JP2002243608A - Cell for measurement and analysis device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cell for measurement of a compact and simple constitution. SOLUTION: The cell for measurement comprises a cell body 20 with a housing part 20a for housing a prescribed sample liquid. A crystal oscillator 3 is provided integrally in the vicinity of the bottom part of the cell body 20. The crystal oscillator 3 comprises a pair of electrodes 31 and 32 connectable to a prescribed oscillation source and is constituted, in such a way as to obstruct the flow of the sample liquid with one electrode 31 among the pair of electrodes 31 and 32, arranged outside the housing part 20a of the cell body 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a measuring cell used in an analyzer, and more particularly to a cell in a liquid by detecting a frequency characteristic such as a resonance frequency and a phase of a crystal oscillator immersed in the liquid. The present invention relates to a technique for analyzing a reaction and analyzing a reaction rate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a crystal oscillator having a specific substance disposed on an electrode surface is oscillated in a liquid such as blood, for example.
Analyze the reaction speed of specific components in a sample by using the phenomenon that the components in the liquid bind to the surface of the crystal oscillator and the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator decreases according to the mass of the components. An analyzer has been proposed.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of an example of such an analyzer. As shown in FIG.
01 is a computer 102 and a frequency counter 103
, An oscillator 104, a DC power supply 105, and a crystal oscillator 106.

The quartz oscillator 106 is a disk 1 made of quartz.
06a and the electrodes 106 respectively disposed on the front and back sides thereof.
b and 106c, of which, for example, the electrode 106b is configured to be able to oscillate even when immersed in a liquid. A predetermined reactant (not shown) configured to react with a specific component and adsorb the component is disposed on the surface of the electrode 106b. When immersed in a liquid, it is exposed to the liquid. Note that the other electrode 106c is
It is covered by a protection unit (not shown) so as not to be exposed to the solution.

In order to analyze the reaction state between a specific component in a sample such as blood and a reaction material by the analyzer 101 having the above-described configuration, first, the crystal oscillator 106 is placed in the atmosphere. , The DC power supply 105 is activated and the oscillator 10
4 is applied with a DC voltage. Thereby, the oscillator 10
4 oscillates at a predetermined oscillation frequency.

The change in the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106 is shown by a curve (X) in FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 6 indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106. The symbol F _o represents the crystal oscillator 10 in the atmosphere.
6 shows the oscillation frequency of No. 6.

A crystal oscillator 106 oscillating at an oscillation frequency F _o in the atmosphere is mixed with a solution 1 placed in a cell 107.
08. In FIG. 6, the time when the crystal oscillator 106 is immersed in the solution 108 is indicated by _{a reference} symbol ta. When the crystal oscillator 106 is immersed in the solution 108, the load applied to the crystal oscillator 106 becomes larger than that in the atmosphere.
The oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106 greatly decreases as shown by the curve (X), then attenuates greatly, and eventually stabilizes at a predetermined frequency.

[0008] FIG. 6 shows the predetermined frequency in the code F _s. The oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106 is constantly detected by the frequency counter 103, and the detection result is output to the computer 102 as needed. The computer 102 determines that the oscillation frequency has been stabilized when the fluctuation of the oscillation frequency is within the predetermined range for a predetermined time or more, and notifies the user to that effect. In Figure 6, reference numeral F _s, the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106 is shown that stable.

[0009] The user oscillation frequency after being notified that stabilized at F _s, injecting the sample to be analyzed in the cell 107. Time t _b in FIG. 6 shows the time the sample is introduced. When the sample is injected into the cell 107, the sample is mixed with the solution to generate a liquid, and a specific component in the liquid reacts with the above-described reaction material disposed on the surface of the one electrode 106b of the crystal oscillator 106. And adsorb on the surface of the reaction material. Then, the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106 decreases according to the mass of the adsorbed component.

As described above, the computer 102 includes the crystal oscillator 10 which is inputted from the frequency counter 103 as needed.
From the oscillation frequency of No. 6, the reaction state of the specific component adsorbed on the surface of the reaction material can be analyzed. As an example of the analysis, in order to determine the reaction rate of a particular component of the reaction material and the sample, initially after sample loading in FIG. 6, the crystal in the predetermined time Δt between the predetermined time t _c and a predetermined time t _d The variation ΔF of the oscillation frequency of the oscillator 106 is obtained. The amount of change ΔF of the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 106 and the mass Δm of the component adsorbed on the surface of the reaction material during the predetermined time Δt are represented by ΔF = −C × Δm (1) where C is a predetermined constant. It is known that the following relational expression holds, and from the above equation (1), the mass change Δm of the specific component adsorbed on the surface of the reaction material in a predetermined time is obtained. The reaction rate can be determined.

[0011]

By the way, in a cell structure having one crystal oscillator 106 as in the prior art,
Only the reaction state when one type of specific component reacts with one type of reactant can be analyzed.

Therefore, in order to simultaneously analyze the reaction states of a plurality of components contained in a sample or a plurality of samples, a plurality of quartz oscillators and a plurality of reaction materials are prepared, and each is immersed in a solution. It is necessary to detect the oscillation frequency of each crystal oscillator in the state.

However, if a plurality of crystal oscillators 106 are to be incorporated into one device, the conventional cell 107 has a problem that the device becomes large and complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a small and simple measuring cell.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell body having an accommodation portion for accommodating a predetermined sample liquid, and a cell main body having a storage portion for storing a predetermined sample liquid. A pair of electrodes, and an oscillator integrally provided at or near the bottom of the cell body so that one of the pair of electrodes is immersed in the sample liquid. This is a characteristic measuring cell.

In the case of the first aspect of the present invention, since the oscillator is provided integrally near the bottom of the cell body, it is not necessary to dispose the oscillator in the accommodation portion of the cell body as in the prior art. Since the space for the measurement can be omitted, the size of the measuring cell can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the oscillator has a flat base and the pair of electrodes are independently provided on a front surface and a back surface of the base. The flat base is arranged to be substantially parallel to the liquid surface of the sample liquid.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the flat base having the pair of electrodes is disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the liquid surface of the sample liquid. It is possible to further reduce the size without wasting space.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the oscillator is arranged such that one of a pair of electrodes is disposed outside a housing portion of the cell body. It is characterized in that it is configured to block the sample liquid.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the sample liquid is blocked by the oscillator in a state where one of the pair of electrodes is disposed outside the housing portion of the cell body. It is not necessary to cover the electrodes arranged on the outer side of the storage section of the cell body with the protection section, so that a simple configuration can be achieved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cell body is configured to also serve as a bottom part by the oscillator. .

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the size of the cell main body can be reduced by using the bottom of the cell main body with the oscillator.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the connection terminal portion electrically connected to the pair of electrodes is led to the bottom side of the cell body. It is characterized by being constituted so that.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the connection terminal portion is configured to be led out to the bottom side of the cell main body, the wiring is routed to the solution injection side portion of the cell main body. Space can be used effectively.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the measuring cell according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, and based on the frequency characteristics of the oscillator immersed in the sample liquid. An analyzer is characterized in that it is configured to determine the amount of the component in the liquid that adheres to the oscillator.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a small analyzer using a plurality (a large number) of sample cells having a small and simple configuration.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an analyzer of the present embodiment, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a measurement cell of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a crystal oscillator of the measurement cell. FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view of the crystal oscillator of the measurement cell.

As shown in FIG. 1, the analyzer 1 of the present embodiment has basically the same configuration as the conventional example.
A cell (measurement cell) 2 having a crystal oscillator (oscillator) 3 to be described later, an oscillator 4 having an oscillator 40 and a DC power supply 41 for oscillating the cell 2, and an oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator 3 Frequency counter 5 for detection
And a computer 6 for controlling the operation of the frequency counter and performing predetermined information processing.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the cell 2 of the present embodiment has a cylindrical cell body 20 such as a cylinder, for example, and a crystal oscillator 3 is disposed near the bottom of the cell body 20. Have been.

Here, the cell main body 20 is formed of a translucent resin such as an acrylic resin in consideration of the easiness of observing the inside.

As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, the quartz oscillator 3 has a disk-shaped base 30 made of, for example, quartz.
And a pair of electrodes 31 and 32 made of, for example, gold, which are arranged on the front side and the back side of the base 30, respectively.

In the case of the present embodiment, a flange portion 21 is formed at the bottom of the inner wall of the cell body 20, and this flange portion 2 is formed.
The crystal oscillator 3 is integrally fixed so as to cover the opening 22 inside 1 from the bottom side of the cell body 20.

In this case, the crystal oscillator 3 is adhered to the bottom edge of the flange portion 21 by, for example, an adhesive, and further disposed between the crystal oscillator 3 and a pedestal 23 sealed at the bottom end of the cell body 20. The springs 24 and 25 are pressed against the bottom edge of the flange 21.

The solution 7 injected into the storage portion 20a of the cell body 20 is blocked by the crystal oscillator 3 so that the solution 7 does not leak from the bottom side of the cell body 20. The solution 7 is stored in
Is injected, the electrode 31 on the surface side of the crystal oscillator 3 is
Only the electrode 7 on the back side is exposed to the solution 7.

On the other hand, on the surface of the electrode 31 on the front side of the base 30, a reaction material 33 configured to react with a specific component and adsorb the component is arranged. It is configured to be exposed to the solution 7 while being injected.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the pedestal 23
A pair of terminal pins (connection terminal portions) 26 and 27 for connecting to external terminals (not shown) are fixed. here,
The terminal pins 26 and 27 are sealed to the pedestal 23 while being insulated from each other by, for example, a glass seal 28. The terminal pins 26 and 27 are connected to the crystal oscillator 3
Are electrically connected to the electrodes 31 and 32, respectively, so that the electrodes 31 and 32 of the crystal oscillator 3 can be connected to external terminals from the bottom side of the cell body 20.

The bottom of the cell body 20 is provided with a hole 20b communicating with a space surrounded by the inner wall of the cell body 20, the crystal oscillator 3, and the pedestal 23. The holes 20b serve to discharge gas generated from an adhesive for fixing the crystal oscillator 3 and the pedestal 23 and to prevent dew condensation during storage or measurement. The holes 20b are not essential to the cell body 20, but are preferably provided from the viewpoint of preventing dew condensation.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the crystal oscillator 3 is provided integrally near the bottom of the cell body 20, the crystal body 3 is provided as in the prior art.
Since it is not necessary to dispose the crystal oscillator 3 in the accommodation section 20a of the “0”, a space corresponding to the crystal oscillator 3 can be omitted, so that the size of the cell 2 can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the plate-shaped quartz oscillator 3 is arranged so as to be substantially parallel to the liquid surface of the solution 7, and the bottom of the cell body 20 is also used by the quartz oscillator 3. As a result, the size of the cell 2 can be further reduced without wasting the space of the accommodating portion 20a of the cell body 20.

Further, in the present embodiment, the solution 7 is intercepted by the quartz oscillator 3 and the electrode 32 on the back side is arranged outside the accommodating portion 20a of the cell body 20. It is not necessary to cover the external electrode 32 with a protective portion, and thus the crystal oscillator 3 can have a simple configuration.

Further, in this embodiment, since the terminal pins 26 and 27 are configured to be led out to the bottom side of the cell body 20, wiring is provided at the solution injection side of the cell body 20. The space can be used effectively without being routed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the size and simplification of the cell 2 can be reduced.
A small analyzer using the cell 2 of the first embodiment can be provided.

According to this embodiment, the cell 2 can be manufactured at a low cost by using a simple structure. Even when disposable 2, the cost burden does not become excessive, and the size of the sample to be analyzed can be reduced by downsizing.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a cross section of another embodiment of the measuring cell according to the present invention. Parts corresponding to those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be given. Description is omitted.

First, the measuring cell 1A shown in FIG. 3 is basically the same in configuration as the above-mentioned embodiment, but differs from the above-mentioned embodiment in that the cell body is composed of two members. is there.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the cell main body 50 of the present embodiment is made of the same material as the cell main body 20 of the above embodiment, and includes a cell main body 51 and a pedestal 52. Be composed. After the crystal oscillator 3 is attached to the pedestal 52, the cell body 51 and the pedestal 52 are fixed.

The measuring cell 1B shown in FIG. 4 has a single cylindrical cell body 60 like the cell body 20 of the above-described embodiment, and the lower inner wall of the cell body 60 has a quartz crystal. Step-shaped recess 60 for mounting oscillator 3
a is formed.

After the crystal oscillator 3 is mounted on the pedestal 23, the cell body 60 is mounted on the pedestal 23 so that the crystal oscillator 3 fits into the recess 60 a of the cell body 60.

According to such a configuration, a small, simple, and easy-to-handle cell can be provided at a low cost, so that there is an advantage that it can be easily expanded to a multi-channel analyzer having a large number of cells. is there. The other configuration and operation and effect are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made. For example,
In the above-described embodiment, the cell main body has a cylindrical shape, but various shapes can be adopted as long as the shape can accommodate a solution. However, from the viewpoint of miniaturization,
It is preferable to adopt a cylindrical shape such as a cylinder as in the above embodiment.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small analyzer using a plurality of (many) small and simple sample cells.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an analyzer according to the present invention.

2A is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a measuring cell according to the present invention. FIG. 2B is a plan view of a crystal oscillator of the measuring cell. FIG. 2C is a plan view of a crystal oscillator of the measuring cell. Sectional view

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the measuring cell according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the measuring cell according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional analyzer.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a change over time of a resonance frequency of a crystal oscillator used in a conventional analyzer.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Analysis apparatus 2 ... Cell (measurement cell) 3 ... Crystal oscillator (oscillator) 7 ... Solution (sample liquid) 20 ... Cell body 20a ... Housing 21
... Flange part 30 ... Base part 30 31,32 ... Electrode 26,27 ... Terminal pin (connection terminal part)

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Fuwa Kou 2500 Hagizono, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa Japan Nippon Vacuum Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junpei Yuyama 2500 Hagizono, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa Nippon Vacuum Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A cell body having a storage portion for storing a predetermined sample liquid; and a pair of electrodes connectable to a predetermined oscillation source, wherein one of the pair of electrodes is the sample liquid. An oscillator integrally provided at or near the bottom of the cell body so as to be immersed in the cell. 2. The oscillator has a flat base and the pair of electrodes are provided independently on the front surface and the back surface of the base, and the flat base is substantially positioned with respect to the liquid surface of the sample liquid. The measuring cell according to claim 1, wherein the measuring cell is arranged to be parallel. 3. The oscillator according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of electrodes is arranged outside the housing portion of the cell body to block the sample liquid. The measurement cell according to claim 1. 4. The measuring cell according to claim 1, wherein said cell body is configured to also serve as a bottom part by said oscillator. 5. The cell terminal according to claim 1, wherein a connection terminal portion electrically connected to said pair of electrodes is led out to a bottom side of said cell body. 2. The measuring cell according to claim 1. 6. A liquid comprising the measuring cell according to claim 1, wherein the liquid adheres to the oscillator based on frequency characteristics of the oscillator immersed in the sample liquid. An analyzer characterized in that the analyzer is configured to determine the amount of attached components.