JP2006266868A - Absorption analyzer and absorption analysis method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an absorption analyzer using a small quantity of a sample, reducing a workload and rapidly processing the sample. <P>SOLUTION: The absorption analyzer has a cell 1 for accommodating an analyzed fluid and transmitting a light through the fluid, a light source 2, an optical path 3 for guiding the light emitted from the light source 2 and transmitting the light through the cell 1, a branch optical path 5 for branching the light transmitted through the cell 1 into a plurality of the lights, a filter apparatus having various filters 6 arrayed and separately transmitting the lights passing through the branch optical path 5 over different wavelength ranges, and a plurality of photodetectors 7 for respectively detecting the lights transmitted through various filters 6. The filter apparatus includes a plurality of groups comprising various filters 6 corresponding to a plurality of the lights. The filters 6 for transmitting a plurality of lights can be selected in group. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an absorption spectrometer that analyzes light by transmitting light into a substance in a cell and detecting the transmitted light, and an absorption analysis method thereof.

  One method for measuring chemical reaction is known as absorption spectroscopy (see, for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3). In the spectrophotometric analysis, the fluid to be analyzed is generally placed in a transparent container called a cell, light is applied from a light source placed on one side of this cell, light is passed through the fluid in the cell, and placed on the opposite side of the light source. Measure with a light detector. Thus, the wavelength of light absorbed by the measurement object and its ratio (absorbance) are evaluated, and the measurement object is identified by comparing the result with the library. In addition, quartz, general glass, etc. are used as a material of a cell.

  In general, in this measurement system, a lamp having a wide wavelength band such as halogen is used as a light source, and a frequency is spatially resolved by a diffraction grating as a detector and arranged in the optical axis direction of a necessary frequency component. A so-called spectroscopic method of measuring the intensity of the light component with a photodiode array is used.

The cell used in the above system usually has a bottom surface of several millimeters square, and the measurement is performed by injecting the target liquid into the height of several millimeters. In addition, in order to efficiently perform a chemical reaction, a fine channel having a representative dimension of an opening cross section of about several tens of μm to 1 mm or less may be used. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a Y-shaped channel that mixes two kinds of chemical substances is used. In this case, optical measurement can be performed by sandwiching the substrate on which the flow path (cell) is formed between the light source and the detector described above.
JP 2002-221485 A JP 2003-279537 A JP-T-2004-530894

  For example, in disease diagnosis by blood absorption analysis, one or two reagents are added to blood collected from a patient to cause a chemical reaction, and light absorption at two wavelengths is measured during the chemical reaction. Is generally analyzed. Here, two types of wavelengths of light to be measured are determined depending on the type of inspection item (disease). For example, in order to examine (serum) total protein (concentration), a wavelength of 524 nm is used as the main wavelength, and a wavelength of 700 nm is used as the sub wavelength. In order to examine aspartate amyltransferase, a wavelength of 234 nm is used as the main wavelength, and a wavelength of 380 nm is used as the sub wavelength.

  Particularly in the blood test, it is required to use a small amount of blood individually and to process a large number of test objects quickly with a small amount of labor, but no such device has been known so far. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an absorption analysis apparatus or an absorption analysis method that uses a small amount of sample and can be quickly processed with little effort.

  The present invention achieves the above-described object, and the absorbance analyzer according to the present invention includes a light source, a cell containing the analysis target fluid, and a light containing the analysis target fluid so that light emitted from the light source passes through the analysis target fluid. An introduction optical path that guides light, a branch optical path that branches light that has passed through the cell into a plurality of lights, and a plurality of types of filters that transmit light in separate wavelength regions for each of the plurality of lights branched by the branch optical path And a plurality of light detection units that respectively detect light transmitted through each of the plurality of types of filters.

  In addition, the method for absorption spectrometry according to the present invention includes a cell that contains light to be analyzed by light emitted from a light source, a step of guiding the light along an optical path so as to pass through the fluid to be analyzed, and a light transmitted through the cell. Branching light into a plurality of lights through a branching optical path, passing through a plurality of types of filters that transmit light in separate wavelength regions for each of the plurality of lights passing through the branching optical path, and the plurality of types of filters Detecting each of the light transmitted through each of the light detectors, and analyzing the fluid in the cell based on the detection result of the light transmitted through the plurality of types of filters. .

  According to the present invention, a light absorption analysis can be performed quickly with a small amount of work using a small amount of sample, and in particular, various types of analysis can be sequentially processed quickly.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an absorption spectrometer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of an absorption spectrometer according to the present invention. The measurement target is, for example, a liquid (hereinafter referred to as an analysis target fluid) in which one or two types of reagents are injected into blood to cause a chemical reaction. In this apparatus, a large number of cells 1 (six cells are shown in FIG. 1) are arranged, and the analysis target fluid is accommodated in each cell 1. The cell 1 is preferably made of a transparent material such as quartz or general glass. A transparent optical window may be provided in the cell 1 so that light passes through the fluid to be analyzed. The light source 2 is preferably a lamp having a wide wavelength band such as halogen. This lamp emits pulsed light at a predetermined cycle. The light emitted from the light source 2 is guided to each cell 1 through a bundle of optical fibers 3 serving as an introduction optical path.

  The light transmitted through each cell 1 and the fluid to be analyzed therein is guided to the beam splitter 5 (branching optical path) through the optical fiber 4 and branched into two. The light branched by the beam splitter 5 is guided to different filters 6 by optical fibers 30, passes through the filters 6, and further guided to the light detection unit 8 through the optical fiber 7. The light detection unit 8 converts an optical signal into an electrical signal, and is an NMOS sensor, for example, and can arrange a large number of light detection units 8 in a small space. The electrical signals obtained by the light detection unit 8 are added by the addition unit 9 over a predetermined time. Thereby, the fluctuation | variation of the pulse light emission of the light source 2 is averaged.

  The filter 6 is a set of two filters through which light transmitted through one cell 1 passes, and a plurality of sets are incorporated in the filter device 10 as a whole as shown in FIG. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the filter device 10 has a disk-like rotating part 12 that can rotate around a rotating shaft 25 parallel to the optical axis, and the filter 6 of each set is in the radial direction of the rotating part 12. These sets of filters 6 are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction. In the example of FIG. 2, eight sets of filters 6 are arranged. Each set of filters 6 arranged two by two in the radial direction has different transmission wavelength bands, and each set has a combination of different wavelength bands. By rotating the rotating unit 12 as appropriate, a set of filters 6 suitable for a set of wavelengths suitable for the inspection item can be selected to transmit light. A positioning marker 26 is attached along the outer periphery of the rotating unit 12.

  With the above-described configuration, a set of two filters 6 can be positioned by one operation in the rotational direction, so that the setting can be performed in a short time.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a filter device 20 different from FIG. In this case, a set of two filters 6 are arranged horizontally (in the left-right direction in FIG. 1), and these are the number of filter sets in the vertical direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1) (eight sets in the figure). The entire arrangement of the filters 6 can be moved in the vertical direction together with the rectangular moving frame 27. It is the same as the example of FIG. 2 that each set of these filters 6 is a combination of different transmission wavelength bands. As a result, the two filters 6 can be positioned in a single operation, and can be set in a short time. In particular, in the example of FIG. 3, the overall horizontal width of the array of eight sets of filters 6 can be reduced. Therefore, the entire filter device 20 can be made compact by arranging a large number of cells 1 and arranging a large number of moving frames 27 in the horizontal direction. Can be. And thereby, the whole absorption spectrometer can be reduced in size.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a branched optical path including a beam splitter different from that in FIG. In the example of FIG. 4, the beam splitter 5 is further combined with another prism 31 so that the branched light beams are parallel to each other. For this reason, the light emitted from the beam splitter 5 can be directly guided to the filter 6 without passing through the optical fiber. With such a configuration, the apparatus can be reduced in size.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, these are only illustrations, Comprising: The scope of the present invention is not limited to these. For example, in the above embodiment, the absorption of two types of wavelengths is examined using two filters for one cell, but the absorption of three or more types of wavelengths is used using three or more filters for one cell. It is also possible to investigate.

  In the above embodiment, a set of filters are placed in the same plane and these sets are arranged in the same plane. However, the surface of each filter may be substantially perpendicular to the optical axis. For example, the same set of filters may not be on the same plane. That is, when the direction of the light branched by the beam splitter is not parallel, the direction of the filter can be set in accordance with the direction of the non-parallel light instead of changing the direction of the light to make a parallel light beam.

  In addition to the addition unit 9 or in addition to the addition unit 9, a difference integration unit for calculating a difference between signals as a result of detecting the light transmitted through the filter 6 by the respective light detection units 8 may be provided. it can.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an absorption spectrometer according to the present invention. FIG. The AA arrow top view of the filter apparatus of FIG. The perspective view which shows the other example of the filter apparatus of the absorption spectrometer which concerns on this invention. The typical sectional view showing other examples of the beam splitter concerning the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cell, 2 ... Light source, 3 ... Optical fiber, 4 ... Optical fiber, 5 ... Beam splitter, 6 ... Filter, 7 ... Optical fiber, 8 ... Optical detection part, 9 ... Addition part, 10 ... Filter apparatus, 12 ... Rotating unit, 20 ... filter device, 25 ... rotating shaft, 26 ... marker, 30 ... optical fiber, 31 ... prism

Claims (11)

A light source;
A cell containing the fluid to be analyzed by the light emitted from the light source, and an introduction optical path for guiding the light so as to pass through the fluid to be analyzed;
A branching optical path for branching the light transmitted through the cell into a plurality of lights;
A filter device in which a plurality of types of filters that transmit light in separate wavelength regions for each of a plurality of lights branched by the branching optical path;
A plurality of light detection units that respectively detect light transmitted through one of the plurality of types of filters;
Absorbance analyzer. The filter device includes a plurality of sets each including a plurality of types of filters corresponding to the plurality of lights, and is configured to be able to select a set of filters through which the plurality of lights are transmitted for each set.
The absorption spectrometer according to claim 1.   The absorption spectrometer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the branched light path guides the branched light to the filter device so that the branched lights are substantially parallel to each other.   The filter device arranges each set of a plurality of types of filters corresponding to the plurality of lights in a first direction different from the direction of the light passing through the filters, and sets the sets of these filters in the first direction. And a filter array arranged in a plane in a second direction different from the direction of the light passing through the filters, and the filter array is relative to the light branched in the branch optical path. The spectrophotometric analysis according to claim 3, wherein the filter is configured to be driven in the second direction so that a specific filter set can be selected as a filter set through which the plurality of lights are transmitted. apparatus.   The said filter apparatus has a rotation part which rotates the said filter arrangement | sequence, A said 1st direction is a radial direction of rotation, The said 2nd direction is a circumferential direction of rotation, The said rotation direction is characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. The absorbance analyzer according to 4.   The filter device includes a linear drive unit that linearly drives the filter array in a direction different from a direction of light that passes through the filter, and the first direction drives the linear drive unit. The absorbance analyzer according to claim 4, wherein the second analyzer is a direction different from a direction, and the second direction is a drive direction of the linear drive unit. The light source emits pulsed light at a predetermined period,
An adder that adds the signals detected by the light detector over a predetermined time;
The absorption spectrometer according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The absorption spectrometer according to claim 1, wherein the introduction optical path includes an optical fiber.   The filter device includes two types of filters, and further includes a difference calculation unit that calculates a difference between signals obtained by detecting the light transmitted through these filters by the respective light detection units. Item 10. The absorption spectrometer according to any one of Items 1 to 8.   The light absorption according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a plurality of the cells are provided for one light source, and the introduction optical path and the branch optical path are provided for each of the cells. Analysis equipment. Directing the light along the optical path so that light emitted from the light source passes through the cell containing the fluid to be analyzed and the fluid to be analyzed;
Branching light transmitted through the cell into a plurality of lights in a branching optical path;
Passing through a plurality of types of filters that transmit light in separate wavelength regions for each of the plurality of lights that have passed through the branched optical path;
Detecting light transmitted through one type of the plurality of types of filters with respective photodetectors;
Analyzing the fluid in the cell based on detection results of light transmitted through the plurality of types of filters;
Absorbance analysis method.

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