CN114517144A

CN114517144A - Nucleic acid extraction instrument and nucleic acid extraction method

Info

Publication number: CN114517144A
Application number: CN202011306964.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙祎; 邓超明; 王兆松
Original assignee: Shanghai 3D Medicines Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai 3D Medicines Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-11-20
Filing date: 2020-11-20
Publication date: 2022-05-20

Abstract

The invention provides a nucleic acid extraction instrument and a nucleic acid extraction method, which can improve the automation degree and are beneficial to reducing the cost. The nucleic acid extractor comprises a bracket, a containing table, a first position sensor assembly, a camera, a label recognition device and a controller; the accommodating table is used for accommodating the deep hole plate; a sample label is arranged on the side surface of the deep hole plate and used for indicating information of a sample associated with the deep hole plate; the first position sensor assembly is used for sensing whether the deep hole plate is accommodated in place or not; when the deep hole plate is accommodated in place, the sample label is aligned to a light inlet of the camera, and the camera is used for collecting images containing the sample label; the label identification device is used for receiving the image and identifying a sample label in the image; the controller is used for receiving the identification result, determining the category of the sample based on the identification result, and acquiring a target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the category of the sample from the stored multiple nucleic acid extraction programs, wherein the target nucleic acid extraction program is used for realizing the nucleic acid extraction of the sample.

Description

Nucleic acid extraction instrument and nucleic acid extraction method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of nucleic acid extraction, in particular to a nucleic acid extraction instrument and a nucleic acid extraction method.

Background

The nucleic acid extraction technology is an important method for realizing precise medical treatment in the fields of biology and medicine. In order to avoid sample contamination and save labor cost, traditional manual experimental extraction has been gradually replaced by automated nucleic acid extraction, i.e., automated nucleic acid extraction can be realized by a preset nucleic acid extraction program.

Although nucleic acid extraction can be achieved by a nucleic acid extraction procedure, a series of other works including selection of a procedure and the like have been heretofore required. In the current related nucleic acid extraction experiment, a laboratory technician makes sample information records and deep-hole plate marks in advance, then places the deep-hole plate into a nucleic acid extractor, manually selects a corresponding nucleic acid extraction program to finish nucleic acid extraction, and finally carries out subsequent experiments according to the corresponding sample information records and the deep-hole plate marks.

In the above manner, the whole experiment process is not completely automated, which is time and labor consuming, and especially if there are many nucleic acid extraction procedures, for example, if 500 procedures are stored in the nucleic acid extractor in advance, it is a particularly tedious process for the experimenter to manually select the nucleic acid extraction procedure.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a nucleic acid extraction instrument and a nucleic acid extraction method, which can improve the automation degree and are beneficial to reducing the cost.

The first aspect of the present invention provides a nucleic acid extractor comprising: the device comprises a support, a containing table, a first position sensor assembly, a camera, a label identification device and a controller;

the containing table is arranged on the bracket and used for containing the deep hole plate; a sample label is arranged on the side surface of the deep hole plate and is used for indicating information of a sample associated with the deep hole plate;

the first position sensor assembly is arranged on the containing table and used for sensing whether the deep hole plate is contained in place or not;

the camera is arranged on the bracket, the sample label is aligned to a light inlet of the camera when the deep hole plate is accommodated in place, and the camera is used for collecting images containing the sample label;

the label identification device is connected with the camera and used for receiving the image and identifying the sample label in the image;

the controller is connected with the label identification device and used for receiving an identification result, determining the category of the sample based on the identification result, and acquiring a target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the category of the sample from a plurality of stored nucleic acid extraction programs, wherein the target nucleic acid extraction program is used for realizing nucleic acid extraction of the sample.

According to one embodiment of the invention, further comprising a movable mechanism;

the movable mechanism is mounted on the bracket;

the containing table is mounted on the movable mechanism and can move back and forth relative to the camera through the movable mechanism; and in the process of moving the containing table back and forth, the sample label is always aligned with the light inlet of the camera.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the controller is further configured to: when the first position sensor assembly is determined to sense that the deep hole plate is accommodated in place, controlling the camera to acquire an image, if an identification result is not received within a set period of time, controlling the movable mechanism to drive the accommodating table to move relative to the camera so as to adjust the distance between the sample label and the camera, and controlling the camera to acquire a new image when the accommodating table is moved;

the tag identification device is further configured to: and identifying the sample label in the image every time the image is received, and sending an identification result to the controller when the identification result is obtained.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the controller controls the movable mechanism to drive the accommodating table to move relative to the camera, the controller is further configured to:

checking whether the current position of the accommodating table is a set position or whether the direction from the set position to the current position is a first direction, wherein the first direction is a direction far away from the camera or a direction close to the camera;

if so, controlling the accommodating table to move to a specified distance in a second direction after the accommodating table is reset to the set position when the distance between the current position and the set position is greater than or equal to the set distance, wherein the second direction is the opposite direction of the first direction, and the specified distance is smaller than the set distance; when the distance between the current position and the set position is smaller than the set distance, controlling the accommodating table to move to the first direction by a designated distance;

if not, when the distance between the current position and the set position is greater than or equal to the set distance, controlling the accommodating table to move to the first direction for a specified distance after being reset to the set position; and when the distance between the current position and the set position is smaller than the set distance, controlling the accommodating table to move to the second direction by a designated distance.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the device further comprises a magnetic bar sleeve frame and a second position sensor assembly;

the magnetic rod sleeve frame is used for accommodating the magnetic rod sleeve;

the second position sensor assembly is arranged on the magnetic bar sleeve frame and used for sensing whether the magnetic bar sleeve is accommodated in place or not;

the controller is further configured to: and when the second position sensor assembly is determined to sense that the magnetic rod sleeve is accommodated in place, operating the target nucleic acid extraction program, and otherwise, inhibiting the target nucleic acid extraction program from being operated.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the magnetic rod sleeve frame comprises N magnetic rod sleeve accommodating parts, each magnetic rod sleeve accommodating part is used for accommodating a row of magnetic rod sleeves, and N is greater than or equal to 1;

the second position sensor assembly comprises N second position sensors which are respectively arranged at the appointed positions of the N magnetic rod sleeve accommodating parts;

the second position sensor assembly senses that the magnetic rod sleeve is accommodated in place further: and the N second position sensors sense that the magnetic rod sleeve reaches the specified position of the magnetic rod sleeve accommodating part.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the accommodating table at least comprises one accommodating part, and each accommodating part is used for accommodating one deep hole plate;

the first position sensor assembly includes at least two first position sensors, wherein the two first position sensors are respectively disposed at diagonal positions of the accommodating portion.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the device further comprises a heating device fixed at the bottom of the containing table and used for heating the deep hole plate;

the heating device comprises a heating strip assembly, a heat shield, a heat insulation pressing strip and a cooling fan;

the heating strip assembly comprises a heating strip body and a heating head, and the heating head is positioned at the upper end of the heating strip body;

said heat shield having an upper end opening and a lower end opening, said heat shield being mounted over said heating bar assembly and extending from said upper end opening by said heating tip;

the heat insulation pressing strip seals the lower end opening of the heat insulation cover so as to form a fully-enclosed space among the heat insulation pressing strip, the heat insulation cover and the heating head, and the heating strip body is enclosed in the fully-enclosed space;

the heat shield and/or the heat-insulating pressing strip are/is provided with heat dissipation holes, and the heat dissipation fan is arranged towards at least one heat dissipation hole.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

at least one row of heat dissipation holes are formed in at least one side of the heat shield;

at least one row of heat dissipation holes are formed in the heat insulation pressing strip.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the heat dissipation fan is arranged at the bottom of the heat insulation pressing strip and faces the heat dissipation holes of the heat insulation pressing strip.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

a gap exists between at least one side of the heating strip body and the corresponding side wall of the heat shield;

a gap exists between the bottom of the heating strip body and the heat insulation pressing strip.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the bottom of the heating strip body is also provided with a heat dissipation rib.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the size of the upper end opening of the heat shield is matched with the size of the heating head, so that the heating head can seal the upper end opening of the heat shield.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

the heat radiation fan is used for: and when the heating device is heated, air is not supplied, and when the heating device finishes heating, air supply is started.

The second aspect of the present invention provides a nucleic acid extraction method applied to a controller in the nucleic acid extractor according to the previous embodiment, the method including:

when the first position sensor assembly is determined to sense that the deep hole plate is accommodated in place, controlling the camera to collect images; the label identification device can identify a sample label in an image when receiving the image collected by the camera each time, and send an identification result to the controller when obtaining the identification result;

checking whether an identification result is received within a set time length;

if not, controlling the accommodating table to move relative to the camera to adjust the distance between the sample label and the camera, controlling the camera to acquire a new image when the accommodating table is moved, and returning to the step of checking whether an identification result is received within a set period of time;

and if so, determining the type of the sample based on the identification result, and acquiring a target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the type of the sample from a plurality of stored nucleic acid extraction programs, wherein the target nucleic acid extraction program is used for realizing the nucleic acid extraction of the sample.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the controlling the accommodating table to move relative to the camera includes:

According to an embodiment of the present invention, after obtaining the target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the category of the sample from the plurality of stored nucleic acid extraction programs, the method further includes:

and when determining that the second position sensor assembly senses that the magnetic rod sleeve is accommodated in place, operating the target nucleic acid extraction program, otherwise, prohibiting the target nucleic acid extraction program, wherein the second position sensor assembly is arranged on the magnetic rod sleeve frame, and the magnetic rod sleeve frame is used for accommodating the magnetic rod sleeve.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

in the embodiment of the invention, the sample label is arranged on the side surface of the deep hole plate, the first position sensor assembly is arranged on the containing platform, whether the deep hole plate is contained in place can be sensed, so that the sample label of the deep hole plate can be aligned to the light inlet of the camera, the controller can accurately control the time for the camera to collect images, the camera can collect images containing complete sample labels, the problem that subsequent identification cannot be realized due to the fact that only images of local sample labels are collected is avoided, in addition, the size of the camera is smaller than that of the label identification device, the camera can be easily arranged at the position of the sample label aligned to the deep hole plate, therefore, the label identification device can be arranged at the vacant position of the nucleic acid extractor by adopting the mode that the camera collects images and the label identification device are identified, and the miniaturization of the whole nucleic acid extractor can be facilitated, the label recognition device recognizes the recognition result of the sample label from the image and then sends the recognition result to the controller, the controller can determine the required target nucleic acid extraction program according to the recognition result, the target nucleic acid extraction program can realize the nucleic acid extraction of the sample, the whole process is full-automatic, the manual recording of sample information, the selection of the nucleic acid extraction program and the like are not needed, the labor and time cost can be reduced, the manual operation errors can be avoided, and the accuracy of the nucleic acid extraction is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views of a nucleic acid extractor according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing different angles;

fig. 3 is an exploded view of a heating device without a heat dissipation fan according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a self-contained structure of a heating device without a heat dissipation fan according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a structure in which a heating apparatus provided with a heat-dissipating fan according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a housing table of a nucleic acid isolation instrument;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for extracting nucleic acid according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

a support 10; a holding table 11; a stopper 111; a spring plate 112; a first position sensor 113; a deep hole plate 20; a sample label 21; a camera 30; a tag identification device 31; a cable 32; a magnetic rod sleeve frame 40; a second position sensor assembly 41; a magnet rod sleeve 42; a heating device 50; an insulating sheath 51; an upper end opening 511; a first heat dissipation hole 512; a heat-insulating press bar 52; a second heat dissipation hole 521; a heating bar body 531; heating tips 532; a pit 5321; a heating element 533; heat dissipation ribs 534; and a heat radiation fan 54.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims, as well as in the drawings, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used is interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with specific examples. The following several specific embodiments may be combined with each other, and details of the same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments.

Fig. 1 and 2 show a nucleic acid extractor according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may include a support 10, a housing table 11, a first position sensor assembly, a camera 30, a tag recognition device 31, and a controller. Of course, the nucleic acid extracting apparatus may further include other components, such as an actuator for extracting the sample nucleic acid, a driving mechanism for the actuator, and the like, and is not limited specifically.

The table 11, the camera 30 and the label recognition device 31 may be provided on the stand 10. The controller may of course be provided on the stand 10, or may be provided outside the stand 10, as long as the camera 30, the tag identification device 31, and other necessary components (such as a driving mechanism) can be connected. The setting may refer to installation and fixation, for example, may be fixed by a connector, and the connector may refer to a screw connector, and it should be understood that the installation and fixation manner herein is merely an example and is not a limitation.

The platform 11 is used to accommodate the deep hole plate 20. Alternatively, the receiving table 11 may include one or more receiving portions, each for receiving one of the deep hole plates 20. In some cases, the samples within the deep well plates 20 on different receptacles may be different in order to achieve different nucleic acid extraction operations simultaneously.

Each accommodating portion may be provided with a stopper 111 and a spring 112, and the deep hole plate 20 may be fixed to the accommodating portion by the cooperation of the stopper 111 and the spring 112. The limiting blocks 111 of two adjacent accommodating parts can be connected together, for example, the two adjacent accommodating parts can be integrally formed, so that the firmness of the limiting blocks 111 can be increased, and the space can be more reasonably utilized.

The side of the deep hole plate 20 is provided with a sample label 21. Generally, the deep hole plate 20 is not recycled, so the sample label 21 may be adhesively bonded to the side surface of the deep hole plate 20. Of course, in some cases, if the deep hole plate 20 is considered to be reusable, the sample label 21 may be detachably fixed on the side surface of the deep hole plate 20, for example, a card slot may be installed on the side surface of the deep hole plate 20, and the sample label 21 may be fixed by being clipped into the card slot.

The sample label 21 on the side of the deep well plate 20 is used to indicate information of a sample associated with the deep well plate 20, and in actual use, the deep well plate 20 may be loaded with a corresponding sample or a sample reagent, and the sample label 21 may indicate sample information of the loaded sample, and the sample information may be, for example, a name of the sample, a number of the sample, and the like.

The first position sensor assembly is provided on the receiving table 11 for sensing whether the deep hole plate 20 is received in place. In the case where the accommodating table 11 includes one or more accommodating portions, one first position sensor assembly may be provided for each accommodating portion, so that each first position sensor assembly may sense whether the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place in the accommodating portion. The bottom of each receptacle may be provided with a heating device 50,

in a preferred form, as shown in FIG. 2, the first position sensor assembly includes two first position sensors 113, and the two first position sensors 113 are respectively disposed at diagonal positions of the receptacle, such as may be respectively located beside two non-adjacent corners of the intermediate heating apparatus 50 on the bottom of the receptacle. When the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place, the two position sensor hoes can be displaced, the switch is triggered to generate a sensing signal for representing that the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place, and the sensing signal can be transmitted to the controller, so that the controller controls the camera 30 to collect images when determining that the first position sensor assembly senses that the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place.

Thus, the deep hole plate 20 can be ensured to be flatly accommodated and accommodated in place, the problem that one side of the deep hole plate is in place and the other side of the deep hole plate is tilted is avoided, and therefore the sample label 21 can be aligned to the light inlet of the camera 30, and image acquisition and identification can be conveniently carried out subsequently.

Of course, the first position sensor assembly may also include more first position sensors 113, such as three, etc., without limitation. It is understood that the first position sensor assembly may further include, in addition to the first position sensor 113, a controller component for transmitting the sensing signal to the controller, such as an electronic circuit or a wireless transmission module, and the like, without limitation.

The first position sensor assembly sensing that the deep hole plate 20 is received further: all of the first position sensors 113 included in the first position sensor assembly generate sensing signals. Accordingly, the controller determining that the first position sensor assembly senses that the deep hole plate 20 is received further: the sensing signals transmitted by all the first position sensors 113 included in the first position sensor assembly are received.

The camera 30 is used to capture an image containing the sample label 21. In the case where the receiving station 11 includes one or more receiving portions, a camera 30 may be disposed at one side of each receiving portion, and the position of the camera 30 may be such that the sample label 21 is aligned with the light inlet of the camera 30 when the deep hole plate 20 is received in place, that is, the sample label 21 is within the visual field of the camera 30.

In practice, the nucleic acid extraction operation for the samples in the wells 20 of different accommodating parts can be performed independently, for example, for each accommodating part, after the well plate 20 is placed in the accommodating part, all the first position sensors 113 included in the first position sensor assembly of the accommodating part generate sensing signals and transmit the sensing signals to the controller, and the controller sends acquisition control signals to the cameras 30 corresponding to the accommodating parts to control the cameras 30 corresponding to the accommodating parts to acquire images so as to acquire the images of the sample labels 21 on the wells 20 of the accommodating parts.

The camera 30 may collect one or more frames of images when receiving the collection control signal sent by the controller, which is not limited specifically.

The label recognition device 31 is connected with the camera 30 and the controller, and the camera 30 can transmit the image collected each time to the label recognition device 31. The label recognition device 31 receives the image and recognizes the sample label 21 in the image. Optionally, the label recognition device 31 may be a two-dimensional code scanning device, and the sample label 21 may be a two-dimensional code label, and may be a two-dimensional code recognition mode to recognize the sample label 21 in the image.

Alternatively, the tag identification device 31 and the camera 30 may be connected by a cable 32. Preferably, the cable 32 may be an optical fiber, which is faster. Of course, this is only preferred and not particularly limited. The nucleic acid extractor may be provided with two sets of tag identification devices 31 and a camera 30, the two sets of tag identification devices 31 and the camera 30 may share the same controller, or different controllers may be used, which is not limited specifically.

The tag identification means 31 may obtain an identification result when the identification is successful, the identification result may include information identified from the sample tag 21, such as sample information, and may transmit the identification result to the controller, the above-mentioned identification result may not be obtained when the identification is failed.

The controller may receive the recognition result and determine a category of the sample based on the recognition result, and obtain a target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the category of the sample from the stored plurality of nucleic acid extraction programs, the target nucleic acid extraction program being used for realizing nucleic acid extraction of the sample.

The difference between different nucleic acid extraction procedures can be expressed in terms of the flow, the time of each flow, and the like. For example, the FFPE (formalin hybridization and Paraffin embedding) program and the cfDNA (free DNA fragment) program are two different nucleic acid extraction programs, which are different in flow, and the time of each of the flow can be changed according to the needs of customers, so that many other nucleic acid extraction programs can be derived.

A plurality of different nucleic acid extraction programs may be stored in the controller in advance, or may be stored in another device and called when necessary. At the time of saving, the category of the sample may be saved in correspondence with the nucleic acid extraction program so as to find the corresponding nucleic acid extraction program according to the category of the sample.

After receiving the identification result, the controller may determine the type of the sample, where the identification result may include, for example, a sample name, determine the type of the sample according to the sample name, obtain, from all stored nucleic acid extraction programs, a target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the determined type of the sample, and operate the target nucleic acid extraction program to extract the nucleic acid from the sample.

In the above embodiment, the sample label 21 is disposed on the side of the deep hole plate 20, and the first position sensor assembly is disposed on the accommodating table 11, so that whether the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place can be sensed, and thus the sample label 21 of the deep hole plate 20 can be aligned with the light inlet of the camera 30, so that the controller can accurately control the timing of image acquisition by the camera 30, the camera 30 can acquire an image containing a complete sample label 21, and the problem that subsequent identification cannot be performed due to only acquiring an image of a partial sample label 21 is avoided, and the size of the camera 30 is smaller than that of the label identification device 31 and is more easily set at the position of the sample label 21 aligned with the deep hole plate 20, so that the label identification device 31 can be set at the vacant position of the nucleic acid extractor in a manner that the camera 30 acquires an image and identifies the label identification device 31, the whole nucleic acid extraction instrument can be more favorably miniaturized, the label recognition device 31 can recognize the recognition result of the sample label 21 from the image and then can send the recognition result to the controller, the controller can determine the required target nucleic acid extraction program according to the recognition result, the target nucleic acid extraction program can realize the nucleic acid extraction of the sample, the whole process is full-automatic, the manual recording of sample information, the selection of the nucleic acid extraction program and the like are not needed, the labor and time cost can be reduced, the manual operation errors can be avoided, and the accuracy of the nucleic acid extraction is improved.

In addition, samples are classified, wherein samples with the same nucleic acid extraction process can be classified into one class, and the corresponding nucleic acid extraction processes are searched according to the classes, so that the number of the nucleic acid extraction processes required to be stored can be reduced compared with the method of searching the corresponding nucleic acid extraction processes according to the names or the numbers of the samples.

In one embodiment, based on the foregoing embodiments, the nucleic acid extracting apparatus may further include a movable mechanism (not labeled in the figure) which is mounted on the support 10, and the accommodating stage 11 is mounted on the movable mechanism and can move back and forth relative to the camera 30 through the movable mechanism.

The movable device may include, for example, a slide rail disposed on the accommodating table 11 or the accommodating portion, and a slide groove disposed on the support 10, and the accommodating table 11 may be realized by the cooperation of the slide rail and the slide groove

During the process of moving the holding table 11 back and forth, the sample label 21 is always aligned with the light inlet of the camera 30. In other words, the back and forth movement is limited to linear movement closer to the camera 30 or further away from the camera 30 to avoid the sample label 21 moving out of the field of view of the camera 30.

In this embodiment, the movable mechanism can move the holding table 11 back and forth relative to the camera 30, so that the distance between the sample label 21 on the deep hole plate 20 and the camera 30 can be adjusted, that is, the depth of field of the camera 30 can be adjusted, and the accuracy of label identification can be greatly improved.

In an embodiment, on the basis of the preceding embodiment, the controller is further configured to: when the first position sensor assembly is determined to sense that the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place, controlling the camera 30 to acquire an image, if the recognition result is not received within a set period of time later, controlling the movable mechanism to drive the accommodating table 11 to move relative to the camera 30 so as to adjust the distance between the sample label 21 and the camera 30, and controlling the camera 30 to acquire a new image when the accommodating table 11 is moved;

the tag identification means 31 is further adapted to: the sample label 21 in the image is identified each time the image is received, and the identification result is sent to the controller when the identification result is obtained.

The controller determines that the first position sensor assembly senses that the deep hole plate 20 is accommodated in place, and only ensures that the sample label 21 is aligned with the light inlet of the camera 30, but cannot ensure that the sample label 21 can be identified by the sample label 21 device from the image collected by the camera 30, and since the distance between the sample label 21 and the camera 30 may not be matched with the focal length of the camera 30, the sample label 21 cannot be clearly imaged on the camera 30.

Therefore, in this embodiment, after the controller controls the camera 30 to capture an image, the camera 30 sends the image to the tag identification device 31, the tag identification device 31 identifies the sample tag 21 in the image, and sends the identification result to the controller only when the identification is successful, otherwise, the identification result is not sent. If the controller does not receive the recognition result within a set time period after controlling the camera 30 to acquire the image, it means that the label recognition device 31 cannot recognize the sample label 21, and the controller controls the movable mechanism to drive the accommodating table 11 to move relative to the camera 30, so that the distance between the sample label 21 and the camera 30 can be adjusted, each time a certain distance can be moved, when the movement is completed, the camera 30 is controlled again to collect a new image, the camera 30 will send the collected image of the letter to the label recognition device 31 for recognition again, if the tag identification device 31 successfully identifies, the identification result may be sent to the controller, otherwise, the identification result is not sent, if the controller does not receive the identification result within a set time period again, the movable mechanism may be controlled again to drive the holding table 11 to move relative to the camera 30 until the recognition result is obtained.

In this embodiment, the controller may control the movable mechanism to drive the holding table 11 to move relative to the camera 30 according to whether the tag identification device 31 feeds back the identification result within the set time period, so as to adjust the distance between the sample tag 21 and the camera 30, that is, adjust the depth of field of the camera 30 until the tag identification device 31 can obtain the identification result, thereby further ensuring the automation and accuracy of the identification of the sample tag 21.

In one embodiment, when the controller controls the movable mechanism to drive the holding table 11 to move relative to the camera 30, the controller is further configured to:

checking whether the current position of the holding table 11 is a set position or whether the direction from the set position to the current position is a first direction, the first direction being a direction away from the camera 30 or a direction approaching the camera 30;

if yes, when the distance between the current position and the set position is greater than or equal to the set distance, the holding table 11 is controlled to move to a specified distance in a second direction after being reset to the set position, the second direction is opposite to the first direction, and the specified distance is smaller than the set distance; controlling the accommodating table 11 to move a designated distance in the first direction when the distance between the current position and the set position is smaller than the set distance;

if not, when the distance between the current position and the set position is greater than or equal to the set distance, the control accommodating table 11 is reset to the set position and then is moved to the first direction by the designated distance; when the distance between the current position and the set position is smaller than the set distance, the accommodating table 11 is controlled to move in the second direction by the predetermined distance.

The set position may be an initial position of the placement stage 11, and may be set empirically, for example, a position where the placement stage 11 is located when most of the sample labels 21 are recognized is set as the set position. Alternatively, after receiving the identification result of the tag identification device 31, the controller may modify the set setting position to the current position of the holding table 11, and use the modified setting position as the positioning of the holding table 11 in the next nucleic acid extraction, so as to improve the code scanning efficiency, and of course, the controller may readjust the position of the holding table 11 based on the setting position in the next nucleic acid extraction.

In this embodiment, when the controller controls the movable mechanism to drive the accommodating table 11 to move, the controller may move in the same direction, and if the distance between the controller and the accommodating table is too long after several movements, but the sample label 21 cannot be identified by the label identification device 31, the controller may move in the opposite direction again, so as to ensure that the label identification device 31 can finally identify the sample label 21, and the identification efficiency is high.

In one embodiment, with continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the nucleic acid extractor can further include a magnetic rod nest 40 and a second position sensor assembly 41 based on the foregoing embodiments.

The bar magnet holder 40 may be mounted on the support 10, and specifically may be located above the accommodating table 11, of course, a space of the deep hole plate 20 needs to be left between the bar magnet holder 40 and the accommodating table 11, and the bar magnet holder 40 is configured to accommodate the bar magnet 42. A second position sensor assembly 41 is provided on the bar magnet holder 40 for sensing whether the bar magnet sleeve 42 is received in place.

The controller is further configured to: when it is determined that the second position sensor assembly 41 senses that the magnet sleeve 42 is accommodated in position, the target nucleic acid extraction program is executed, otherwise, the target nucleic acid extraction program is prohibited from being executed.

In this embodiment, the second position sensor assembly 41 is disposed on the magnetic rod sleeve holder 40, so that whether the magnetic rod sleeve 42 is accommodated in place can be sensed, the target nucleic acid extraction program is operated only when the magnetic rod sleeve is accommodated in place, otherwise, the target nucleic acid extraction program is prohibited from being operated, and thus, the risks of experiment failure and instrument damage caused by the magnetic rod sleeve 42 being missed in the nucleic acid extraction experiment process are reduced.

In one embodiment, the bar magnet holder 40 includes N bar magnet holder receiving portions, each for receiving an array of bar magnet holders 42, N being greater than or equal to 1. In fig. 1, a shelf above the bar magnet nest 40 may be used to hold a bar magnet (not labeled).

Accordingly, the second position sensor assembly 41 includes N second position sensors, which are respectively disposed at designated positions of the N magnet bar cover accommodating portions. The second position sensor assembly 41 senses that the magnet bar sleeve 42 is received further: each of the N second position sensors senses that the magnet bar sleeve 42 reaches a designated position of the magnet bar sleeve receptacle.

Each second position sensor may generate a sensing signal indicating that the magnet bar cover 42 is mounted in place when sensing that the magnet bar cover 42 reaches the designated position of the corresponding magnet bar cover receiving portion, and the controller may operate the target nucleic acid extracting process only when receiving the sensing signals transmitted from all the second sensors included in the second position sensor assembly 41.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the magnetic rod holder 40 includes 4 magnetic rod holder accommodating portions that can accommodate 4 rows of magnetic rod holders 42, and correspondingly, 4 second position sensors can be respectively disposed at designated positions of the 4 magnetic rod holder accommodating portions, and the target nucleic acid extraction process can be performed only when all of the 4 rows of magnetic rod holders 42 are accurately accommodated in the 4 magnetic rod holder accommodating portions.

Referring to FIG. 2, a heating device 50 may be further provided on the nucleic acid extracting apparatus, and the heating device 50 may be used to heat the reagent in the deep well plate 20.

The heating device 50 may be fixed at the bottom of the receiving platform 11, and in case the receiving platform 11 includes a plurality of receiving portions, one or more heating devices 50 may be disposed on each receiving portion, as shown in fig. 2, 3 heating devices 50 may be disposed on each receiving portion, and the 3 heating devices 50 may share the same heat dissipation fan 54, and the heat dissipation fan 54 is disposed at the bottom of the 3 heating devices 50. The number of the heating bar assemblies in the 3 heating devices 50 may not be limited to one, and in fig. 2, the number of the heating bar assemblies in the first accommodating portion on the left side is 2, 3, and 1, respectively, and the number of the heating bar assemblies in each heating device 50 may be adjusted according to the reagent column to be heated by the deep-well plate 20, so that when the maximum continuous column to be heated is 3, the number of the heating bar assemblies in the corresponding heating device 50 is 3, which is not particularly limited.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the heating device 50 may include a heating bar assembly, a heat shield, a heat insulating bead 52, and a heat sink fan (a heat sink fan 54 is shown in fig. 5 and not shown in fig. 3 and 4).

The heating strip assembly may include a heating strip body 531 and a heating tip 532, with heating tip 532 being located at an upper end of heating strip body 531. In this embodiment, the upper end of the heating bar body 531 refers to the end closer to the deep well plate 20 after being mounted to the nucleic acid extractor.

The upper end surface of the heating tip 532 may contact the bottom of the deep hole plate 20 to transfer the heat of the heating bar body 531 to the deep hole plate 20. The bottom of the deep hole plate 20 may have a protrusion, and in this embodiment, the upper end surface of the heating tip 532 may have a recess 5321, and the recess 5321 may cooperate with the protrusion at the bottom of the deep hole plate 20 to achieve better contact between the heating tip 532 and the deep hole plate 20.

Of course, the heating strip assembly may also include other components, such as a heating element 533, a cavity is disposed in the heating strip body 531 (the cavity may be opened or closed by a cover, the cover is not shown), the heating element 533 is disposed in the cavity and connected to an external power supply and control device by a wire, wherein the wire may pass through the heating strip body 531 and the heat shield. Optionally, the heating element 533 may include a heating sheet, a temperature sensor, and the like, which are not limited in particular.

The heat shield has an upper end opening 511 and a lower end opening (the lower end opening is not labeled) that fits over the heating bar assembly and extends from the upper end opening 511 by the heating tip 532, and the lower end opening is used to place the heating bar assembly into the heat shield.

The upper end opening 511 is located at the upper end of the heat shield and the lower end opening may be located at the lower end of the heat shield, which may be the end opposite the upper end. The size of the lower opening may be larger than the size of the upper opening 511 so that the heating bar assembly may enter through the lower opening and not exit through the upper opening 511, although the upper opening 511 is sufficient to allow the heating tip 532 to protrude.

The heat insulating press bar 52 closes the lower end opening of the heat shield to form a fully enclosed space between the heat insulating press bar 52, the heat shield, and the heating head 532, and the heating bar body 531 is enclosed in the fully enclosed space.

Optionally, the heat-insulating pressing strip 52 may be fixed to the lower opening of the heat shield by a snap-fit fixing method, and the lower opening is sealed. Of course, the fixing manner of the heat insulating pressing bar 52 and the heat shield is not limited to this, and for example, the fixing may be realized by an external connecting member.

The fully enclosed space means that the heating tip 532 has blocking walls at the upper, lower, front, rear, left and right ends, wherein the blocking wall at the upper end may be composed of the heating tip 532 and partial walls of the heat shield, the blocking walls at the front, rear, left and right ends may be composed of the four side walls of the heat shield, and the blocking wall at the lower end may be composed of the heat insulating beads 52.

The heat shield and/or the heat-insulating pressing strip 52 are provided with heat dissipation holes, and the number and specific positions of the heat dissipation holes are not limited.

Preferably, two side surfaces of the heat shield are respectively provided with a row of first heat dissipation holes 512, and the heat insulation pressing bar 52 is provided with a row of second heat dissipation holes 521. The two side surfaces of the heat shield may be two side surfaces with a larger area, and the row of second heat holes 521 on the heat-insulating pressing strip 52 may be arranged in the length direction of the heat-insulating pressing strip 52. It should be understood that the above-mentioned method is only a preferred method, and actually, the method is not limited to this, for example, two sides of the heat shield may be provided with multiple rows of heat dissipation holes, or only one side of the heat shield may be provided with one or more rows of heat dissipation holes, and the heat-insulating bead 52 may also be provided with multiple rows of heat dissipation holes, which is not limited in particular.

The quantity of a row of louvre is a plurality of. The size of each heat dissipation hole is far smaller than the upper end opening 511 or the lower end opening, for example, the diameter of each heat dissipation hole may be in the millimeter level, for example, the diameter may be smaller than 5mm, and of course, the specific size is not limited.

The heat dissipation fan 54 is disposed toward at least one heat dissipation hole. Preferably, the heat dissipation fan 54 is disposed at the bottom of the heat insulation pressing bar 52 and faces the second heat dissipation hole 521 of the heat insulation pressing bar 52, which may facilitate the installation of the heat dissipation fan 54 and the sharing of the same heat dissipation fan 54 by multiple heating devices 50. Of course, the position of the heat dissipation fan 54 is not limited to this, and may be disposed on one side of the heat shield and facing the first heat dissipation hole 512 of the heat shield.

The heat dissipation fan 54 may not supply air when the heating device 50 is heating, and starts supplying air when the heating device 50 finishes heating.

In the above embodiment, since a fully enclosed space is formed among the heat insulating pressing bar 52, the heat shield and the heating head 532, the heating bar body 531 is enclosed in the fully enclosed space, and the cooling fan 54 may not operate during heating, so that the air in the fully enclosed space is static, the static air has a very low thermal conductivity, and even if there are cooling holes on the heat shield and/or the heat insulating pressing bar 52, the heat is not easy to dissipate through the cooling holes, compared with a manner that the heating bar body 531 is semi-enclosed, the fully enclosed heat insulation can make the heating and heat preservation effects better, and can quickly and effectively heat the reagent to be heated to the required temperature, thereby improving the heating efficiency, and particularly having a good effect on large-volume or high-temperature reaction reagents; moreover, when heat dissipation is required, the heat dissipation fan 54 can be controlled to work, air is supplied to the inside of the full enclosure space through the heat dissipation holes, so that air convection is generated inside the full enclosure space, convection heat dissipation can be performed through the heat dissipation holes, and the heat dissipation effect is good.

In addition, generally, a plurality of heating devices 50 are disposed on the nucleic acid extractor, and in the embodiment of the present invention, the heat dissipation of the heating strip body 531 during the heating process is greatly limited by the way of full-enclosure heat insulation, so that the mutual influence between adjacent heating strip bodies 531 is greatly reduced.

Optionally, a gap exists between at least one side surface of the heating strip body 531 and a corresponding side wall of the heat shield, where the at least one side surface may be a side surface provided with heat dissipation holes. Therefore, when heat is dissipated, convection can be formed in the space of the gap, and the heat dissipation effect is better.

Optionally, a gap exists between the bottom of the heating bar body 531 and the heat insulation pressing bar 52. Similarly, convection is formed in the full-surrounding space when heat dissipation is facilitated, so that heat dissipation is facilitated.

Preferably, referring to fig. 3 and 4, gaps exist between the two side surfaces of the heat shield, which are provided with the first heat dissipation holes 512, and the heating strip body 531, and gaps also exist between the bottom of the heating strip body 531 and the heat insulation pressing strip 52, so that when the heat dissipation fan 54 supplies air towards the second heat dissipation holes 521 of the heat insulation pressing strip 52, convection is formed between the gaps in the fully enclosed space, and the air flow carries heat out of the first heat dissipation holes 512 of the heat shield, so that the heat dissipation effect is good.

Optionally, referring to fig. 3, the bottom of the heating bar body 531 is further provided with a heat dissipating rib 534, and the heat dissipating rib 534 may be arranged in the length direction of the heating bar body 531. The heat dissipation rib 534 may be disposed in a gap between the heating bar body 531 and the heat insulation pressing bar 52, and optionally, the heat dissipation rib 534 may contact the heat insulation pressing bar 52, so that the heat insulation pressing bar 52 may tightly support the entire heating bar assembly in the heat shield.

Due to the existence of the heat dissipation ribs 534, the heat dissipation area of the heating strip body 531 is larger, so that more heat can be taken away when the air flow passes through, and the heat dissipation effect is better.

Preferably, the heat dissipating ribs 534 are integrated with the heating bar body 531. For example, the heat dissipating ribs 534 and the heating strip body 531 may be integrally formed, and may be made of the same material by using the same mold, where the material may specifically be a metal material, and specifically may be any one of copper, aluminum, iron and the like with good thermal conductivity or an alloy material containing any one of the elements.

Optionally, referring to figures 3 and 4, the dimensions of heat shield upper end opening 511 are matched to the dimensions of heating tip 532 such that heating tip 532 can enclose heat shield upper end opening 511. Thus, heat dissipation from the upper end opening 511 of the heat shield can be avoided, and the heat dissipation efficiency is ensured.

Optionally, referring to fig. 3, heating strip body 531 and heating tip 532 are of an integral structure and are made of a metal material, specifically, any material with good thermal conductivity, such as copper, aluminum, iron, or an alloy material containing any element thereof. In one example, the heating strip body 531, the heating tip 532 and the heat dissipating ribs 534 may be integrally formed.

Alternatively, heating bar body 531 and heating tip 532 may be separate structures, which will be described in more detail below.

Heating bar body 531 is made of a metal material and heating tip 532 is made of a flexible heat conducting material. The first surface of heating tip 532 is attached to heating strip body 531 and the second surface of heating tip 532 is attached to the bottom of deep hole plate 20 to transfer heat from heating strip body 531 to deep hole plate 20, the first and second surfaces being two different surfaces of heating tip 532.

The second surface is, for example, an upper end surface of the heating tip 532, specifically, a surface of the heating tip 532 facing the deep well plate 20 when the second heating unit 50 is mounted on the nucleic acid extracting apparatus. First surface is, for example, a lower end surface of heating tip 532, specifically an end surface opposite an upper end surface of heating tip 532.

Because the heating strip body 531 and the heating head 532 are of a separated structure, and the heating head 532 is made of flexible heat conducting materials, due to the flexible characteristic of the heating head 532, the heating head 532 can be well attached to the heating strip body 531 on the one hand, and can be well attached to the deep hole plate 20 on the other hand, so that a gap is avoided being generated due to poor contact with the deep hole plate 20, and a better heat conducting effect can be achieved between the heating strip body 531 and the deep hole plate 20.

Optionally, the heating tip 532 and the heating strip body 531 are fixed to each other in a nesting manner, so that the two contact more completely, and the problem of poor contact caused by the action of an external connecting piece in the heating tip is avoided.

Of course, the fixing manner of heating tip 532 and heating strip body 531 is not limited to this, and other fixing manners that can make no gap between heating tip 532 and heating strip body 531 are also applicable.

Optionally, heating tip 532 is made of heat conductive silicone rubber, i.e. the flexible heat conductive material is heat conductive silicone rubber. The heat-conducting silicone rubber is a non-flowable soft material, and is different from a flowable soft material, namely heat-conducting silicone grease.

In this embodiment, the heating tip 532 is formed by molding the heat conductive silicone rubber, and then is fitted to the heating strip body 531, and has a certain flexibility, and can be compressed after being stressed, and can recover the original shape after the force is removed, and the flexibility can make the heating tip 532 more tightly fit with the heating strip body 531 and the deep hole plate 20.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a nucleic acid extraction method, which is applied to the controller in the nucleic acid extraction apparatus described in the foregoing embodiments, in other words, the main execution body of the nucleic acid extraction method is the controller. Referring to fig. 6, the method includes:

s100: when the first position sensor assembly is determined to sense that the deep hole plate is accommodated in place, controlling the camera to collect images; the label identification device can identify a sample label in an image when receiving the image collected by the camera each time, and send an identification result to the controller when obtaining the identification result;

s200: checking whether an identification result is received within a set time length;

s300: if not, controlling the accommodating table to move relative to the camera to adjust the distance between the sample label and the camera, controlling the camera to acquire a new image when the accommodating table is moved, and returning to the step of checking whether an identification result is received within a set period of time;

s400: and if so, determining the type of the sample based on the identification result, and acquiring a target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the type of the sample from a plurality of stored nucleic acid extraction programs, wherein the target nucleic acid extraction program is used for realizing the nucleic acid extraction of the sample.

In one embodiment, the controlling the accommodating table to move relative to the camera comprises:

In one embodiment, after obtaining the target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the category of the sample from the stored plurality of nucleic acid extraction programs, the method further comprises:

The content of the nucleic acid extraction method of the present invention can be referred to the description in the foregoing embodiments, and the same or similar parts will not be described herein.

The invention also provides a controller, which comprises a processor and a memory; the memory stores a program that can be called by the processor; wherein the processor, when executing the program, implements the nucleic acid extraction method as described in the preceding embodiments.

The present invention also provides a machine-readable storage medium on which a program is stored, which when executed by a processor, implements the nucleic acid extraction method as described in the foregoing embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the same; while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A nucleic acid extractor, comprising: the device comprises a support, a containing table, a first position sensor assembly, a camera, a label identification device and a controller;

the first position sensor assembly is arranged on the accommodating table and used for sensing whether the deep hole plate is accommodated in place or not;

2. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 1, further comprising a movable mechanism;

the movable mechanism is mounted on the bracket;

3. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 2,

4. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 3, wherein the controller controls the movable mechanism to drive the holding table to move relative to the camera, and further:

5. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 1, further comprising a magnetic rod holder and a second position sensor assembly;

the magnetic bar sleeve frame is used for accommodating the magnetic bar sleeve;

6. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 5, wherein,

the second position sensor assembly sensing that the magnetic rod sleeve is accommodated in place further comprises: and the N second position sensors sense that the magnetic rod sleeve reaches the specified position of the magnetic rod sleeve accommodating part.

7. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 1,

8. The nucleic acid extractor according to claim 1, further comprising a heating device fixed to a bottom of the mounting table for heating the deep hole plate;

9. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 8,

10. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 9, wherein,

11. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 8,

a gap exists between at least one side of the heating strip body and a corresponding side wall of the heat shield;

12. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 11,

13. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 8,

14. The nucleic acid extractor of claim 8,

15. A method for extracting nucleic acid, which is applied to a controller in the nucleic acid extracting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 15, the method comprising:

checking whether an identification result is received within a set time length;

16. The method for extracting nucleic acid according to claim 15, wherein the controlling the accommodating stage to move relative to the camera includes:

17. The method for extracting nucleic acid according to claim 15, wherein after obtaining the target nucleic acid extraction program corresponding to the category of the sample from the plurality of stored nucleic acid extraction programs, the method further comprises: