating a sample or specimen; at least one of the processing units is a measuring unit for measuring a sample.

In one embodiment, the first beam of each reagent dispensing unit is disposed above the reagent carrying unit such that the movement trajectories of the reagent needles do not spatially intersect.

In one embodiment, the sample analyzer further comprises a reagent loading unit for transporting a reagent container to be loaded to the reagent carrier; reagent loading part includes second crossbeam, reagent container snatchs portion and second drive assembly, reagent container snatchs the portion and sets up on the second crossbeam with movably mode, second drive assembly is used for driving reagent container snatchs the portion edge crossbeam removes and moves on the upper and lower direction, reagent container snatchs the portion and is used for snatching and putting down reagent container.

In one embodiment, the sample analyzer further comprises a reagent loading and unloading mechanism for loading a reagent container to be loaded; the reagent loading part is used for conveying the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism to the reagent carrying part.

In one embodiment, the reagent loading and unloading mechanism is further configured to carry an unloaded reagent container, and the reagent loading part is further configured to transport a reagent container to be unloaded from the reagent loading part to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the reagent loading and unloading mechanism is also used for receiving a reagent container to be discarded; the reagent loading member is also used to transport a reagent container to be discarded from the reagent carrying member to the reagent unloading mechanism.

In one embodiment, the reagent loading and unloading mechanism comprises a base, a driving part and a storage part for loading or receiving a reagent container; the storage part and the driving part are arranged on the base, and the driving part is used for driving the storage part to rotate relative to the base; the storage part is a disc-shaped structure, the disc-shaped surface of the storage part is provided with a plurality of container positions, the container positions comprise storage positions and disposal positions, the storage positions are used for storing reagent containers to be loaded or unloaded, and the disposal positions are used for receiving the reagent containers to be discarded.

In one embodiment, the first beam and the second beam are disposed above the reagent loading member such that movement trajectories of the reagent needle of the reagent dispensing member and the reagent container grasping portion of the reagent loading member do not spatially intersect with each other.

In one embodiment, the reagent carrying member is a disk-shaped structure.

According to the sample analyzer of the above embodiment, each processing unit is disposed perpendicular to the corresponding reagent dispensing member, so that the structure can be made more compact, and each processing unit can surround the reagent holding member more compactly, which significantly contributes to the space miniaturization of the instrument.

Drawings

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a sample analyzer according to another embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a sample analyzer according to still another embodiment;

FIG. 4(a) is a schematic structural view of a reagent carrying member according to an embodiment; FIG. 4(b) is a schematic view showing the structure of a reagent support member according to another embodiment

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of a reagent carrying member according to yet another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a sample analyzer according to still another embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the construction of a reagent carrier and two reagent dispensing assemblies according to one embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a reagent dispensing component according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural view of a reagent loading unit according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view of a sample analyzer according to still another embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural view of a reagent loading/unloading mechanism according to an embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural view of a reagent loading/unloading mechanism according to another embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the reagent carrying member, reagent loading member and reagent loading and unloading mechanism with a portion of the housing removed, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a top view of an embodiment of the reagent carrying member, reagent loading member and reagent loading and unloading mechanism with portions of the housing removed;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural view of a reagent holding member, a reagent loading/unloading mechanism, and an information reader according to an embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural view of a sample analyzer according to still another embodiment

Fig. 17 is a schematic structural view of a sample analysis device according to still 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).

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a sample analysis device that can be used for coagulation tests and the like. Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a sample analyzer according to some embodiments of the present invention. The sample analysis apparatus according to some embodiments of the present invention may include a housing 1, a cuvette loading unit 10, a sample introduction unit 20, a sample dispensing unit 30, a reagent carrying unit 40, one or more reagent dispensing units 60, one or more processing units 80, and a scheduling unit 2. In some embodiments, the sample analysis device can further include a reagent loading component 70 and a reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90.

In fig. 1, an example having two reagent dispensing units 60 and two processing units 80 is shown, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that this is for illustration only and is not intended to limit the number of reagent dispensing units 60 and processing units 80 to two. In some embodiments, the number of processing cells 80 is at least two, the number of reagent dispensing units 60 is also at least two, and the number of reagent dispensing units 60 is equal to the number of processing cells 80, and one reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponds to one processing cell 80.

The components of the sample analyzer will be described in detail below.

The casing 1 is an instrument housing of the sample analysis apparatus, and may have, for example, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped or square box shape, and its function may be to house some components in the sample analysis apparatus. For example, in some embodiments, the housing 1 includes a first side 1a along a first direction and a second side 1b along a second direction.

Reference herein to a first direction and a second direction, in some embodiments, may be perpendicular, e.g., the first direction is the Y-direction in the figure and the second direction is the X-direction in the figure.

The cuvette loader 10 is used to supply and carry empty cuvettes. In the working process of the sample analysis device, the empty reaction cups are required to be continuously used for completing individual test items, and the sample analysis device adds samples and reagents into the empty reaction cups to prepare, incubate and measure samples so as to obtain the test results of the items. The cuvette loading unit 10 may load an empty cuvette to a predetermined position, and the sample dispensing unit 30 may aspirate a sample from the sample injection unit 20 and discharge the aspirated sample into the empty cuvette at the predetermined position.

The sample introduction part 20 is used for dispatching a sample to be introduced. For example, the sample introduction part 20 is used to supply a sample rack carrying samples to be tested, so as to dispatch the samples to be introduced to a preset position, such as a sample suction position. In some embodiments, the sample introduction part 20 may be disposed inside the cabinet 1. There are various ways to implement the sample introduction part 20.

In one implementation of the sample injection component 20, the sample injection component 20 may be a sample injection component 21, and the sample injection component 21 is configured to dispatch a sample rack carrying a sample to a sample sucking position. Fig. 2 is an example, the sample introduction part 21 may include a loading area 21a, a sample introduction channel 21b and an unloading area 21c, wherein the sample introduction channel 21b may be provided with a sample suction position. In the figure, the X direction and the Y direction are perpendicular, the X1 direction and the X2 direction are opposite directions, and the Y1 direction and the Y2 direction are also opposite directions. The user can place the sample rack carrying the sample to be tested on the loading area 21a, the loading area 21a moves the sample rack in the direction of Y1 in the figure to enter the sample inlet channel 21b, the sample rack can move along the direction of X1 in the sample inlet channel 21b and pass through the sample sucking position, the sample on the sample rack can be sucked by the sample dispensing component 30 when passing through the sample sucking position, and then the sample rack enters the unloading area 21c from the sample inlet channel 21b along the direction of Y2, and the user can take out the sample rack from the unloading area 21 c. The sample introduction part 21 is suitable for a large batch of sample test occasions, the sample introduction part 21 can be arranged independently of the sample analysis device, and when the sample analysis device needs to be connected into a test system in a production line form, the sample introduction part 21 can be directly detached.

In another implementation manner of the sample introduction part 20, the sample introduction part 20 may be a sample placing area 22, and the sample placing area 22 is used for placing a sample rack carrying a sample to be tested. Fig. 3 is an example. The sample placement area 22 may have a plurality of lanes 22a, each lane 22a may hold a sample rack, and a user may push the sample rack into the lane 22a in the direction Y1 in the figure; the sample dispensing unit 30 can sequentially suck the samples on the sample rack in each channel 22 a; after the samples on the sample rack are all sucked, the user can pull the sample rack out of the passage 22a in the direction Y2 in the figure. The sample placement area 22 does not need to schedule the sample rack, and therefore, the occupied volume is small, which is favorable for reducing the size of the sample analysis apparatus, and is very favorable for the miniaturization design of the sample analysis apparatus.

The sample dispensing component 30 is used for sucking the sample to be injected and discharging the sample into the reaction cup. For example, the sample dispensing unit 20 sucks a sample from the sample suction position and discharges the sample into a reaction cuvette at the sample application position. In some embodiments, the sample dispensing member 30 may be disposed within the housing 1. In some embodiments, the sample dispensing mechanism 30 may include a sample needle that is driven by a two-dimensional or three-dimensional drive mechanism to move in two-dimensional or three-dimensional directions. In some embodiments, the sample needle may be one or more. In order to simplify the movement locus and reduce the size and dimension of the sample analyzer, the sample suction position and the predetermined position to which the cuvette loading member 10 loads the empty cuvette may be designed to be in a straight line, for example, a straight line along the first direction, so that the sample needle only needs to reciprocate between the sample suction position and the predetermined position in the first direction, which not only increases the movement speed of the sample needle, but also is beneficial to reducing the size of the sample analyzer, and is beneficial to the miniaturization design of the sample analyzer.

The reagent carrying part 40 is used for carrying reagent containers, and the reagent containers in the reagent carrying part 40 are used for being sucked. Generally, the reagent carrying part 40 is capable of providing a function of cooling or the like to the carried reagent, for example, keeping the temperature between 2 and 16 degrees celsius, thereby ensuring the activity of the reagent. In particular, the reagent carrying part 40 serves to maintain its internal temperature within the range required by the instructions for use of the reagent. To ensure the cooling effect, the reagent carrying part 40 may be a closed structure, for example, the reagent carrying part 40 may be provided with a reagent cover to keep warm. In some embodiments, the reagent carrying part 40 may be disposed within the cabinet 1. In some embodiments, the reagent carrying member 40 has a plurality of positions for carrying reagent containers, and the reagent carrying member 40 is capable of rotating and rotating the reagent containers carried thereby. In some specific examples, the reagent carrier 40 is a disk-shaped structure, such as a reagent disk, and may include at least one circle of rotatable reagent track 41, the reagent track includes a plurality of placing positions 43 for carrying reagent containers, and the reagent track 41 rotates to move the reagent containers on the placing positions 43 — for example, fig. 4(a) and 4(b) are two examples. In some embodiments, the reagent carrying part 40 comprises a plurality of turns of the reagent track 41, each reagent track 41 being independently rotatable. Fig. 4(a) shows an example in which the reagent holding member 40 has one turn of the reagent track 41, and fig. 4(b) shows an example in which the reagent holding member 40 has two turns of the reagent track 41 that can rotate independently. The reagent track 41 can rotate and drive the reagent container carried by the reagent track to transfer, so that the reagent container is rotated to a reagent sucking position for the reagent dispensing component 60 to suck the reagent. The reagent carrying member 40 will be further described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to fig. 4(a), in some embodiments, the reagent carrying component 40 includes a ring of reagent rails 41, a placing position 43 of which can be used for placing reagent cups 44, each reagent cup 44 includes one or more cavities for containing reagents required by the project test, and one reagent is placed in one cavity; the reagent carrying part 40 includes a corresponding driving assembly for driving the reagent track 41 to rotate, and the driving assembly drives the reagent track 41 to rotate, so as to rotate the cavity of the reagent cup 44 containing the reagent required by the project to the corresponding reagent sucking position. In one example, the reagent cups 44 each include at least a first cavity 44a for carrying a first reagent and a second cavity 44b for carrying a second reagent, e.g., the reagent cup 44 includes at least a first cavity 44a for carrying the mixed reagent R1 and a second cavity 44b for carrying the trigger reagent R2; the reagent bearing part 40 comprises a first reagent absorption position and a second reagent absorption position different from the first reagent absorption position, and the reagent track 41 is driven to rotate so as to drive the reagent cup 44 to rotate, so that the first cavity 44a of the reagent cup 44 is rotated to the first reagent absorption position; the reagent track 41 is driven to rotate the reagent cup 44, so as to rotate the second cavity 44b to the second reagent sucking position.

Referring to fig. 4(b), in some embodiments, the reagent carrying member 40 includes two independently rotatable reagent tracks 41, such as the inner and outer reagent tracks 41 and 41 shown in the figure. An outer ring of reagent rails 41, the placement locations 43 of which may be used to carry a first reagent container; the outer ring of reagent rails 41, the placement locations 43 of which may be used to carry a second reagent container. The reagent carrying part 40 comprises a corresponding drive assembly for driving the reagent track 41 of the outer ring to rotate, the drive assembly driving the reagent track 41 of the outer ring to rotate and driving the first reagent container to rotate so as to rotate the first reagent container to the first reagent absorption position; the reagent carrying part 40 further comprises a corresponding drive assembly for driving the rotation of the inner ring's reagent track 41, which drives the inner ring's reagent track 41 in rotation and rotates the second reagent container to rotate the second reagent container to the second reagent aspirating position.

While two configurations of the reagent holding member 40 have been described above, for example, fig. 4(a) shows an example of placing the reagent cup 44, fig. 4(b) shows an example of implementing the reagent holding member 40 by a plurality of independently rotatable tracks, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the reagent holding member 40 may be implemented by a plurality of independently rotatable tracks, and at least one or each of the placement positions 43 of the tracks may be used for placing the reagent cup 44, for example, fig. 5 shows an example of placing the reagent cup 44 by the inner reagent track 41 and the outer reagent track 41. By placing all kinds of reagents required for one test item in the same reagent union cup 44, the management of the reagents can be facilitated. Of course, in other embodiments, the inner reagent track 41 may be provided with the needle wash and the diluent, and the outer reagent track 41 may be provided with the primary reagents for testing, such as the mixed reagent and the trigger reagent mentioned above.

This is some of the description of the reagent carrying member 40. The reagent carrying component 40 may rotate and dispatch the corresponding reagent required by the test item to the reagent sucking position corresponding to the reagent dispensing component 60 by rotating during the working cycle, for example, dispatching the first reagent to the first reagent sucking position and dispatching the second reagent to the second reagent sucking position.

The processing unit 80 is used for receiving the cuvettes which are dispatched by the dispatching component 2 and are loaded with the samples prepared by the samples and the reagents, and processing the samples in the cuvettes; the processing unit 80 has a plurality of cuvette rotation positions. The sample herein refers to a reaction solution composed of a sample and a reagent. In some embodiments, the number of processing units 80 is multiple.

Referring to fig. 6, in some embodiments, at least one of the processing units 80 is a reaction component 81 for incubating a sample or specimen, and the reaction component 81 is used for carrying a reaction cup and incubating the specimen in the reaction cup. In some embodiments, the reaction part 81 may have a rectangular shape with a plurality of reaction cup placement positions. Generally, the reaction component 81 can heat the sample in the reaction cup in each reaction cup placement position to incubate the sample, for example, the sample in the reaction cup is heated and maintained at 37 ± 0.5 ℃, and the specific heating time and heating temperature can be determined by the heating parameters corresponding to different test items. In general, the reaction component 81 can heat the reaction solution or sample in the reaction cup in each reaction cup placement position to incubate the sample, for example, the sample in the reaction cup is heated and maintained at 37 ± 0.5 ℃, and the specific heating time and heating temperature can be determined by the heating parameters corresponding to different test items.

In some embodiments, at least one of the processing units 80 is a measuring part 82 for measuring the sample, and the measuring part 82 is used for carrying the reaction cup and detecting the sample in the reaction cup; in some embodiments, the measurement member 82 has a rectangular shape with a plurality of reaction cup placement positions. In general, the measuring unit 82 may be provided with one detecting unit (not shown) for each cuvette placement position, each detecting unit being for detecting a sample in a cuvette in the corresponding cuvette placement position. In some embodiments, the length direction of the measurement member 82 is arranged in a second direction different from the first direction, for example, in the X direction in the figure.

In some embodiments, the reaction part 81 and the assay part 82 are disposed in an adjacent manner around the reagent bearing part 40. The rectangular reaction member 81 and the measurement member 82 surround the reagent holding member 40 so as to be adjacent to each other, so that the reagent holding member 40 can be easily interacted with the reaction member 81 and the measurement member 82 via the reagent dispensing member 60 while saving space and reducing the size of the sample analyzer.

In some embodiments, a sample introduction part 20, such as the sample introduction part 21, the reaction cup loading part 10, the reaction part 81, and the assay part 82, is disposed around the reagent carrying part 40. The reagent bearing part 40 is used as the center, the scheduling track of the whole detection flow of the reaction cup is designed around the reagent bearing part 40, the design is novel, and the space is saved.

Each processing unit 80 may be provided with a corresponding index of the reagent, and the reagent dispensing member 60 is configured to aspirate the reagent from the reagent bearing member 40 and discharge the reagent into the cuvette positioned at the index of the reagent corresponding to the processing unit 80. For example, the reaction part 81 is provided with at least one in-incubation index 81a for placing a reaction cup, and the number of in-incubation indexes 81a may be one or more; when the position of the in-incubation index 81a for placing the cuvette is set to 1, the in-incubation index 81a may be set in a position adjustable manner so that the cuvette placed on the in-incubation index 81a can be position-mapped to each reagent needle in the reagent dispensing unit 60 with which it is mated to receive the reagent dispensed from each reagent needle. In some embodiments, an in-incubation index 81a is disposed between reagent bearing component 40 and reaction component 81. The measuring part 82 is provided with at least one measuring transfer position 82a for placing the reaction cup, and the number of the measuring transfer positions 82a can be one or more; in some embodiments, the assay transfer site 82a is disposed between the reagent carrying member 40 and the assay member 82. When the position of the cuvette holding unit 82a in the measurement is set to 1, the measurement center index 82a may be set to a position-adjustable manner so that the cuvette held in the measurement center index 82a can be positionally-associated with each reagent needle in the reagent dispensing unit 60 with which it is associated, to receive a reagent dispensed from each reagent needle.

In fig. 6 is shown that the number of the index 81a in the incubation is one, and each index 81a in the incubation has two positions for placing the cuvette, for example, a first position and a second position for placing the cuvette; the number of the index 82a in the measurement is one, and each index 82a in the measurement has two placement positions for the cuvettes, for example, a third position and a fourth position for placing the cuvettes.

The reagent dispensing unit 60 is used to aspirate and discharge a reagent into a reaction cuvette. For example, the reagent dispensing component 60 is used to aspirate a reagent from a reagent aspirating site and discharge it into a reaction cup at a reagent adding site, and specifically, the reagent dispensing component 60 is capable of aspirating a first reagent from a first reagent aspirating site mentioned herein and discharging it into a reaction cup; the reagent dispensing component 60 is capable of aspirating a second reagent from the second reagent site mentioned herein and discharging the second reagent into the reaction cup.

The reagent dispensing unit 60 may be implemented by a reagent needle. Thus, in some embodiments, the reagent dispensing component 60 includes a reagent needle for aspirating reagent from the reagent carrying component 40 and discharging it into the reaction cuvette.

In view of the number of the reagent needles, in some embodiments, the reagent dispensing unit 60 may have one or more reagent needles, and when there are a plurality of reagent needles, the respective reagent needles may be provided so as to be movable independently of each other. The reagent needle may be specifically configured such that: each processing unit 80 is configured with a set of reagent needles; the reagent needles are used for sucking the reagent from the reagent bearing member 40 and discharging the reagent into the reaction cups of the corresponding processing units 80, and each set of the reagent needles includes at least two reagent needles. For example, a set of reagent needles may be provided for the reaction unit 81, and a set of reagent needles may be provided for the measurement unit 82. In particular embodiments, the reaction component 81 may be configured with a first set of reagent needles arranged in a linear motion between a reagent aspirating position and an incubating index 81a, the first set of reagent needles for aspirating reagent from the reagent aspirating position and discharging into a reaction cup located at the incubating index 81a, the first set of reagent needles comprising at least one reagent needle; similarly, the measurement section 82 may be provided with a second group of reagent needles provided in a linear motion between a reagent aspirating position for aspirating a reagent from the reagent aspirating position and discharging into a reaction cup located at the measurement transfer position 82a, the second group of reagent needles including at least one reagent needle.

In view of the number of reagent dispensing units 60, in some embodiments, the number of reagent dispensing units 60 is equal to the number of processing cells 80, and one reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponds to one processing cell 80. Fig. 1, 2, 3 and 6 above are all examples of this. Specifically, there may be two reagent dispensing units 60, one of the reagent dispensing units 60 may correspond to the reaction unit 81, and the other reagent dispensing unit 60 may correspond to the measurement unit 82. Each processing unit 80 is provided with one reagent dispensing component 60, and the action of the reagent adding flow of the detection item is decomposed, namely, each reagent dispensing component 60 only needs to add corresponding reagent to the reaction cup of the corresponding processing unit 80, so that the sample adding of the corresponding reagent of the detection item is finished separately, and the efficiency is improved.

Next, a specific configuration of the reagent dispensing unit 60 will be described with reference to fig. 7 and 8.

Referring to fig. 7, the reagent dispensing unit 60 includes a first beam 51, a reagent needle 61, and a first driving assembly 63. The reagent needle 61 is movably disposed on the first beam 51, and the first driving assembly 63 is configured to drive the reagent needle 61 to move along the first beam 51 and move in the up-and-down direction. As described above, the reagent needle 61 may be one or more. In some embodiments, the reagent needle 61 is disposed on the first beam 51 through a guide assembly 62, for example, the guide assembly 62 is disposed along the length direction of the first beam 51, the reagent needle 61 is movably disposed on the guide assembly 62, and the driving assembly 63 is used for driving the reagent needle 61 to move along the guide assembly 62 and move up and down.

The left reagent dispensing unit 60 in FIG. 7, which has a reagent needle 61 for sucking a reagent from a reagent sucking site and discharging the reagent into a reaction cuvette positioned at an incubation index 81 a; in the reagent dispensing unit 60 on the right side in fig. 8, the reagent needle 61 sucks a reagent from the reagent sucking position and discharges the reagent into the cuvette positioned at the measurement indexing position 82 a. In some embodiments, the number of the first driving assemblies 63 of each reagent dispensing unit 60 is equal to the number of the reagent needles 61, and the independent driving force output ends of the plurality of first driving assemblies 63 respectively act on the plurality of reagent needles 61 to drive the plurality of reagent needles 61 to move linearly along the guide assembly 62 between the reagent aspirating position and the reagent adding position independently of each other. For example, the example shown in fig. 7 is an example in which each reagent dispensing unit 60 includes two reagent needles 61, and each reagent needle 61 is independently driven by a respective first drive unit 63.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a side surface of the reagent dispensing unit 60. In some embodiments, the guide assembly 62 of each reagent dispensing unit 60 includes a plurality of guides 62a arranged in parallel and along the length of the first beam 51 on which the reagent dispensing unit 60 is located; the number of the guides 62a is equal to the number of the reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60, and the plurality of reagent needles 61 are slidably connected to the plurality of guides 62a, respectively, such that the reagent needles 61 are linearly moved along the guides 62a between the reagent aspirating positions and the reagent adding positions. In some embodiments, two reagent needles 61 are provided per reagent dispensing unit 60; two guides 62a are provided for each reagent dispensing unit 60, and each of the two guides 62a is a linear guide; the two linear guide rails are respectively arranged at two sides of the first beam 51 along the long axis direction of the first beam 51, fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of one side of the first beam 51, and the structure at the other side exposes one reagent needle 61; the two reagent needles 61 are respectively arranged on the linear guide rails on the two sides of the first beam 51 and are connected with the linear guide rails in a sliding manner; the reagent needle 61 moves linearly along the linear guide where it is located between the reagent aspirating position and the reagent adding position.

The reagent dispensing component 60 with multiple needles moving linearly is realized through a beam structure, the movement track of the reagent needle 61 does not occupy too much space and the layout interference on other components is reduced as much as possible, so that the structure of the sample analysis device can be more compact, and the miniaturization design of the sample analysis device is very facilitated.

In some embodiments, the first beam 51 of each reagent dispensing unit 60 is disposed such that the movement trajectories of the reagent needles 61 do not intersect spatiallyAbove the reagent carrying part 40.The reagent needles 61 of different reagent dispensing components 60 do not intersect with each other along the linear movement locus, so that the movement of the reagent needles 61 of different reagent dispensing components 60 is not interfered with each other, and the test speed is improved.

In some embodiments, there is at least one processing unit 80, and the reagent adding index includes the same number of cuvette placement positions as the number of reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the processing unit 80. For example, in the above example in fig. 6, the reaction part 81 has a reagent adding index 81a as an in-incubation index, and the in-incubation index 81a can place two reaction cups; the number of the reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the reaction unit 81 is two. In fig. 6, the reagent-adding transfer position of the measuring unit 82 is a transfer position 82a in the figure, and two cuvettes can be placed in the transfer position 82 a; the number of the reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the measuring unit 82 is two. In some embodiments, the number of reagent aspirating sites is the same as the number of reagent needles. For example, in fig. 6, two reagent dispensing units 60 are provided in total, and each reagent dispensing unit 60 has two reagent needles 61, so that the number of reagent aspirating positions is four. The number of the reagent needles is the same as that of the reagent adding positions, so that each reagent needle can clearly divide labor to add reagents into reaction cups on the respective reagent adding positions, and the test speed is improved.

In some embodiments, the reagent needles 61 in the same reagent dispensing unit 60 are used to aspirate the same type of reagent. For example, the reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the reaction unit 81 are all used for aspirating the first reagent, and the reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the measurement unit 82 are all used for aspirating the second reagent. The different reagent dispensing members 60 are used for sucking different reagents, so that the reagent dispensing members 60 are clearly divided, and the test speed is improved.

In some embodiments, each of the reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 is provided with a heating unit (not shown) for heating the reagent aspirated by the reagent needle. Since each reagent dispensing unit 60 includes a plurality of reagent needles 61, and there are no two reagent needles as an example, each reagent needle 61 is further provided with a heating member, and since there are two reagent needles 61, each reagent needle 61 has sufficient time, for example, twice the time, to heat the aspirated reagent while maintaining the original speed, so that the reagent reaches the corresponding processing unit 80 at a temperature relatively close to the predetermined temperature, that is, the reagent is sufficiently preheated.

The above is some description of the reagent dispensing unit 60. The reagent dispensing unit 60 is provided in the sample analyzer by a beam structure, and this causes the reagent needle 61 to perform reciprocating linear motion between the reagent aspirating position of the reagent holding unit 40 and the reagent adding position of the corresponding processing unit 80, thereby aspirating and discharging the corresponding reagent. The movement of different reagent dispensing components 60 is independent and not interfered with each other, thus playing an obvious role in the space miniaturization of the instrument and the improvement of the testing speed.

The reagent dispensing unit 60 and the processing unit 80 are explained above. In some examples, the reagent dispensing unit 60 is perpendicular to the corresponding processing unit 80, that is, the reagent dispensing unit 60 is disposed perpendicular to the corresponding processing unit 80 such that the reagent dispensing unit 60 is perpendicular to the corresponding processing unit 80. It is understood that the reagent dispensing member 60 being perpendicular to its corresponding processing cell 80 means that the overall geometry of the reagent dispensing member 60 is perpendicular to the overall geometry of the corresponding processing cell 80.

For example, when the processing unit 80 is rectangular; the processing unit 80 is perpendicular to the reagent dispensing unit 60, which means that the longitudinal direction or the short side direction of the rectangular shape of the processing unit 80 is perpendicular to the long axis direction of the first beam 51 of the corresponding reagent dispensing unit 60, that is, the reagent dispensing unit 60 and the corresponding processing unit 80 are disposed such that the long axis direction of the first beam 51 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction or the short side direction of the rectangular shape of the corresponding processing unit 80.

For another example, when the processing unit 80 has an elliptical shape, the processing unit 80 is perpendicular to the reagent dispensing unit 60, which means that the longitudinal direction of the elliptical shape of the processing unit 80 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the first beam 51 of the corresponding reagent dispensing unit 60, that is, the reagent dispensing unit 60 and the corresponding processing unit 80 are disposed such that the longitudinal direction of the first beam 51 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the elliptical shape of the corresponding processing unit 80.

For another example, when the processing unit 80 has a trapezoidal shape, the processing unit 80 is perpendicular to the reagent dispensing unit 60, which means that the lower bottom direction of the trapezoidal shape of the processing unit 80 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the first beam 51 of the corresponding reagent dispensing unit 60, that is, the reagent dispensing unit 60 and the corresponding processing unit 80 are disposed such that the longitudinal direction of the first beam 51 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 is perpendicular to the lower bottom direction of the trapezoidal shape of the corresponding processing unit 80.

It is to be understood that the above processing unit 80 has a rectangular shape, an elliptical shape, a trapezoidal shape, or the like, and it means that the processing unit 80 has a rectangular shape, an elliptical shape, or a trapezoidal shape as viewed from a top view.

Each processing unit 80 is disposed perpendicular to the corresponding reagent dispensing unit 60, so that the structure can be more compact, and each processing unit 80 can surround the reagent holding member 40 more compactly, which significantly contributes to the space reduction of the apparatus. In some examples, each processing unit 80 is disposed perpendicular to the corresponding reagent dispensing unit 60, so that the reagent dispensing units 60 can share the same set of coordinate algorithm with respect to the height of the position involved in the reagent dispensing to the corresponding position of the corresponding processing unit 80.

As described above, in some embodiments, the sample analysis device can further include a reagent loading component 70 and a reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90, which cooperate to achieve real-time reagent loading, as described in more detail below.

The reagent loading part 70 is used to transport a reagent container to be loaded to the reagent carrying part 40, for example, from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 to the reagent carrying part 40.

Referring to fig. 9, in some embodiments, the reagent loading part 70 includes a second beam 52, a reagent container grasping portion 71, and a second driving assembly 73. The reagent container gripping part 71 is movably arranged on the second beam 52, the second drive assembly 73 is used for driving the reagent container gripping part 71 to move along the second beam 52 and move in the up-and-down direction, and the reagent container gripping part 71 is used for gripping and putting down a reagent container. In some examples, the reagent container grasping portion 71 is disposed on the second beam 52 via a guide 72, the guide 72 is disposed along a length direction of the second beam 52, the reagent container grasping portion 71 is movably disposed on the guide 72, and the second driving assembly 73 is configured to drive the reagent container grasping portion 71 to move along the guide 72 and move up and down. In some examples, the guide 72 may be a linear guide.

The second beam 52 of the reagent loading unit 70 and the first beam 51 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 may be disposed above the reagent holding unit 40. Thus, by the movement of the reagent needle 60 of the reagent dispensing member 60 along the first beam 51, the reagent can be constantly sucked from the reagent holding member 40 and discharged to the cuvette to prepare a sample; in this process, the reagent on the reagent carrying member 40 is continuously consumed, so that the reagent on the reagent carrying member 40 needs to be replenished, and the reagent loading member 70 moves along the second cross member 52 through the reagent container grasping portion 71 to transport the reagent container to be loaded to the reagent carrying member 40, thereby realizing automatic reagent loading and replenishment for the reagent carrying member 40. The reagent carrying member 40 is provided with the first beam 51 and the second beam 52, so that the movement traces of the reagent dispensing member 60 and the reagent loading member 70 are defined, and the layout design is favorable for the miniaturization of the sample analysis apparatus.

In order to increase the testing speed and make the sample application of the reagent and the loading of the reagent operate independently as much as possible without interfering with each other, in some embodiments, the first beam 51 and the second beam 52 are disposed above the reagent carrier 40 in such a manner that the movement trajectories of the reagent needle 60 in the reagent dispensing component 60 and the reagent container grasping portion 71 in the reagent loading component 70 do not spatially intersect with each other. For example, referring to fig. 10, the first beam 51 and the second beam 52 are disposed in parallel above the reagent holding member 40; since the reagent needle 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 moves along the first cross member 51 and the reagent container grasping portion 71 of the reagent loading unit 70 moves along the second cross member 52, when the first cross member 51 and the second cross member 52 are disposed in parallel above the reagent carrying unit 40, the movement trajectories of the reagent needle 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 and the reagent container grasping portion 71 of the reagent loading unit 70 do not spatially intersect. For another example, the first cross member 51 and the second cross member 52 are provided above the reagent holding member 40 along different radial directions of the reagent holding member 40, which is an example of fig. 1, 2, and 3. As another example, the first beam 51 and the second beam 52 are disposed at different heights above the reagent carrying member 40, and it is understood that a skilled person can reasonably set such different heights that the movement trajectories of the reagent needle 61 of the reagent dispensing member 60 and the reagent container grasping portion 71 of the reagent loading member 70 do not intersect spatially, specifically, for example, the first beam 51 is above the second beam 52, that is, the height of the first beam 51 is higher than the position where the first beam 52 is disposed.

The reagent unloading and loading mechanism 90 is for carrying reagent containers to be loaded, and/or for carrying unloaded reagent containers, and/or for receiving reagent containers to be discarded for disposal. Accordingly, when the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 is used to carry a reagent container to be loaded, the reagent loading part 70 can transport the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 to the reagent carrying part 40. When the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 is used to carry an unloaded reagent container, the reagent loading part 70 is also used to transport the reagent container to be unloaded from the reagent carrying part 40 to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90. When the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 is used to receive a reagent container to be discarded, the reagent loading part 70 is used to transport the reagent container to be discarded from the reagent carrying part 40 to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90. Thus, in some examples, the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 may interact with the reagent support member 40, such as for real-time reagent loading, real-time reagent unloading, real-time reagent cup disposal, and the like. The reagent container herein refers to a container for holding a reagent, such as the reagent union cup 44, the first reagent container, and the second reagent container, which are present herein. The reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 has various embodiments, which will be described in detail below.

Referring to fig. 11, in some embodiments, the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 includes a base 91 and a storage portion 92. The storage section 92 is used for storing or receiving a reagent container. In some embodiments, the storage portion 92 may be movably disposed on the base 91, for example, the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 further includes a driving portion 93, and the driving portion 93 is used for driving the storage portion 92 to move, for example, rotate, relative to the base 91.

In some embodiments, the reservoir 92 is a disk-shaped structure. The disk-shaped surface of the storage section 92 is provided with a plurality of container stations, including a storage station 94 and a disposal station 95, the storage station 94 being used for storing reagent containers to be loaded or unloaded, and the disposal station 95 being used for receiving reagent containers to be disposed of. The number of storage bits 94 is one or more, preferably the number of storage bits 94 is plural; similarly, the number of discarded bits 95 is one or more, preferably, the number of discarded bits 95 is one — for example, ten are stored bits 94 and one is discarded bits 95 in fig. 11. In some embodiments, each container station of storage portion 92 is annularly disposed about the disk-shaped center of storage portion 92. In the example where the storage portion 92 is movable (e.g., rotatable) relative to the base 91, as the storage portion 92 rotates, each container position on the storage portion rotates.

The user can place a reagent container to be loaded into the storage site 94 of the storage section 92 and can take out an unloaded reagent container from the storage site 94, and a reagent container to be discarded, for example, an empty reagent container depleted of reagent, is carried from the reagent carrying member 40 to the discard site 95 of the storage section 92 to carry out the discard process of the reagent container. In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 12, the discard bit 95 may be connected to the waste bin 97 via a channel 96, and reagent containers received by the discard bit 95 may be discarded to the waste bin 97 via the channel 96. The waste bin 97 may house reagent containers such as expired reagents, empty reagent containers, etc. In some embodiments, the channel 96 can move with the disposal site 95 as the storage portion 92 moves. In embodiments where the channel 96 is movable with the disposal site 95, this facilitates the placement and functional reuse of the waste bin 97 in the sample analysis apparatus, e.g., the waste bin 97 may be used to house discarded reagent containers and may also be used to house used reaction cups.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the reagent holding member 40, the reagent loading member 70, and the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 with a partial housing removed, and fig. 14 is a plan view of the reagent holding member 40, the reagent loading member 70, and the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 with a partial housing removed.

In some embodiments, the sample analysis device can perform the loading, unloading, and discarding of the reagents without interrupting the testing process. For example, a user places a reagent container to be loaded on the storage location 94 of the storage portion 92, and the reagent loading part 70 transports the reagent container to be loaded from the storage location 94 of the storage portion 92 to the reagent carrying part 40 at an appropriate time, so that the real-time loading of the reagent is realized without interrupting the test flow; likewise, the reagent loading section 70 transports the reagent container to be unloaded from the reagent carrying section 40 to the storage site 94 on the storage section 92 at an appropriate timing for the user to take out, which does not affect and interrupt the normal test flow of the reagent carrying section 40; likewise, the reagent loading section 70 carries the reagent container to be discarded from the reagent carrying section 40 to the discard position 95 on the storage section 92 at an appropriate timing for the discarding process, which does not affect and interrupt the normal test flow of the reagent carrying section 40.

As described above, the reagent carrying part 40 needs to receive reagents to replenish reagents consumed during the test, and to unload the reagents or to discard, for example, empty reagent containers. Therefore, in some embodiments, the reagent carrying member 40 further includes a reagent container access 45 and a power door 46 provided to the reagent container access 45 in an openable and closable manner; when the electric door 46 is in the open state, the reagent loading member 70 can be allowed to transport the reagent container from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 to the reagent loading and unloading member 40 through the reagent container port 45, or the reagent loading member 70 can transport the reagent container from the reagent loading and unloading member 40 to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 through the reagent container port 45; at other times, the power door 46 may remain closed, thereby ensuring that the reagent carrying part 40 has a small heat loss and ensures its refrigeration effect. That is, the power door 46 is opened when a reagent container is taken in or put out from the reagent holding member 40, and is closed at other times.

Referring to fig. 15, in some embodiments, the sample analysis device further includes an information reader 98. The reagent container may be provided with a label, and the information reader 98 reads its label information by sensing the label of the reagent container. The label of the reagent container stores the reagent information of the corresponding reagent, and the reagent information or the label information at least comprises the reagent type, the reagent allowance and the like, and also comprises the information of the type of the reagent container, the production date, the quality guarantee period, the batch number, the serial number, the bottle opening date, a plurality of calibration curves and the like. Thus, in some embodiments, the information reader 98 is configured to read reagent information from a reagent container by sensing label information from the reagent container in the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90. In some embodiments, the information reader 98 is also used to write information into the label of the reagent container. The information reader 98 may be an RFID reader and the label of the reagent container may be an RFID label. The information management function of the reagent can be facilitated by the information reader 98.

Some embodiments enable reagent loading without stopping the test, the user directly places the reagent container to be loaded onto the hollow storage location 94 of the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, the drive portion 93 of the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 drives the rotation of the disk-like structured storage portion 92 to move the reagent container to be loaded to the location of the information reader 98, and the information reader 98 reads reagent information from the label of the reagent container to be loaded, which may include information such as reagent type, reagent remaining amount (also referred to herein as reagent loading amount), reagent container type, production date, expiration date, lot number, serial number, decap date, and several calibration curves. After the reading and writing and verification of the reagent information are completed, the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 rotates the compliant reagent container to a position below the reagent container grasping portion 71 of the reagent loading member 70, the reagent container grasping portion 71 grasps the reagent container downward, and then conveys the reagent container to the reagent bearing member 40, for example, to a position above the reagent container entrance 45, the electric door 46 is opened, and the reagent container grasping portion 71 puts the reagent container into the reagent bearing member 40 through the reagent container entrance 45, thereby completing the reagent loading. In the example where the reagent carrying member 40 includes two turns of the reagent track 41, the reagent container may be placed to the inner turn of the reagent track 41 or the outer turn of the reagent track 41 depending on the type of reagent. It should be noted that when the reagent container grasping portion 71 transports the reagent container to the reagent carrying member 40, for example, above the reagent container entrance 45, a reagent loading request may be submitted to the test flow, and each working sequence cycle of the reagent carrying member 40 has a fixed time reserved for reagent loading — for example, 3.4 seconds are reserved for reagent loading in 8 seconds of working sequence cycle; after waiting for the fixed reagent loading period, the reagent carrying member 40 places the hollow placing position 43 of the reagent rail 41 below the reagent container entrance 45 or below the reagent container grasping portion 71, the electric door 46 is in an open state, the reagent container grasping portion 71 descends and lowers the reagent container and then lifts it, and then the electric door 46 closes, thereby completing reagent loading.

In some embodiments, the sample analysis device is capable of removing reagent from the reagent carrying member 40 without stopping the test. When the reagent is exhausted or the user actively selects to unload the reagent, the reagent container gripping part 71 moves to the position above the reagent container entrance 45, at this time, a reagent taking request can be submitted to the test process, after the fixed reagent loading time period comes, the reagent carrying part 40 rotates the reagent container to be taken out (for example, to be discarded or to be unloaded) to the position below the reagent container entrance 45 or below the reagent container gripping part 71 at this time through the rotating reagent track 41, the electric door 46 is in an open state, the reagent container gripping part 71 descends, then grips the reagent container, lifts the reagent container again, and then the electric door 46 is closed. The reagent container grasping portion 71 moves the reagent container to above the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90. If the reagent container is a reagent container to be unloaded, the drive section 93 of the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 drives the storage section 92 of the disk-type structure to rotate, rotates the empty storage position 94 to below the reagent container grasping section 71, and the reagent container grasping section 71 places the reagent container to be unloaded onto the empty storage position 94 below it, completing the unloading of the reagent. If the comment creating reagent container is a reagent container to be discarded, the drive section 93 of the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 drives the storage section 92 of the disk type structure to rotate, the discard position 95 is rotated below the reagent container grasping section 71, the reagent container grasping section 71 places the reagent container to be discarded on the discard position 95 therebelow, and the reagent container is dropped into the waste bin 97 along the passage 96.

It can be seen that in some of the above embodiments, the disposal site 95 is provided in the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, and this design does not require a separate disposal site 95 in the moving direction of the reagent container grasping portion 71, thereby ensuring a compact and compact sample analyzer. In some of the above examples, the reagent container grasping portion 71 can perform all functions in the planar direction only by one-dimensional movement rather than two-dimensional movement, which reduces the size and cost of the sample analysis apparatus.

It can be seen that the sample analysis apparatus of some embodiments can integrate the reagent loading function, the reagent unloading function, and the reagent discarding function into the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, thereby reducing the material cost of the instrument while ensuring the small volume of the instrument. When the reagent is loaded, the information reader 98 reads the label information on the reagent container, performs validity judgment, and after success, writes information into the label to set the bottle opening date and clear the available times. When the reagent is unloaded, the information reader 98 writes the actual reagent remaining amount or the available test number to the label of the reagent container unloaded onto the reagent unloading and loading mechanism 90.

In some examples, the flow of reagent management may be designed around the detection of the remaining amount of reagent in the reagent bearing member 40, as described in detail below.

In some examples, the sample analyzer may also incorporate a component having processing or control functions, such as a controller, to control the timing of the sample analyzer's actions and coordination of internal mechanisms and components. The controller can detect the remaining amount information of the reagent in each reagent container carried by the reagent carrying member 40. Specifically, when a reagent container is loaded from the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 to the reagent carrying member 40, the label information of the reagent container is read by the information reader 98, so that the remaining amount or the loading amount of the reagent container, for example, a test amount of 100 times can be obtained. The controller can therefore know the initial remaining amount of reagent containers loaded on the reagent carrying member 40, and reduce the amount of reagent in the reagent container by 1 every time the reagent container is sucked to participate in the test, so that the real-time remaining amount information of each reagent container can be detected in real time. When the reagent carrying part 40 detects that the reagent of the reagent container is insufficient, the controller can send prompt information to prompt the user to put the required reagent container; the prompt message at least includes the reagent type information of the reagent container with insufficient reagent residual quantity.

In some embodiments, when it is detected that the remaining reagent amount of a reagent container in the reagent carrying member 40 is insufficient, the reagent type information of the reagent container is acquired, and the reagent container having the same reagent type information in the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 is determined as the reagent container to be loaded. When it is detected that the remaining reagent amount of the plurality of reagent containers in the reagent holding member 40 is insufficient, at least the reagent type information of the reagent container having the smallest remaining reagent amount among the plurality of reagent containers is acquired, and the reagent container having the same reagent type information as the reagent type information of the reagent container having the smallest remaining reagent amount among the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 is determined as the reagent container to be loaded. When determining the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, the controller may first query whether a reagent container having the same reagent type information exists in the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 according to the acquired reagent type information of the reagent container with insufficient reagent remaining amount — the information reader 98 may read the reagent information of each reagent container on the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, as described above, the reagent information includes the reagent type information; if the inquiry reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 has a reagent container with the same reagent type information, the controller determines the reagent container as a reagent container to be loaded, otherwise, the controller sends prompt information to prompt a user to put the required reagent container; the prompt message at least includes the reagent type information of the reagent container with insufficient reagent residual quantity. In other embodiments, the controller may also determine the corresponding reagent container in the reagent unloading and loading mechanism 90 as the reagent container to be loaded when receiving a user-triggered loading command. After determining the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, the controller controls the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 to transfer the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 to the reagent loading and unloading member 40, regardless of the remaining amount of reagent or the user-triggered loading instruction. In order to reduce the influence of reagent loading on the normal work flow and test of the reagent carrying component 40, a reagent loading time period may be set at each work timing cycle of the reagent carrying component 40, the reagent loading time period is used for reagent loading, and only when the action of reagent loading needs to be matched with the reagent carrying component 40, the reagent carrying component 40 is controlled to perform corresponding action at the reagent loading time period, specifically: the controller controls the reagent loading part 70 to take out the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, and the controller controls the reagent loading part 70 to convey the reagent container to be loaded to the position above the preset position of the reagent bearing part 40, wherein the actions can be finished independently of the reagent bearing part 40, and the reagent bearing part 40 is not influenced when the actions are carried out; next, the controller controls the reagent loading part 70 to put the reagent container to be loaded into the reagent holding part 40 from above the preset position of the reagent holding part 40 during the above-mentioned reagent loading period, specifically, during this reagent loading period: the controller controls the reagent carrying part 40 to dispatch the empty placing position to the preset position, controls the electric door 46 to be opened, controls the reagent loading part 70 to place the reagent container to be loaded on the empty placing position in the reagent carrying part 40 from the upper part of the preset position of the reagent bin, and controls the electric door 46 to be closed. In some embodiments, the controller also controls the information reader 98 to write the stored reagent balance information on the label of the reagent container to be loaded to zero before controlling the reagent loading component 70 to transport the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 to the reagent carrying component 40.

In some embodiments, when the reagent remaining amount of a reagent container in the reagent carrying part 40 is zero, the reagent container is indicated to be used up or empty, and the controller determines the reagent container as a reagent container to be discarded. The controller then controls the reagent loading part 70 to transport the reagent container to be discarded from the reagent carrying part 40 to the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90 for disposal. Specifically, each operation sequence cycle of the reagent carrying member 40 includes a reagent loading time period, and when there is a reagent container to be discarded, the controller controls the reagent loading member 70 to take out the corresponding reagent container from the reagent carrying member 40 during the reagent loading time period; the controller then controls the reagent loading component 70 to transport the reagent container to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, for example, the disposal site 95 thereof, it should be noted that the action of "the reagent loading component 70 transports the reagent container to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, for example, the disposal site 95 thereof" may be in the reagent loading time period or in the non-reagent loading time period, which is not limited in the present application.

The above is the process of discarding empty reagent containers during testing, and the process of unloading reagent containers is similar. The unloaded reagent container still has residual reagent and can be loaded to a local machine or other machines to participate in the test; generally, reagent containers are unloaded from the reagent carrying part 40 — at this time the reagent balance of the reagent container is usually not zero, mainly for loading the reagent container to other machines; in other cases, it is possible to unload the reagent container from the reagent carrying part 40 in order to recover the reagent container itself for reuse, at which time the reagent remaining in the reagent container is typically zero. Therefore, if it is for the purpose of recovering the reagent container itself for reuse, in this case, when it is detected that the reagent container itself needs to be recovered has a reagent remaining amount of zero, the controller determines the reagent container as the reagent container to be unloaded. More generally, in some cases, a user needs to unload a reagent container with a reagent remaining amount not equal to zero, and load the reagent container into another machine for testing, and at this time, the controller may determine a corresponding reagent container in the reagent carrying part 40 as a reagent container to be unloaded according to an unloading instruction triggered by the user. After determining the reagent container to be unloaded, the controller controls the reagent loading part 70 to transfer the reagent container to be unloaded from the reagent carrying part 40 to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90 for the user to take out. Specifically, each duty cycle of the reagent carrying part 40 includes a reagent loading time period, and when there is a reagent container to be unloaded, the controller controls the reagent loading part 70 to take out the corresponding reagent container from the reagent carrying part 40 during the reagent loading time period; the controller then controls the reagent loading component 70 to transport the reagent container to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, for example, the storage location 94 thereof, and it should be noted that the action of "the reagent loading component 70 transports the reagent container to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism 90, for example, the storage location 94 thereof" may be in the reagent loading time period or in the non-reagent loading time period, which is not limited in the present application. After the reagent loading unit 70 transfers the reagent container to be unloaded from the reagent loading unit 40 to the reagent loading/unloading mechanism 90, the controller controls the information reader 98 to write the reagent remaining amount information of the reagent container into the label thereof to update the reagent remaining amount information in the label thereof, so that the actual reagent remaining amount of the reagent container can be known by the label thereof when the reagent container is loaded again in the local or other machine.

It can be seen that, in order to not affect and interrupt the normal test flow of the reagent carrying member 40, when the working sequence cycle of the reagent carrying member 40 is designed, a fixed reagent loading time period is introduced into the working sequence cycle, which is the same time period in each working sequence cycle and the time period of the reagent loading time period in each working sequence cycle, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, an 8 second duty cycle, where 3.4 seconds are reserved as a fixed reagent loading period, in a non-reagent loading period of the duty cycle, the reagent carrying part 40 may schedule the reagent required by the current test item to the corresponding reagent sucking position, and when the reagent carrying part 40 is to unload or discard a reagent container, in the reagent loading period: the controller controls to dispatch a corresponding reagent container in the reagent bearing part 40 to a preset position, controls to open the electric door 46, controls the reagent loading part 70 to take out the reagent container from the preset position of the reagent bearing part 40, and controls to close the electric door 46; this sequence of actions may be designed to be completed during the reagent loading period so that normal test flow of the reagent carrying member 40 is not affected and interrupted.

It can be seen that the working sequence cycle of the reagent carrying part 40 is designed to have a fixed reagent loading period, which can be used for reagent loading, reagent unloading and reagent discarding, and if no reagent needs to be loaded, unloaded and discarded, then no corresponding action can be taken; in order to reduce the disturbance to the reagent carrying part 40, only one of the three tasks of reagent loading, unloading and discarding can be performed in the reagent loading time period of each work sequence period, and when at least two tasks of reagent loading, unloading and discarding are required simultaneously, reagent loading can be performed preferentially, reagent unloading can be performed secondly, and reagent discarding can be performed again; of course, if the reagent carrying member 40 currently has no empty placing locations 43 for placing the reagent containers to be loaded, it is obvious that the unloading or disposal of the reagent is therefore performed first.

The above are some of the descriptions of reagent loading, unloading, and disposal of the sample analysis device.

Scheduling unit 2 is used to schedule cuvettes, for example, scheduling unit 2 schedules cuvettes positioned at the loading position and loaded with sample to each processing unit 80 according to the flow of detection, for example, scheduling unit 2 schedules cuvettes loaded with a reagent, for example, a first reagent, at index 81a during incubation to reaction unit 81, and schedules cuvettes loaded with a reagent, for example, a second reagent, at index 82a during measurement to measurement unit 82. The following describes a specific configuration of the scheduling unit 2.

Referring to fig. 16, in some embodiments, the dispatching component 2 includes a first transferring component 271, a second transferring component 273 and a third transferring component 275, and in order to match the three transferring

components

271, 273 and 275, in some embodiments, the sample analyzer further includes a first buffer index bit 277 and a second buffer index bit 278. In some embodiments, the first buffer index bit 277 may be designed as a fixed buffer bit, and only one cuvette placement bit is provided, that is, only one cuvette can be placed, which is advantageous to reduce the size and size of the sample analyzer; similarly, the first buffer index bit 278 may be designed with a fixed buffer bit, having only one cuvette placement bit, i.e., only one cuvette may be placed, which is advantageous for reducing the size and size of the sample analysis apparatus. Of course, in some embodiments, first cache in-place bit 277 and second cache in-place bit 278, when using a fixed cache bit design, may also be designed to have multiple cuvette placement locations, thereby allowing more cuvette placement locations to be scheduled. Even further, in some embodiments, the first in-buffer bit 277 may be configured as a moving or rotating buffer bit, for example, the first in-buffer bit 277 may include a cup placement bit that can be driven to move or rotate, such that during the transporting of the first transporting member 271 to the first in-buffer bit 277, the first in-buffer bit 277 may also be controlled to move or rotate to a predetermined position to receive the transferred cups from the first transporting member 271, and in addition, when the second transporting member 273 needs to transport the cups on the first in-buffer bit 277, the first in-buffer bit 277 may also be controlled to move or rotate to a predetermined position to enable the second transporting member 73 to more quickly capture the cups on the first in-buffer bit 277; similarly, the second buffer index 278 may include a cup placement position that can be driven to move or rotate such that during transfer of a cup by the second transfer component 273 to the second buffer index 278, the second buffer index 278 may also be controlled to move or rotate to a predetermined position to receive a cup transferred by the second transfer component 273, and further, when the third transfer component 273 needs to transfer a cup on the second buffer index 278 away, the second buffer index 278 may also be controlled to move or rotate to a predetermined position to enable the third transfer component 75 to more quickly capture a cup on the second buffer index 278; through the design, the whole transfer process of the reaction cup is quicker and less time-consuming, and the efficiency and the testing speed of the sample analysis device are improved.

The first transfer part 271, the second transfer part 273, and the third transfer part 275 may be implemented in various ways, such as a rail-type transfer part for transferring the cuvettes by placing the cuvettes on a rail; for example, the reaction cups are placed on the rotating disc type structure, and the reaction cups carried by the rotating disc are transported to corresponding positions through the transportation of the rotating disc; the first transfer part 271, the second transfer part 273 and the third transfer part 275 are implemented, for example, by driving a cup grasping hand by a two-dimensional or three-dimensional driving mechanism, grasping a reaction cup by the cup grasping hand, and then driving the cup grasping hand to move by the two-dimensional or three-dimensional driving mechanism, thereby implementing transfer of the reaction cup to a corresponding position, which will not be described below in a manner of implementing the transfer part by the cup grasping hand.

The transfer elements and their function will be explained below.

The first transfer unit 271 is used to transfer the cuvette after the sample addition to the first buffer position 277. In some embodiments, the first transferring member 271 moves linearly in a first direction, e.g., Y direction in the figure, and transfers the cuvette having been loaded to the first buffer index bit 277. Because the first transfer component 271 moves along the straight line to move the reaction cups, the volume of the sample analysis device occupied by the reaction cups in the transfer process is relatively reduced, and the miniaturization design of the sample analysis device is facilitated.

Referring to fig. 17, in some embodiments, the sample analysis device can further include a sample loading position 10a, a pre-dilution position 10b, a first cup throwing position 10c, and a second cup throwing position 10 d. In some embodiments, the first transfer component 271 can move along a first direction, e.g., Y direction in the figure, between the sample loading position 10a, the pre-dilution position 10b, the first cup throwing position 10c, and the first buffer indexing position 277. The sample addition site 10a may be a predetermined position to which the empty cuvette is loaded by the cuvette loading unit 10 as mentioned above, and in general, the sample dispensing unit 30 sucks a sample from the sample addition site and discharges the sample into the cuvette located at the sample addition site 10a to complete sample addition. In some cases, the sample needs to be pre-diluted, and therefore in this case, the first transferring member 271 transfers the empty cuvette at the loading position 10a to the pre-dilution position 10b, the sample dispensing member 30 sucks the sample from the loading position and discharges the sample into the cuvette at the pre-dilution position 10b, and then the sample in the cuvette at the pre-dilution position 10b is diluted; in this process, the cuvette loading unit 10 loads a new empty cuvette to the sample application site 10a, and then the sample dispensing unit 30 sucks the pre-diluted sample from the cuvette in the pre-dilution site 10b and discharges the pre-diluted sample to the sample application site 10a, thereby completing sample application; the first transfer unit 271 then transfers the cuvettes at the pre-dilution position 10b to the cup-throwing position 10c for cup-throwing.

As described above, in some embodiments, the first transfer member 271 only needs to move in the first direction, and therefore, the driving member of the first transfer member 271 may be a two-dimensional driving member for driving the cup gripper of the first transfer member 71 to move in the first direction and the vertical direction, wherein the first direction may be the Y direction in the figure, and the vertical direction is the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in the figure. In some embodiments, the cup grasping hand of the first transferring member 71 grasps, for example, a cuvette at the sample adding position 10a along a second direction, for example, the X direction in the figure, so that the first transferring member 271 does not affect the sample dispensing member 30 to discharge a sample into the cuvette when grasping the cuvette, and thus the sample dispensing member 30 can complete sample adding of the cuvette while the first transferring member 271 grasps the cuvette, thereby saving time and improving measurement speed and efficiency.

The above are some descriptions of the first transferring member 271.

The second transfer unit 273 transfers the cuvette indexed 277 in the first buffer to the reaction unit 81, and transfers the cuvette finished with the sample incubation in the reaction unit 81 to the second buffer for indexing 278. In some embodiments, the second transfer part 273 transfers the cuvettes indexed 277 in the first buffer to the reaction part 81 and transfers the cuvettes with completed incubation of the sample in the reaction part 81 to the second buffer 278 by linear movement in two directions. Because the second transfer part 273 moves along the straight line to move the cuvette, the volume of the sample analysis device occupied by the cuvette during the transportation process is relatively reduced, and the miniaturization design of the sample analysis device is facilitated.

In a specific transfer process, the second transfer member 273 may first transfer the cuvette having the index 277 in the first buffer to the index 81a during incubation, the reagent dispensing member 60 may aspirate the reagent and discharge the reagent into the cuvette having the index 81a during incubation, and the second transfer member 273 may transfer the cuvette having the index 81a during incubation to the reaction member 81.

In some embodiments, the driving part of the second transfer part 273 may be a three-dimensional driving part for driving the cup grasping hand of the second transfer part 273 to move in the two-dimensional direction of the plane and in the vertical direction.

In some embodiments, second transfer part 273 transfers the cuvette from incubation to reaction part 81 by transferring part 81a, and also mixes the sample in the cuvette. For example, after the second transfer member 273 transfers the cuvette having been completely loaded from the first buffer 277 to the index 81a during incubation, the reagent dispensing member 60 sequentially adds a reagent such as the first reagent to the cuvette at the index 81a during incubation, and the second transfer member 273 takes up the cuvette having been completely loaded, mixes the reagent with the cuvette, and transfers the cuvette to the reaction member 81; specifically, the second transfer part 273 can drive the cup grasping hand to rapidly shake through the driving part to uniformly mix the sample in the reaction cup grasped by the cup grasping hand. The second transfer part 273 has a blending function, so that the sample analysis device does not need to be provided with an independent blending mechanism, the structure of the sample analysis device is more compact, and the cost is reduced; in addition, the second transfer part 273 is used for uniformly mixing when grabbing the reaction cups to be ready for transfer, so that time is saved, and the reaction cups do not need to be specially dispatched to a corresponding uniformly mixing mechanism to be uniformly mixed.

The above are some of the descriptions of the second transfer member 273. The second transfer part 273 can transfer cuvettes among the first buffer indexing 277, the incubation indexing 81a, the reaction part 81, and the second buffer indexing 278 by the linear movement in the planar two-dimensional direction.

The third transfer unit 275 transfers the cuvette indexed 278 in the second buffer to the measurement unit 82. In some embodiments, the third transfer unit 275 transports the indexed 278 cuvette in the second buffer to the measurement unit 82 by linear motion in a first direction, e.g., the direction of the figure, and a second direction, e.g., the direction X of the figure. Because the third transfer member 275 moves linearly to move the cuvette, the volume of the sample analyzer occupied by the cuvette during transportation is relatively reduced, which is advantageous for the miniaturization design of the sample analyzer.

In a specific transfer process, the third transfer unit 275 may first transfer the cuvette in the second buffer index 278 to the measurement index 82a, the reagent dispensing unit 60 may aspirate the reagent into the cuvette in the measurement index 82a, and the third transfer unit 275 may transfer the cuvette in the measurement index 82a to the measurement unit 82. In some embodiments, when the third transfer unit 275 transfers the cuvette from the second buffer index 278 to the assay index 82a, the third transfer unit 275 may not place the cuvette in the assay index 82a, but may still grasp the cuvette, in which case the reagent dispensing unit 60 aspirates and dispenses the reagent to the cuvette, which reduces the time for the cuvette to finally enter the assay unit 82 from the second buffer index 278, thereby improving the testing speed. In some embodiments, the third transfer member 275 may move in a first direction (e.g., Y direction in the figure), a second direction (e.g., X direction in the figure), and a vertical direction (e.g., perpendicular to the drawing sheet), and thus the driving member of the third transfer member 275 may be a three-dimensional driving member for driving the cup grasping hand of the third transfer member 275 to move in the first direction, the second direction, and the vertical direction.

In some embodiments, the cup grasping hand of the third transferring member 275 grasps the cuvette along the first direction, for example, the Y direction in the figure, so that the third transferring member 275 grasps the cuvette while the reagent dispensing member 60, for example, the second reagent dispensing member, does not affect the reagent dispensing member 60 to add the reagent to the cuvette even though the third transferring member 275 grasps the cuvette during the whole reagent adding process, thereby enabling the reagent dispensing member 60 to complete reagent adding to the cuvette while the third transferring member 275 grasps the cuvette, saving time and improving the measuring speed and efficiency. In some embodiments, the direction in which the third transferring member 275 grips the cuvettes and the direction in which the second group of reagent needles linearly moves are greater than 90 degrees, so that the action of the third transferring member 275 grips the cuvettes and the action of the second group of reagent needles adds reagent is less likely to conflict with each other, and the two actions can be performed independently and in parallel reasonably.

In some embodiments, the third transfer component 275 mixes the sample in the cuvette as it is transported from the assay transfer position 82a to the assay component 82. For example, when the third transfer component 275 transfers a cuvette from the second buffer to the assay index 278 a — in some embodiments, the third transfer component 275 transfers a cuvette to the assay index 82a without placing the cuvette and while still grasping the cuvette; the reagent dispensing unit 60 then adds a reagent such as a second reagent to the cuvette at the transfer position 82a, and the third transfer unit 275 then mixes the sample in the grasped cuvette and transfers the sample to the measuring unit 82; specifically, the third transfer component 275 can drive the cup grabbing hand to shake rapidly through the driving component to mix the sample in the reaction cup grabbed by the cup grabbing hand. The third transfer part 275 has a blending function, so that the sample analysis device does not need to be provided with an independent blending mechanism, the structure of the sample analysis device is more compact, and the cost is reduced; in addition, the third transfer unit 275 transfers the cuvettes to the original transfer path, for example, by indexing 82a during the measurement, thereby saving time and eliminating the need to schedule the cuvettes to a corresponding mixing mechanism for mixing.

In some examples, the third transferring unit 275 may grasp the completely tested cuvettes in the testing unit 82 after dispatching the cuvettes to the testing unit 82, and then transfer the cuvettes to the second cup-throwing position 10d for cup-throwing processing, and in some embodiments, the second cup-throwing position 10d may be disposed near the index 278 in the second buffer, or between the testing unit 82 and the index 278 in the second buffer, so that the third transferring unit 275 may perform cup-throwing processing on the completely tested cuvettes in the testing unit 82 while transferring the cuvettes on the index 278 in the second buffer from the testing unit 82 to the second buffer 278, thereby saving time and improving testing efficiency.

The above are some of the descriptions of the third transfer component 275. The third transfer unit 275 can and does transfer cuvettes between the second buffer indexing position 278, the assay transfer position 82a, the assay unit 82 and even the second cup-throwing position 10d by linear motion in the first direction and the second direction.

The above is the description of the scheduling component 2 according to some embodiments of the present invention, the present application accomplishes the rapid transportation of the cuvettes through the three transportation components, i.e. the first transportation component 271, the second transportation component 273 and the third transportation component 275, the scheduling path of the cuvettes is simple and direct, which is beneficial to the speed increase of the sample analyzer; the transition between these three forwarding elements is accomplished in coordination with two cache indexes, namely first cache index 277 and second cache index 278, and is also simple and compact in structure.

Some specific work flows of the sample analyzer will be described below.

The sample analysis device in some embodiments may be operated as such.

The cuvette loader 10 supplies and carries empty cuvettes. For example, the cuvette holding member 10 can hold an empty cuvette at a predetermined position, and the predetermined position can be used as a sample addition position. The sample introduction part 20, for example, the sample introduction part 21, dispatches the sample rack carrying the sample to the sample suction position. The sample dispensing unit 30 suctions a sample from the sample suction position and dispenses the sample into a cuvette, and for example, the sample dispensing unit suctions the sample from the sample suction position and discharges the sample into a cuvette located at the sample application position to complete sample application.

The reagent carrying part 40 rotates so that the reagent container carrying the first reagent is located at the first reagent uptake location. At least one of the two reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the reaction unit 81 sucks the first reagent in the reagent container through the first reagent sucking site, and performs linear motion between the first reagent sucking site and the indexed first reagent in the reagent of the reaction unit 81 to dispense the first reagent into the cuvette indexed in the reagent of the reaction unit 81. The translocation in the reagent of the reaction part 81 may be the translocation in incubation 81a mentioned herein. In some embodiments, the two reagent needles 61 of the first reagent dispensing unit 60 are linearly moved between the first reagent aspirating position and the indexing in-reagent position of the reaction unit 81 independently of each other. Thus, the two reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the reaction unit 81 can independently, for example, alternately perform the operation of adding the first reagent to the cuvette in the reaction unit 81 at the index of the reagent adding position, thereby improving the test speed and efficiency. In some embodiments, each of the reagent dispensing components 60 of the reaction component 81 sequentially performs a plurality of preset actions to complete the operation of adding the first reagent, and at least one of the preset actions between two reagent dispensing components 61 does not overlap in time sequence. In this way, the two reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing component 60 corresponding to the reaction component 81 can avoid occupying less common resources as much as possible, so that the number of components providing corresponding common resources can be reduced, and the sample analysis apparatus can be more compact; in addition, the timing of the operations of the two reagent needles 61 is arranged in such a manner that the mutual influence between them is avoided as much as possible, which is advantageous for speeding up the sample analyzer.

The scheduling unit 2 schedules the cuvette into which the first reagent has been dispensed to the reaction unit 81 for incubation, and schedules the cuvette after incubation to the reagent to be added to the measurement unit 82 for indexing. The reagent-mediated translocation of the assay part 82 may be the assay-mediated translocation 82a mentioned herein.

The reagent carrying member 40 rotates so that the reagent container carrying the second reagent is positioned at the second reagent aspirating position. At least one of the two reagent needles of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the measurement unit 82 sucks the second reagent in the reagent container through the second reagent sucking site, and performs linear motion between the second reagent sucking site and the index of the measuring unit, thereby dispensing the second reagent into the cuvette indexed by the reagent in the measuring unit 82. In some embodiments, the two reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the measurement unit 82 are linearly moved independently of each other between the second aspirating reagent position and the indexing of the reagent in the measurement unit 82. Thus, the two reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the measurement unit 82 can independently, for example, alternately perform the operation of adding the second reagent to the cuvette in the measurement unit 82 at the index during reagent addition, thereby improving the test speed and efficiency. In some embodiments, each of the reagent dispensing units 60 of the measuring unit 82 sequentially performs a plurality of preset operations to complete the second reagent adding operation, and at least one of the preset operations between two reagent dispensing units 61 does not overlap in time sequence. In this way, the two reagent needles 61 of the reagent dispensing unit 60 corresponding to the measurement unit 82 can avoid occupying a small amount of common resources as much as possible, so that the number of units providing corresponding common resources can be reduced, and the sample analyzer can be made more compact; in addition, the action time sequence of the two second reagent needles is arranged, and the mutual influence between the two second reagent needles is avoided to the greatest extent, which is favorable for the speed increase of the sample analysis device.

The scheduling unit 2 schedules the cuvette into which the second reagent has been dispensed to the measuring unit 82 to perform item measurement, and schedules the cuvette after the measurement to a disposal/recovery device, such as the second cup disposal position mentioned herein.

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).

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.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined only by the claims.

Claims

1. A sample analysis apparatus, comprising:

a reaction cup loading part for supplying and carrying empty reaction cups;

the scheduling component is used for scheduling the reaction cups;

the sample injection component is used for scheduling a sample to be injected;

2. The sample analysis device of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is rectangular in shape; the reagent dispensing component comprises a first beam, a reagent needle and a first driving assembly, wherein the reagent needle is movably arranged on the first beam, and the first driving assembly is used for driving the reagent needle to move along the first beam and move in the vertical direction; the reagent dispensing member and the corresponding processing unit are provided such that the longitudinal direction of the first beam of the reagent dispensing member is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction or the short-side direction of the rectangular shape of the corresponding processing unit.

3. The sample analysis device of claim 2, wherein each processing unit is configured with a respective additive neutral position; the reagent dispensing unit is used for sucking a reagent from the reagent carrier and discharging the reagent into a cuvette indexed in a reagent in a corresponding processing unit.

4. A sample analysis device according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one of the processing units is a reaction means for incubating a sample or specimen; at least one of the processing units is a measuring unit for measuring a sample.

5. The sample analyzer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each reagent dispensing member first beam is disposed above the reagent carrying member so that the movement trajectories of the reagent needles do not spatially intersect.

6. The sample analysis device according to claim 1, further comprising a reagent loading member for transporting a reagent container to be loaded to the reagent carrying member; reagent loading part includes second crossbeam, reagent container snatchs portion and second drive assembly, reagent container snatchs the portion and sets up on the second crossbeam with movably mode, second drive assembly is used for driving reagent container snatchs the portion edge crossbeam removes and moves on the upper and lower direction, reagent container snatchs the portion and is used for snatching and putting down reagent container.

7. The sample analyzing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a reagent loading and unloading mechanism for loading a reagent container to be loaded; the reagent loading part is used for conveying the reagent container to be loaded from the reagent loading and unloading mechanism to the reagent carrying part.

8. The sample analysis device according to claim 7, wherein the reagent loading and unloading mechanism is further adapted to carry an unloaded reagent container, and the reagent loading member is further adapted to transport a reagent container to be unloaded from the reagent loading member to the reagent loading and unloading mechanism; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

9. The sample analysis device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the reagent loading and unloading mechanism comprises a base, a drive portion and a storage portion for carrying or receiving a reagent container; the storage part and the driving part are arranged on the base, and the driving part is used for driving the storage part to rotate relative to the base; the storage part is a disc-shaped structure, the disc-shaped surface of the storage part is provided with a plurality of container positions, the container positions comprise storage positions and disposal positions, the storage positions are used for storing reagent containers to be loaded or unloaded, and the disposal positions are used for receiving the reagent containers to be discarded.

10. The sample analyzer according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the first beam and the second beam are disposed above the reagent carrier in such a manner that the movement trajectories of the reagent needle in the reagent dispensing unit and the reagent container grasping portion of the reagent loading unit do not spatially intersect.

11. The sample analysis device of claim 1, wherein the reagent carrier is in the form of a disk-like structure.