CN115469108A

CN115469108A - Liquid-based sample processing apparatus and control method

Info

Publication number: CN115469108A
Application number: CN202210763541.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周聪; 湛武; 石义康; 徐双
Original assignee: Shenzhen Reetoo Biotechnology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Reetoo Biotechnology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-06-30
Filing date: 2022-06-30
Publication date: 2022-12-13

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses liquid-based sample processing device and control method, wherein, liquid-based sample processing device includes: a centrifuge assembly; a pipetting assembly; a drive assembly for driving displacement of the pipetting assembly; and a controller for: controlling the centrifugal assembly to carry out centrifugal operation so as to carry out centrifugal treatment on the solution in the sample tube, and obtaining a target sample and waste liquid positioned above the target sample; after the centrifugation operation is completed, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly by the controller. The liquid-based sample processing device and the control method can achieve accurate extraction of clear waste liquid after centrifugal processing, and retention rate of effective liquid-based samples is improved.

Description

Liquid-based sample processing apparatus and control method

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of medical instruments, in particular to a liquid-based sample processing device and a control method.

Background

At present, liquid-based sample processing devices are often used to process cytological samples, so as to make the processed samples into sample slides, and to analyze the sample slides to obtain corresponding detection results, for example, taking the cytological samples as human body cells, processing and preparing the human body cells, and analyzing the human body cells to obtain the health status.

In the process of preparing the liquid-based cell slice, the density gradient separation of the sample is an important step, and the aim is to remove interference components such as mucus, red blood cells, inflammatory cells and the like in the sample and improve the slice preparation effect. In general, density gradient separation is performed on a sample by adding a gradient separation liquid to a sample liquid and performing centrifugation, and after the centrifugation is completed, a centrifugation supernatant containing an interfering component is extracted to retain an effective liquid-based sample containing cells of diagnostic value, so that liquid-based cell slide can be performed using the effective liquid-based sample.

However, in the process of extracting the centrifugate, the supernatant waste liquid generated in the centrifuging process is usually sucked away by the liquid-transfering component, but in the process of sucking the supernatant waste liquid, part of cells with diagnostic value are also sucked away, so that the cell amount is insufficient, and the analysis result is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application mainly aims to provide a liquid-based sample processing device and a control method, and aims to realize accurate extraction of supernatant waste liquid and improve retention rate of effective liquid-based samples.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a liquid-based sample processing apparatus, including: a pipetting assembly; a drive assembly for driving displacement of the pipetting assembly; and a controller for: controlling the centrifugal assembly to perform centrifugal operation so as to perform centrifugal treatment on the solution in the sample tube to obtain a target sample and waste liquid positioned above the target sample; after the centrifugation operation is completed, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downwards moving process of the pipetting assembly.

In a second aspect, a method of controlling a liquid-based sample processing apparatus including a centrifugation unit, a pipetting unit, and a driving unit for driving the pipetting unit to displace; the method comprises the following steps:

controlling the centrifugal assembly to perform centrifugal operation so as to perform centrifugal treatment on the solution in the sample tube to obtain a target sample and waste liquid positioned above the target sample;

after the centrifugation operation is completed, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly by the controller.

The application provides a liquid-based sample processing device and a control method, wherein the liquid-based sample processing device executes preset centrifugal operation by controlling a centrifugal device so as to carry out centrifugal processing on a centrifugal tube which is placed at a centrifugal position and is loaded with a gradient separating liquid and a liquid-based sample liquid to be processed; after the centrifugal operation is completed, the control driving assembly drives the suction and transfer needle to move downwards to a preset height below the liquid level of the centrifugal tube from a preset position, in the downward moving process of the suction and transfer needle, the control power assembly executes preset suction and transfer operation, so that liquid in the centrifugal tube is sucked through the suction and transfer needle, waste liquid in a sample tube is sucked in the downward moving process through the suction and transfer needle, the suction and transfer mode ensures that the suction and transfer needle starts to suck liquid from the uppermost part of the sample tube, and the downward moving height of the suction and transfer needle can be set as required, so that the probability that the suction and transfer needle sucks useful cells is reduced as much as possible, the accurate suction and separation of supernatant waste liquid is realized, and the retention rate of effective liquid-based samples is improved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure of the embodiments of the present application.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a liquid-based sample processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a drive assembly and a pipetting assembly of a liquid-based sample processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a variation of a pipetting assembly of a liquid-based sample processing device as provided in embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a pipetting operation performed by a liquid-based sample processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5A is a schematic view of a liquid-based sample processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application during a first pipetting operation;

FIG. 5B is a schematic view of a second pipetting operation performed by the liquid-based sample processing device provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a method for controlling a liquid-based sample processing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. 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 application.

In the description of the present application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood in a specific case by those of ordinary skill in the art.

The flow diagrams depicted in the figures are merely illustrative and do not necessarily include all of the elements and operations/steps, nor do they necessarily have to be performed in the order depicted. For example, some operations/steps may be decomposed, combined or partially combined, so that the actual execution sequence may be changed according to the actual situation.

In the following, some embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, and features in the following examples and examples may be combined with each other without conflict.

Referring to fig. 1, the present application provides a liquid-based sample processing apparatus 100, configured to process a sample to be tested to obtain a corresponding liquid-based sample, and obtain an analysis result of the sample to be tested through slice analysis of the liquid-based sample.

As shown in fig. 1, the liquid-based sample processing device 100 includes a centrifugation assembly 10, a pipetting assembly 20, a driving assembly 30, and a controller 40. The centrifugal assembly 10 is configured to centrifuge the sample tube 80 carrying the gradient separation liquid and the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed, so as to obtain a centrifuged liquid-based sample, i.e., a target sample. For example, after the sample tube 80 is centrifuged, a waste liquid (e.g., a supernatant) obtained by centrifugation and located above the target sample is sucked away, and the target object carried by the sample tube 80 after the waste liquid is sucked is a liquid-based sample, which is also referred to as a target sample. Wherein, the centrifugation component 10 performs at least one centrifugation treatment on the liquid-based sample liquid to be treated. Alternatively, the number of centrifugations may be two.

The pipetting module 20 is used for pipetting the waste liquid above the target sample obtained by centrifuging the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed carried in the sample tube 80 by the centrifuging module 10 to obtain the target sample.

The driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to displace, e.g., the driving assembly 30 can move in two or three dimensions, thereby moving the pipetting assembly 20 in two or three dimensions.

Referring to fig. 2, in some embodiments, the pipetting assembly 20 includes a pipetting needle 201, a pipetting channel 202 connected to the pipetting needle 201, and a power assembly 203 connected to the pipetting needle 201 through the pipetting channel 202, wherein the power assembly 203 includes, but is not limited to, a pump and a syringe for providing power for the fluid medium flowing in the pipetting channel 202.

It is understood that there is at least one pipetting needle 201, for example, there are a plurality of pipetting needles 201, and a plurality of pipetting needles 201 share a power assembly 203 to provide pipetting power, as shown in fig. 3. Optionally, the power assembly 203 is a peristaltic pump.

Optionally, pipetting assembly 20 further comprises a collector 204 connected to pipetting channel 202 for collecting waste pipetted by pipetting assembly 20, as shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the liquid-based sample processing apparatus 100 further includes a first liquid adding assembly 40, wherein the first liquid adding assembly 40 is used for adding the gradient separation liquid into the sample tube 80 and for adding the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed into the sample tube 80 carrying the gradient separation liquid. The liquid-based sample liquid to be processed can be cervical scraping, hydrothorax, ascites, puncture fluid, sputum specimen and the like, and the exfoliative cytology specimen which is difficult to process in the traditional mode is put into the intermediary liquid by utilizing liquid-based cytology so as to remove interference components which influence diagnosis, such as blood, mucus and the like, and achieve the purpose of improving the diagnosis rate.

It should be noted that, the first liquid adding assembly 40 firstly adds the gradient separation liquid into the sample tube 80, and then adds the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed into the sample tube 80 to which the gradient separation liquid is added, so that the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed can be suspended above the gradient separation liquid when just being added into the centrifuge tube, and can pass through the gradient separation liquid along with the advance of time to realize the floating or settlement of different components in the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed, and therefore, the liquid-based sample liquid to be processed is added after the gradient separation liquid is added into the centrifuge tube, and the sample separation effect and the separation efficiency can be improved.

Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the liquid-based sample processing device 100 further includes a second priming assembly 50, and the second priming assembly 50 is used for filling a buffer solution into the sample tube 80 carrying the centrifuged liquid-based sample. For example, the second priming assembly 50 can fill the sample tube 80 with buffer solution through a steel needle.

Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments, the liquid-based sample processing apparatus 100 further comprises a mixing pipette assembly 60, wherein the mixing pipette assembly 60 is used for mixing the buffer solution in the sample tube 80 and the centrifuged target sample to obtain a target sample solution, and transferring the quantitative target sample solution to a sedimentation zone of the target sample processing apparatus 100, and the target sample solution can be prepared for subsequent sample staining.

Illustratively, the mixing pipetting assembly 60 may prepare the target sample fluid by mechanically vibrating the sample tube 80 to mix the buffer fluid and the centrifuged target sample. The mixing pipetting assembly 60 may also mix the buffer solution and the centrifuged target sample by stirring the sample tube 80 with a stirring rod to prepare a target sample solution. The mixing pipetting assembly 60 can also perform sucking and spitting operations on the buffer solution in the sample tube 80 and the centrifuged target sample by the mixing pipetting assembly 60 so as to mix the buffer solution in the sample tube 80 and the centrifuged target sample uniformly to prepare a target sample solution, and it can be understood that the target sample solution is the target sample to be stained.

The controller 70 is communicatively connected to at least the centrifugation assembly 10, the pipetting assembly 20, and the driving assembly 30, so as to control the centrifugation assembly 10, the pipetting assembly 20, and the driving assembly 30 to cooperate to centrifuge the liquid-based sample to obtain the target sample.

In some embodiments, controller 70 includes at least a processor 701, a memory 702, a communication interface (not shown), and an I/O interface (not shown). The processor 701, memory 702, communication interface, and I/O interface communicate over a bus. The Processor 701 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and may also be other general purpose processors, digital Signal Processors (DSP), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) or other Programmable logic devices, discrete Gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and so forth. Wherein a general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 702 stores various computer programs executed by the processor 701, such as an operating system and an application program, and data necessary for executing the computer programs. For example, data that is stored locally, if desired, during liquid-based sample preparation or during liquid-based sample centrifugation, can be stored in memory 702. The I/O interface includes, but is not limited to, a serial interface such as USB, IEEE1394, or RS-232C, a parallel interface such as SCSI, IDE, or IEEE1284, and an analog signal interface including a D/A converter and a converter. The I/O interface is coupled to an input device that a user may use to input data directly to the controller 70, including but not limited to a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or control buttons. The display device may be communicatively coupled to the controller 70 via the I/O interface to provide relevant information prompts. The communication interface is an interface that may be any currently known communication protocol, and communicates with the outside through a network, and the controller 70 may transmit data with any device connected through the network through the communication interface in a preset communication protocol.

In some embodiments, the controller 70 is at least for:

controlling the centrifugal assembly 10 to perform a centrifugal operation to perform a centrifugal treatment on the solution in the sample tube 80 to obtain a target sample and a waste liquid located above the target sample;

after the centrifugation operation is completed, the control driving unit 30 drives the pipetting unit 20 to move down from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 by the preset height, and during the downward movement of the pipetting unit 20, the controller controls the pipetting unit 20 to perform a pipetting operation to pipette waste liquid in the sample tube 80 above the target sample.

Referring to fig. 4, the centrifugal module 10 is exemplarily provided with a centrifugal position, after the sample tube 80 is placed at the centrifugal position, the centrifugal module 10 performs a centrifugal operation on the sample tube, wherein the sample tube 80 carries a mixed solution of a gradient separating liquid and a liquid-based sample liquid to be processed, and the centrifugal module 10 performs a centrifugal operation on the solution to be processed in the sample tube 80 to obtain a target sample and a waste liquid located above the target sample, wherein the waste liquid is also referred to as a supernatant.

After the centrifugation operation is performed, the control driving unit 30 drives the pipetting unit 20 to move down from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 by a preset height, and controls the pipetting unit 20 to perform the pipetting operation to pipette waste liquid in the sample tube 80 above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting unit 20, thereby maximally preserving the target sample in the sample tube 80.

For example, the sample tube 80 is placed at a distance H from the reference plane M, and based on the type information of the sample tube 80 and the amount of the liquid-based sample to be treated and the corresponding amount of the reagent added into the test tube, the height H1 of the mixed solution in the sample tube 80 is known, the amount of the liquid-based sample to be treated and the amount of the reagent being mixed in a predetermined ratio.

Since the solution in the sample tube 80 is not lost by the centrifugation, the height of the solution in the sample tube 80 after the centrifugation is performed is H1, wherein the height of the target sample is H3, the height of the supernatant in the sample tube 80 is H1 to H3, and the solution in the sample tube 80 is the target sample and the supernatant, and the supernatant is located above the target sample. Accordingly, the preset height at which the pipetting assembly 20 moves down from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 may be set according to the height of the target sample in the sample tube 80 as H3.

After the centrifugal operation is completed, the control driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position H4 to a preset height toward the bottom of the sample tube 80, for example, to a position H3+ H away from the reference plane M, and during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly 20, the pipetting assembly 20 is controlled to perform the pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube 80 above the target sample, that is, the pipetting assembly 20 performs the downward movement and the pipetting while pipetting to the sample tube 80, the supernatant liquid above the target sample is gradually removed, and the amount of the pipetting solution in the pipetting assembly 20 during the performance of the pipetting operation can be determined according to the height of the downward movement, that is, the solution in the sample tube 80 cannot be removed by the pipetting assembly 20 only after the tip of the pipetting needle 201 of the pipetting assembly 20 is out of contact with the liquid level in the sample tube 80.

Therefore, if the deposition height of the target sample in the sample tube 80 after the centrifugation is H3, the target sample in the sample tube 80 can be retained to the maximum extent, that is, the target sample in the sample tube 80 can be made as high as H3 by controlling the lowering height of the pipetting module 20, and after the pipetting operation is completed, the pipetting module 20 is driven in the direction away from the bottom of the sample tube 80. Since the probability of carrying the target specimen is higher when the pipetting needle 201 is closer to the target specimen and the pipetting operation is performed, if the pipetting needle 201 is directly moved down to a predetermined position and the pipetting operation is performed, the pipetting needle 201 may always remove a part of the target specimen during the whole pipetting operation, resulting in a loss of the target specimen.

Therefore, compared with the case where the pipette needle 201 directly moves down to the preset position and performs the pipetting operation, in the embodiment of the present application, the pipette assembly 20 moves down and sucks liquid while moving down the sample tube 80, and gradually removes the supernatant liquid located above the target sample, and based on this, the pipette needle 201 gradually approaches the target sample during moving down, and therefore, the target sample in the sample tube 80 can be effectively retained.

It will be appreciated that the ratio of the heights of the target sample and the supernatant within the sample tube 80 can be predicted experimentally.

In some embodiments, the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position by a preset height in a direction towards the bottom of the sample tube 80, including:

the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down by a preset height at a preset speed from a preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 so that the amount of waste liquid pipetted by the pipetting assembly 20 from the sample tube 80 per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly 20 per unit time.

As shown in fig. 4, the pipetting module 20 illustratively has a pipetting capacity V per unit time T when performing the pipetting operation, that is, if the pipetting needle 201 is always below the liquid level when the pipetting module 20 is in operation, the pipetting module 20 can transfer a liquid having the capacity V per unit time T.

The controller 70 controls the driving unit 30 to drive the pipetting unit 20 to move down by a preset height at a preset speed from a preset position with a height H4 from the reference plane M toward the bottom of the sample tube 80, wherein the amount of waste liquid which is pipetted by the pipetting unit 20 from the sample tube 80 per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting unit 20 per unit time, that is, if the pipetting capacity of the pipetting unit 20 per unit time T is V, the amount of waste liquid which is pipetted by the pipetting unit 20 from the sample tube 80 per unit time is V1, and V1 is less than or equal to V.

That is, when the pipette assembly 20 contacts the liquid surface in the sample tube 80 and performs the pipetting operation, the liquid surface of the sample tube 80 is lowered by a height equal to the height of the downward movement of the pipette assembly 20 per unit time T, and if the liquid surface of the sample tube 80 is lowered by H5 per unit time T, the height of the downward movement of the pipette assembly 20 is H6, and H6 is equal to H5.

In the embodiment of the present application, the liquid suction capacity V per unit time T of the pipette unit 20 refers to the maximum liquid suction capacity per unit time of the power unit 203 of the pipette unit 20, and for example, the liquid amount which can be sucked per unit time by the pipette unit 20 when the suction needle 201 of the pipette unit 20 is inserted to a sufficient height below the liquid surface.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the amount of waste liquid actually aspirated by the aspirating unit 20 is affected not only by the liquid-aspirating capacity but also by the movement of the aspirating unit 20 downward toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 at a predetermined speed. Namely, there are two cases:

first, if the downward movement speed of the pipetting module 20 is too fast, the pipetting module 20 will not aspirate the waste liquid in time, and the tip of the pipetting needle 201 of the pipetting module 20 is below the liquid level.

Secondly, if the downward movement speed of the pipetting module 20 is suitable, so that V1 is less than or equal to V, that is, the waste liquid is sucked away by the pipetting module 20 as soon as contacting the pipetting needle 201, the corresponding phenomena are that the liquid level is at the same height as the needle point of the pipetting needle 201, and the liquid level in the sample tube 80 descends along with the needle point, and the descending speed is basically consistent. In some embodiments, the pipetting assembly 20 comprises a pipetting needle 201 and a power assembly 203 for providing a pipetting power to the pipetting needle 201, and the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from a preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 at a preset speed by a preset height so that the amount of waste liquid in the pipetting assembly 20 per unit time for pipetting waste liquid from the sample tube 80 is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly per unit time, comprising:

the control drive assembly 30 drives the pipetting needle 201 to move down from a preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 by a preset height, and during the downward movement of the pipetting needle 201, the controller 70 controls the power assembly 203 to perform a pipetting operation to pipette waste liquid by the pipetting needle 201 so that the amount of waste liquid pipetted by the pipetting assembly 20 from the sample tube 80 per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly 20 per unit time, thereby making the descending speed of the pipetting needle 201 equal to the descending speed of waste liquid (i.e., supernatant liquid) in the sample tube 80. On the one hand, since the descending speed of the pipetting needle is equal to the descending speed of the supernatant liquid in the sample tube 80, the pipetting needle 201 can be always kept at a position far from the target sample; on the other hand, since the descending speed of the pipetting needle is equal to the descending speed of the supernatant in the sample tube 80, that is, the position of the pipetting needle is kept unchanged relative to the supernatant, the preset region of the outer wall of the pipetting needle 201 is kept in contact with the waste liquid, which is convenient for the subsequent cleaning of the pipetting needle 201, that is, only the preset region and the inner wall of the outer wall which are kept in contact with the waste liquid need to be cleaned.

In some embodiments, the amount of waste liquid sucked from the sample tube 80 by the pipette assembly 20 per unit time is equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipette assembly 20 per unit time, and the descending speed of the pipette needle 201 is kept equal to the descending speed of the supernatant liquid in the sample tube 80, so that the descending speed of the pipette needle 201 can be maximized, and thus the time for pipetting the waste liquid can be saved.

In some embodiments, the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube 80 by the preset height, and during the moving down of the pipetting assembly 20, the controller 70 controls the pipetting assembly 20 to perform the pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube 80 above the target sample, including:

when the control driving unit 30 drives the pipetting unit 20 to move down from a preset position away from the sample tube 80 to a preset distance from the waste liquid level in the sample tube 80, the controller 70 controls the pipetting unit 20 to start a pipetting operation to pipette waste liquid when the pipetting unit 20 contacts the waste liquid level in the sample tube 80.

As shown in fig. 4, the pipetting module 20 illustratively starts the pipetting operation before contacting the liquid surface of the sample tube 80 during the downward movement to save the timing of the pipetting operation. For example, when the preset height of the pipetting needle 201 of the pipetting assembly 20 from the liquid level of the sample tube 80 is H0, the power assembly 203 of the pipetting assembly 20 is controlled to operate so that the pipetting assembly 20 starts the pipetting operation.

In some embodiments, the controller 70 is further configured to control the driving assembly 30 to stop for a preset time period after the driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move downwards from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube 80 by a preset height, and the controller 70 controls the power assembly 203 to continue to perform the pipetting operation during the stopping of the driving assembly 30.

Illustratively, after the pipetting assembly 20 moves downwards from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube 80 by the preset height, the driving assembly 30 is controlled to stay for the preset time period to drive the pipetting needle 201 of the pipetting assembly 20 to stay in the sample tube 80 at the preset height, and during the stay of the driving assembly 30, the controller 70 further controls the power assembly 203 to continue to perform the pipetting operation, due to factors such as liquid tension, the pipetting assembly 20 causes a tendency that liquid below the liquid level of the needle point of the pipetting needle 201 tends to be pipetted by the pipetting needle 201 when pipetting waste liquid, therefore, the final stay height of the needle point of the pipetting needle 201 is higher than the liquid level after completing the waste liquid pipetting, that is, if the liquid level after completing the waste liquid pipetting is required to be away from the reference plane M by H3+ H, the final stay height of the pipetting needle 201 is away from the reference plane M by H9+ H, as shown in fig. 4.

In some embodiments, the centrifugation operation comprises a first centrifugation operation and a second centrifugation operation;

the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube 80 by the preset height after the centrifugation operation is completed, and the controller 70 controls the pipetting assembly 20 to perform the pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube 80 above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly 20, including:

after the first centrifugation, controlling the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move downwards from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube 80 by a first preset height, and controlling the pipetting assembly 20 to perform a first pipetting operation during the descending process of the pipetting assembly 20 to pipette waste liquid above the target sample generated by the first centrifugation;

after the second centrifugation, the control driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position to a second preset height towards the bottom of the sample tube 80, and during the descending process of the pipetting assembly 20, the control driving assembly 20 performs the second pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid generated by the second centrifugation and positioned above the target sample; the first preset height is smaller than the second preset height.

Referring to fig. 5A and 5B, in an exemplary embodiment, the target sample obtained by the first centrifugation may contain a portion of impurities, and the second centrifugation is performed to perform a second centrifugation on the target sample obtained after the first centrifugation, so as to effectively improve the purity of the obtained target sample.

Wherein, after the first centrifugation operation, the control driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move downwards from the preset position to the first preset height H7 towards the bottom of the sample tube 80, and after the second centrifugation operation, the control driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move downwards from the preset position to the second preset height H8 towards the bottom of the sample tube 80, wherein H8 is more than H7, so that the pipetting assembly 20 can remove the supernatant in the sample tube 80 after the second separation.

In some embodiments, the pipetting assembly 20 performs a first pipetting operation to pipette a volume of waste liquid as a first volume of waste liquid; the pipetting module 20 performs a second pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid by a second waste liquid amount; wherein the first amount of waste liquid is greater than the second amount of waste liquid.

Illustratively, the first centrifugation operation is performed to obtain a first target sample, the second centrifugation operation is performed by further centrifuging the first target sample obtained on the basis of the first centrifugation operation, most of effective cells in the solution of the sample tube 80 are deposited on the bottom of the sample tube 80 after the second centrifugation operation, and in order to ensure that the effective cell components in the sample tube 80 are retained to the maximum extent when the pipetting operation is performed for the second time, the amount of the second waste liquid aspirated by the second pipetting operation is controlled to be smaller than the amount of the first waste liquid aspirated by the first pipetting operation.

In some embodiments, the controller 70 controls the drive assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 from a preset position toward the sample tube 80 at a first preset height, including; controlling the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down by a first preset height at a first speed from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80;

the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 by a second preset height, including; controlling the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down by a second preset height from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube 80 at a second speed; wherein the first speed is greater than the second speed.

Illustratively, the first centrifugation operation is performed to obtain a first target sample, and the second centrifugation operation is performed by further centrifuging the first target sample obtained on the basis of the first centrifugation operation, and after the second centrifugation operation, most of the effective cells in the solution of the sample tube 80 are deposited on the bottom of the sample tube 80, in order to ensure that the effective cell components in the sample tube 80 are retained to the maximum extent when the pipetting operation is performed for the second time.

The driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move downwards towards the bottom of the sample tube 80 at a first speed during the first pipetting operation, and the driving assembly 30 drives the pipetting assembly 20 to move downwards towards the bottom of the sample tube 80 at a second speed during the second pipetting operation, wherein the first speed is higher than the second speed so as to prevent effective cells deposited at the bottom of the sample tube 80 from being sucked away due to the fact that the downward moving speed of the pipetting assembly 20 is too high during the second pipetting operation.

In some embodiments, the drive assembly 30 includes a stepper motor that drives the pipetting assembly 20 in a vertical direction;

the controller 70 controls the driving assembly 30 to drive the pipetting assembly 20 to move down from the preset position to the bottom direction of the sample tube 80 by the preset height, and during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly 20, the controller 70 controls the pipetting assembly 20 to perform the pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube 80 above the target sample, including:

the number of steps of the stepping motor is controlled so that the number of steps of the stepping motor matches the amount of waste liquid to be pipetted by the pipetting assembly 20.

Illustratively, in the present embodiment, the vertical direction is the height direction of the sample tube 80, and the amount of waste liquid taken away by the pipetting assembly 20 during the pipetting operation can be controlled by the height of the pipetting assembly 20 moving downward relative to the sample tube 80.

Therefore, by controlling the number of steps of the stepping motor, the height of the pipetting module 20 moving down relative to the sample tube 80 can be effectively controlled, thereby controlling the amount of waste liquid taken away by the pipetting module 20 during the pipetting operation.

As shown in fig. 3, in some embodiments, there is at least one pipetting needle 201, and when there are multiple pipetting needles 201, the multiple pipetting needles 201 share one power assembly 203 to provide pipetting power, and optionally, the power assembly 203 is a peristaltic pump.

The amount of waste liquid to be removed based on the amount of the sample tube 80 is adapted by the number of steps of the stepping motor, and therefore, the suction power can be provided using a peristaltic pump with low accuracy to save cost, and a plurality of suction/transfer needles 201 can share the same peristaltic pump.

The following describes a method for controlling a liquid-based sample processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, with reference to the operation principle of the liquid-based sample processing apparatus 100.

Referring to fig. 6, the present application further provides a method for controlling a liquid-based sample processing apparatus, where the sample processing apparatus includes a centrifugation component, a pipetting component, and a driving component for driving the pipetting component to displace; the method comprises steps S101 to S102:

step S101: controlling the centrifugal component to carry out centrifugal operation so as to carry out centrifugal treatment on the solution in the sample tube to obtain a target sample and waste liquid positioned above the target sample;

step S102: after the centrifugation operation is completed, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly by the controller.

In some embodiments, controlling the drive assembly to drive the pipetting assembly downward from a preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube by a preset height comprises:

and controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to the bottom direction of the sample tube at a preset speed by a preset height, so that the waste liquid amount of the pipetting assembly for pipetting the waste liquid from the sample tube per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly in the unit time.

In some embodiments, the pipetting assembly comprises a pipetting needle and a power assembly that provides pipetting power to the pipetting needle;

the controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a bottom direction of the sample tube at a preset speed by a preset height so that the waste liquid amount of the pipetting assembly for pipetting the waste liquid from the sample tube per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly per unit time, comprises:

the driving component is controlled to drive the suction needle to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and the power component is controlled to execute a suction operation to suck waste liquid through the suction needle in the process of moving downwards of the suction needle, so that the waste liquid amount sucked by the suction component from the sample tube in unit time is smaller than or equal to the suction capacity of the suction component in unit time.

In some embodiments, the controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move down from a preset position to a preset height in a direction towards the bottom of the sample tube, and during the moving down of the pipetting assembly, the controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample comprises:

controlling the drive assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position far away from the sample tube to a preset distance away from the liquid level of the waste liquid in the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to start a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid when the pipetting assembly contacts the liquid level of the waste liquid in the sample tube.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: and after controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height towards the bottom of the sample tube, controlling the driving assembly to stay for a preset time, and controlling the power assembly to continuously perform the pipetting operation in the stay process of the driving assembly.

In some embodiments the centrifugation operation comprises a first centrifugation operation and a second centrifugation operation;

after the centrifugation operation is completed, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in a direction towards the bottom of a sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

after the first centrifuging operation, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from the preset position to a first preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a first pipetting operation during the descending process of the pipetting assembly so as to pipette the waste liquid above the target sample generated by the first centrifuging operation;

after the second centrifuging operation, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from the preset position to a second preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a second pipetting operation during the descending process of the pipetting assembly so as to pipette the waste liquid which is generated by the second centrifuging operation and is positioned above the target sample;

the first preset height is smaller than the second preset height.

In some embodiments, the pipetting assembly performs the first pipetting operation to pipette an amount of the waste liquid to a first waste liquid amount;

the pipetting assembly performs the second pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid by a second waste liquid amount;

wherein the first amount of waste liquid is greater than the second amount of waste liquid.

In some embodiments, said controlling said drive assembly to drive said pipetting assembly from said preset position down towards the bottom of the sample tube by a first preset height comprises;

controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube at a first speed by the first preset height;

the control unit controls the driving unit to drive the pipetting unit to move downwards from the preset position to a second preset height towards the bottom of the sample tube;

controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from the preset position to the bottom of the sample tube at a second speed by the second preset height;

wherein the first speed is greater than the second speed.

In some embodiments, the drive assembly comprises a stepper motor that drives the pipetting assembly in a vertical direction;

the controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downwards moving process of the pipetting assembly comprises the following steps:

and controlling the number of the advancing steps of the stepping motor so that the number of the advancing steps of the stepping motor is matched with the waste liquid amount of the waste liquid which is aspirated by the aspirating assembly of the aspirating assembly.

In some embodiments, the pipetting assembly comprises at least one pipetting needle and a peristaltic pump providing pipetting power to at least one of the pipetting needles.

It should be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the control method of the liquid-based sample processing apparatus described above may refer to the corresponding working process of the liquid-based sample processing apparatus, and is not described herein again.

It is to be understood that the terminology used in the description of the present application herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used in this specification and the appended claims refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and includes such combinations. It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or system 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, article, or system. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrases "comprising one of 8230; \8230;" 8230; "does not exclude the presence of additional like elements in a process, method, article, or system that comprises the element.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the scope of the invention is not limited thereto, and various equivalent modifications or substitutions can be easily made by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A liquid-based sample processing apparatus, comprising:

a centrifuge assembly;

a pipetting assembly;

a drive assembly for driving displacement of the pipetting assembly; and

a controller to:

2. The liquid-based sample processing device of claim 1, wherein the controller controls the drive assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move down by a preset height from a preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube, comprising:

the controller controls the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to the bottom of the sample tube at a preset speed by a preset height, so that the waste liquid amount of the pipetting assembly for pipetting the waste liquid from the sample tube per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly per unit time.

3. The liquid-based sample processing device of claim 2, wherein the pipetting assembly comprises a pipetting needle and a power assembly providing pipetting power to the pipetting needle;

the controller controls the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to the bottom direction of the sample tube at a preset speed by a preset height so that the waste liquid amount of the pipetting assembly for pipetting the waste liquid from the sample tube per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly per unit time, and the controller comprises:

the controller controls the power assembly to execute a pipetting operation to pipette waste liquid through the pipetting needle during the downward movement of the pipetting needle, so that the waste liquid amount of the pipetting assembly for pipetting the waste liquid from the sample tube per unit time is less than or equal to the pipetting capacity of the pipetting assembly per unit time.

4. The liquid-based sample processing device according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move down by a preset height from a preset position toward a bottom of the sample tube, and during the moving down of the pipetting assembly, the controller controls the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample, including:

controlling the drive assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move down from a preset position away from the sample tube to a preset distance away from the waste liquid level in the sample tube, the controller controlling the pipetting assembly to start a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid when the pipetting assembly contacts the waste liquid level in the sample tube.

5. The liquid-based sample processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to control the driving assembly to stop for a preset time period after the driving assembly drives the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height towards the bottom of the sample tube, and during the stopping of the driving assembly, the controller controls the power assembly to continue to perform the pipetting operation.

6. The liquid-based sample processing device of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the centrifugation operation comprises a first centrifugation operation and a second centrifugation operation;

the controller controls the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in a direction towards the bottom of the sample tube after the centrifugation operation is completed, and controls the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downward movement of the pipetting assembly, and the controller comprises:

after the first centrifuging operation, controlling the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from the preset position to a first preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controlling the pipetting assembly to perform a first pipetting operation during the descending process of the pipetting assembly so as to pipette the waste liquid generated by the first centrifuging operation and positioned above the target sample;

the first preset height is smaller than the second preset height.

7. The sample processing device according to claim 6, wherein the pipetting module performs the first pipetting operation to pipette the amount of the waste liquid into a first amount of waste liquid;

the pipetting assembly performing the second pipetting operation to pipette the amount of the waste liquid to a second amount of waste liquid;

8. The liquid-based sample processing device of claim 6, wherein the controller controls the drive assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move down from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube by a first preset height, including;

the controller controls the drive assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move down from the preset position toward the bottom of the sample tube by a second preset height, including;

wherein the first speed is greater than the second speed.

9. The liquid-based sample processing device of claim 1, wherein the drive assembly comprises a stepper motor that drives the pipetting assembly in a vertical direction;

the controller controls the driving assembly to drive the pipetting assembly to move downwards from a preset position to a preset height in the direction of the bottom of the sample tube, and controls the pipetting assembly to perform a pipetting operation to pipette the waste liquid in the sample tube above the target sample during the downwards moving process of the pipetting assembly, and the method comprises the following steps:

and controlling the number of the advancing steps of the stepping motor so that the number of the advancing steps of the stepping motor is matched with the waste liquid amount of the pipetting assembly for pipetting the waste liquid.

10. The liquid-based sample processing device of claim 9, wherein the pipetting assembly comprises at least one pipetting needle and a peristaltic pump providing pipetting power to the at least one pipetting needle.

11. A method of controlling a liquid-based sample processing apparatus, the sample processing apparatus comprising a centrifuge module, a pipetting module, and a drive module for driving the pipetting module to displace;

the method comprises the following steps:

controlling the centrifugal component to carry out centrifugal operation so as to carry out centrifugal treatment on the solution in the sample tube to obtain a target sample and waste liquid positioned above the target sample;