JP2007040847A - Stirrer and analyzer equipped with stirrer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stirrer constituted so as not to form a stagnation region in a liquid held to a liquid holding part even if the volume of the held liquid becomes very little and the liquid holding part becomes fine and capable of uniformly stirring the held liquid by a reduced number of surface elastic wave elements, and also to provide an analyzer equipped with the stirrer. <P>SOLUTION: The stirrer 20 is constituted so as to stirr a liquid by a sonic wave and the analyzer is equipped with the stirrer 20. The stirrer 20 has a plurality of liquid holding parts 6a-1 to 6a-5 for holding the liquid and the surface elastic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4 arranged between at least two liquid holding parts to irradiate two liquid holding parts with the sonic wave. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a stirrer and an analyzer equipped with the stirrer.

  Conventionally, in order to efficiently stir a liquid held in a micro container using ultrasonic waves, a sharp sound field is formed in the held liquid and attenuation from the ultrasonic wave generation element to the liquid is suppressed. It is necessary to transmit sound waves. For this reason, as an agitation device that is used in an analysis device and stirs a liquid with sound waves, for example, at least one sound wave generation means for generating an ultrasonic wave of 10 MHz or more is provided at the bottom of a container holding the liquid, and the ultrasonic wave propagation direction There is known a stirring device that generates an acoustic flow by causing an ultrasonic wave to enter the liquid through a solid material disposed in the liquid and agitates the liquid by the acoustic flow (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

German Patent Invention No. 10325307

  By the way, the analyzer disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a surface acoustic wave (SAW) element in which a comb electrode (IDT) is formed on a piezoelectric substrate as a sound wave generating means. Since the comb-shaped electrode emits surface acoustic waves in both the left and right directions from the electrode center, as shown in FIG. 22, the sound wave Wa generated by the comb-shaped electrode TID of the surface acoustic wave element Dac is generated in the bottom wall of the container Cv. Then, the light enters the liquid Lq in an inclined state as indicated by an arrow with respect to the inner surface of the bottom wall. For this reason, when the surface acoustic wave element Dac is arranged at the center of the bottom wall of the container when the capacity becomes a few tens of μL or less and the container becomes minute or thin, the sound wave is reflected by the inner wall, and this reflection Along with this, the acoustic flow generated by the sound wave is also reflected by the inner surface. As a result, the liquid Lq in the container is caused to collide with each other by the two symmetrical acoustic flows Fs reflected by the side walls and cancel each other, resulting in a staying area A where the flow stays, and the liquid is uniformly stirred by the acoustic flow Fs. May be hindered. In addition, when the number of containers or the number of liquid holding parts in one container increases, the analyzer must increase the number of surface acoustic wave elements corresponding to the number of containers and liquid holding parts. However, there is a problem that the value increases in proportion to the number of containers.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and the volume of the liquid held in the liquid holding unit becomes a very small amount, and even if the container becomes minute or thin, no retention region is generated in the held liquid. An object of the present invention is to provide a stirrer and an analyzer capable of uniformly stirring a held liquid with a small number of surface acoustic wave elements.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a stirrer according to claim 1 is a stirrer that stirs a liquid by irradiating sound waves, and includes at least two liquid holding units that hold the liquid and at least two liquid holding units. And a sound wave generating means for irradiating the two liquid holding parts with the sound wave, which is disposed between the two liquid holding parts.

  The stirring device according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the sound wave generating means simultaneously irradiates the sound wave to at least two liquid holding portions located in a propagation direction of the sound wave.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, a plurality of the sound wave generating means are provided, and the number thereof is smaller than the number of the plurality of liquid holding portions.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, the sound wave generating means is disposed between two adjacent liquid holding portions.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the stirring device according to the above invention, wherein the sound wave generating means is disposed so as to be displaced from the centers of the two adjacent liquid holding portions.

  The stirring device according to claim 6 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the plurality of liquid holding portions are formed in one container, and the sound wave generating means is disposed on a bottom surface side of the container. To do.

  The stirring device according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the plurality of liquid holding portions are formed in one container, and the sound wave generating means is arranged on a side surface side of the container. And

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the stirring device according to the above invention, wherein the container rotates so that a relative position between the sound wave generating means and the liquid holding unit changes.

  The stirring device according to claim 9 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the sound wave generation means is a surface acoustic wave element that generates a surface acoustic wave as the sound wave.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an analyzer according to claim 10 is an analyzer for analyzing a reaction liquid by stirring and reacting a plurality of different liquids. And a plurality of different liquids are stirred and reacted to analyze the reaction liquid.

  The stirring device of the present invention is disposed between at least two liquid holding units and has a sound wave generating means for radiating sound waves to the two liquid holding units, so that the liquid held in each liquid holding unit is asymmetrical. The acoustic flow can be generated, the volume of the liquid held in the liquid holding part becomes a very small amount, and even if the container becomes minute or thin, no retention area is formed in the held liquid, and the retained liquid is small The number of surface acoustic wave elements can be uniformly stirred. Further, since the analyzing apparatus of the present invention has this stirring device, the volume of the liquid held in the liquid holding unit becomes a very small amount, and even if the container is made minute or thin, a staying area is not generated in the held liquid. The retained liquid can be uniformly stirred with a small number of surface acoustic wave elements.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 according to the stirring device and the analysis device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic analyzer according to the present invention provided with a stirrer according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line CC of the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a surface acoustic wave device constituting the stirring device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a cross section of one constituent unit of the stirring device together with the drive circuit in the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. Note that the drawings used in this specification are made with emphasis on the description of the configuration of the present invention, and the dimensions are not necessarily accurate.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic analyzer 1 includes a sample table 3, a reaction wheel 6, a drive mechanism 7, and a reagent table 13 which are spaced apart from each other on the work table 2 and can be rotated and positioned along the circumferential direction. Is provided. Further, the automatic analyzer 1 is provided with a sample dispensing mechanism 5 between the sample table 3 and the reaction wheel 6, and a reagent dispensing mechanism 12 between the reaction wheel 6 and the reagent table 13. A stirring device 20 is installed below the reaction wheel 6 near the dispensing mechanism 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sample table 3 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow by a driving means (not shown), and a plurality of storage chambers 3a are provided on the outer periphery at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. Yes. In each storage chamber 3a, a sample container 4 storing a sample is detachably stored.

  The sample dispensing mechanism 5 is a means for dispensing a sample. The operation of the sample dispensing mechanism 5 is controlled by the control unit 16, and the sample is sequentially dispensed from the plurality of sample containers 4 of the sample table 3 to each reaction recess 6 a of the reaction wheel 6. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the reaction wheel 6 is a wheel made of a transparent material that also serves as a container that is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow by the driving means, and a plurality of reaction recesses 6 a that serve as liquid holding portions are provided along the circumferential direction. At regular intervals. Each reaction recess 6a is parallel so that the side walls facing the radial direction of the reaction wheel 6 are parallel, and as shown in FIG. 2, the side walls facing the circumferential direction approach each other toward the bottom. The reaction wheel 6 is provided with a light source 8 on the inner side and a discharge device 11 on the outer periphery. The light source 8 emits analysis light (340 to 800 nm) for analyzing the reaction solution in the reaction recess 6a in which the reagent and the sample have reacted. The analysis light beam emitted from the light source 8 passes through the reaction solution in the reaction recess 6 a and is received by the light receiving element 9 provided at a position facing the light source 8. On the other hand, the operation of the discharge device 11 is controlled by the control unit 16 and includes a discharge nozzle. The discharge liquid 11 is sucked by the discharge nozzle from the reaction concave portion 6a and discharged into the discharge container. Here, the reaction recess 6a that has passed through the discharge device 11 is transferred to a cleaning device (not shown) by the rotation of the reaction wheel 6 and the interior is cleaned, and then used again for analysis of a new specimen.

  The operation of the drive mechanism 7 is controlled by the control unit 16, and the reaction wheel 6 is rotationally driven to change the relative position between the reaction recess 6 a and the surface acoustic wave element 22. The drive mechanism 7 has an encoder that detects the rotational position of the reaction wheel 6 with high accuracy, and controls the relative position between the reaction recess 6 a and the surface acoustic wave element 22 with high accuracy in cooperation with the control unit 16. Thus, a position control unit to be changed is configured. The position control unit changes the relative position between the reaction concave portion 6 a that holds the liquid and the surface acoustic wave element 22 according to the property such as the viscosity and specific gravity of the liquid to be agitated or the amount of the liquid.

  The reagent dispensing mechanism 12 is a means for dispensing a reagent, the operation of which is controlled by the control unit 16, and sequentially dispenses the reagent from a predetermined reagent container 14 of the reagent table 13 to the reaction recess 6 a of the reaction wheel 6.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the reagent table 13 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow by a driving means (not shown), and a plurality of storage chambers 13a formed in a sector shape are provided along the circumferential direction. In each storage chamber 13a, the reagent container 14 is detachably stored. Each of the plurality of reagent containers 14 is filled with a predetermined reagent corresponding to the inspection item, and a barcode label (not shown) for displaying information on the stored reagent is attached to the outer surface.

  Here, on the outer periphery of the reagent table 13, a reading device 15 that reads information such as the reagent type, lot, and expiration date recorded on the barcode label attached to the reagent container 14 and outputs the information to the control unit 16 is installed. Has been. The control unit 16 is connected to the sample dispensing mechanism 5, the drive mechanism 7, the light receiving element 9, the discharge device 11, the reagent dispensing mechanism 12, the reading device 15, the analysis unit 17, the input unit 18, the display unit 19, and the like. For example, a microcomputer having a storage function for storing analysis results is used. The control unit 16 controls the operation of each part of the automatic analyzer 1 including the rotational position of the reaction wheel 6, and sets the reagent lot and expiration date based on the information read from the barcode label record. If it is out of the range, the automatic analyzer 1 is controlled so as to regulate the analysis work, or a warning is issued to the operator.

  The analysis unit 17 is connected to the light receiving element 9 via the control unit 16, analyzes the component concentration of the specimen from the absorbance of the liquid sample in the reaction recess 6 a based on the amount of light received by the light receiving element 9, and controls the analysis result To the unit 16. The input unit 18 is a part that performs an operation of inputting inspection items and the like to the control unit 16, and for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or the like is used. The display unit 19 displays analysis contents, alarms, and the like, and a display panel or the like is used.

  The stirrer 20 is a stirrer that stirs a liquid by irradiating a sound wave. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the reaction wheel 6, a plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22, and surface elasticity are mixed. And a drive circuit 23 for driving the wave element 22. The plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22 are arranged in the liquid tank 21 holding the acoustic matching agent Lm such as gel or liquid and arranged on the bottom surface side of the reaction wheel 6. The liquid tank 21 is fixed on the work table 2 below the reaction wheel 6. Here, the acoustic matching agent Lm interposed between the reaction wheel 6 and the surface acoustic wave element 22 increases the transmission efficiency of the sound wave to the wall surface of the reaction wheel 6 to increase the wavelength λ of the frequency emitted by the surface acoustic wave element 22. On the other hand, the thickness is adjusted to be an odd multiple of λ / 4 or as thin as possible.

  The surface acoustic wave element 22 is a sound wave generating means for simultaneously irradiating two reaction recesses 6a positioned in the sound wave propagation direction with a sound wave. As shown in FIG. 3, on the piezoelectric substrate 22a such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3). A vibrator 22b made of a comb electrode (IDT) is formed. The transducer 22b has a plurality of electrode fingers formed in a comb shape, and converts the drive signal transmitted from the drive circuit 23 into a surface acoustic wave (sound wave). The vibrator 22b is connected to the electrical terminal 22c by a bus bar 22d which is a common electrode. At this time, the transducer 22b emits the sound wave Wa bidirectionally from the center in the arrangement direction of the comb electrodes as indicated by arrows in FIG.

  The drive circuit 23 is a drive unit that drives the surface acoustic wave element 22 and includes a stirring control unit 24, an oscillation unit 25, and an amplification unit 26, as shown in FIG. It is connected. Here, FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the reaction recess 6a, which is one constituent unit of the stirring device 20, together with the drive circuit 23, and the drive circuit 23 drives only one surface acoustic wave element 22. It is drawn. However, the plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22 shown in FIG. 2 are connected to the drive circuit 23 in series or in parallel, or connected to the drive circuit 23 via a switch and driven.

  The agitation control unit 24 uses an electronic control means (ECU) incorporating a memory and a timer, and controls the driving signal of the surface acoustic wave element 22 in accordance with the properties such as the viscosity and specific gravity of the liquid to be agitated or the amount of liquid. . The agitation control unit 24 controls the oscillation unit 25, and includes, for example, characteristics (frequency, intensity, phase, wave characteristics) of sound waves generated by the surface acoustic wave element 22, waveforms (sine waves, triangular waves, rectangular waves, burst waves, etc.) ) Or modulation (amplitude modulation, frequency modulation) or the like is controlled. In addition, the agitation control unit 24 can sweep or switch the frequency of the oscillation signal, for example, by changing the frequency of the oscillation signal oscillated by the oscillation unit 25 with time according to a built-in timer.

  The oscillating unit 25 has an oscillating circuit that can change the oscillating frequency in a programmable manner based on a control signal from the stirring control unit 24, and a high-frequency oscillating signal of several tens to several hundreds of MHz is supplied to the amplifying unit 26. Output.

  The amplifying unit 26 amplifies the oscillation signal input from the oscillating unit 25 and outputs the amplified signal to the surface acoustic wave element 22 as a drive signal. You can switch to

  In the automatic analyzer 1 configured as described above, the sample dispensing mechanism 5 receives samples from the plurality of sample containers 4 on the sample table 3 in the reaction recesses 6a conveyed along the circumferential direction by the rotating reaction table 6. Dispense sequentially. The reaction recess 6 a into which the specimen has been dispensed is conveyed to the vicinity of the reagent dispensing mechanism 12 by the rotation of the reaction wheel 6, and the reagent is dispensed from a predetermined reagent container 14. The reaction recess 6a into which the reagent is dispensed reacts while the reagent and the sample are stirred by the stirring device 20 while being conveyed along the circumferential direction by the rotation of the reaction wheel 6, and the light source 8 and the light receiving element 9 are reacted. Pass between. At this time, the liquid sample in the reaction recess 6a is measured by the light receiving element 9, and the analysis unit 17 analyzes the component concentration and the like. After the analysis, the reaction recess 6a is discharged by the discharge device 11 and then cleaned by a cleaning device (not shown) and used again for analysis of the specimen.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the stirring device 20 has two reaction concave portions adjacent to each other where each surface acoustic wave element 22 is positioned above the liquid tank 21 as the reaction wheel 6 rotates in the arrow direction. 6a is irradiated with sound waves simultaneously. For this reason, the position where the sound wave emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22 is incident on the reaction wheel 6 from the bottom wall changes depending on the relative position with the reaction recess 6 a accompanying the rotation of the reaction wheel 6. For example, in FIG. 2, the four surface acoustic wave elements 22 are designated as surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4 from the left, and the reaction recesses 6a are similarly indicated from the left as reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-5. Will be distinguished from each other.

  At this time, in FIG. 2, the sound wave Wa emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22-1 and incident on the reaction wheel 6 from the bottom wall propagates through the wall, and then the reaction recesses 6a-1 and 6a-2. Incident into the liquid from each side. In this case, the sound wave Wa incident on the reaction recess 6a-1 has a large attenuation because the propagation distance in the wall is long, and the incident amount is smaller than the sound wave Wa incident on the reaction recess 6a-2. Therefore, the acoustic flow F11 generated in the counterclockwise direction in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a-1 by the sound wave Wa simultaneously emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22-1 is the sound generated in the clockwise direction in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a-2. The flow velocity is smaller than the flow F12. The acoustic flow F22 generated in the counterclockwise direction in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a-2 by the sound wave Wa emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22-2 is the acoustic flow generated in the clockwise direction in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a-3. The flow velocity is smaller than F23. Similarly, the acoustic flow generated in the liquid in the reaction recesses 6a-3 to 6a-5 is shown in FIG. 2 together with the flow velocity.

  Therefore, when the agitation device 20 drives the surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4 at the same time, as shown in FIG. 2, it reacts with the liquid in all the reaction recesses 6a, for example, the reaction recesses 6a-2. An acoustic flow F12 and an acoustic flow F22 that are asymmetric with respect to the center of the recess 6a-2 are generated. Therefore, the stirrer 20, and thus the automatic analyzer 1 equipped with the stirrer 20, does not generate a residence region in the retained liquid even if the volume of the reaction recess 6a formed in the reaction wheel 6 becomes very small. . In this case, in the reaction wheel 6, even if the side wall of the reaction recess 6a is not inclined and is vertical, the position where the sound wave emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22 is incident on the bottom surface changes with rotation. Similarly, since an asymmetric acoustic flow is generated, even if the volume of the reaction concave portion 6a becomes very small, no stay region is generated in the retained liquid.

  When the reaction wheel 6 rotates from the position shown in FIG. 2 and moves to the position shown in FIG. 5 after the time t1 has elapsed, the relative position between the reaction recess 6a and the surface acoustic wave element 22 changes. In the case shown in FIG. 5, the surface acoustic wave element 22 emits the sound wave Wa in plane symmetry in two directions, but one of the emitted plane-symmetric sound waves Wa travels in the wall in parallel with the inclined side wall of the reaction recess 6a. The other propagates through the bottom wall of the reaction recess 6a and then enters the liquid from the bottom. Therefore, when the agitation device 20 drives the surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4 simultaneously, as shown in FIG. 5, the countercurrent acoustic flows F12 to F45 are generated in all the reaction recesses 6a.

  Then, when the time t2 further elapses and the reaction wheel 6 rotates from the position shown in FIG. 5 and moves to the position shown in FIG. 6, the relative position between the reaction recess 6a and the surface acoustic wave element 22 further changes. In this case, as in the case described above, one of the sound waves Wa emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22 propagates in the wall in parallel with the inclined side wall of the reaction recess 6a. For this reason, since only the other sound wave Wa enters the liquid from the bottom surface, when the agitating device 20 simultaneously drives the surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4, as shown in FIG. A clockwise acoustic flow F12 to F45 is generated in the recess 6a.

  Thus, since the direction of the acoustic flow generated in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a is switched according to the rotational position of the reaction wheel 6, the stirring device 20 and the automatic analyzer 1 have the effect of stirring the liquid held in the reaction recess 6a. And the liquid can be stirred uniformly. Further, in the stirring device 20 and the automatic analyzer 1, the plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22 disposed in the liquid tank 21 simultaneously irradiate the sound waves to at least two reaction recesses 6a positioned in the sound wave propagation direction. For this reason, the stirring device 20 and the automatic analyzer 1 can uniformly agitate the liquid held and transported in the reaction recess 6a by the surface acoustic wave elements 22 that are smaller in number than the reaction recess 6a.

  In this case, if the arrangement interval of the reaction recesses 6a along the circumferential direction of the reaction wheel 6 is equal to the arrangement interval of the vibrators 22b, the surface acoustic wave element 22 reacts immediately below or adjacent to the reaction recess 6a by the rotation of the reaction wheel 6. When located immediately below the center of the recess 6a, sound waves Wa having the same magnitude and different directions are incident on the liquid in each reaction recess 6a. For this reason, in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a, acoustic flows having the same flow velocity and different directions are generated, and they collide and cancel each other. As a result, the flow may stay. The stagnation of a simple flow is a temporary thing accompanying the rotation of the reaction wheel 6 and does not cause a problem.

  However, when the surface acoustic wave element 22 controls the oscillation unit 25 by the stirring control unit 24 of the drive air passage 23 and changes the frequency for driving the vibrator 22b between the resonance frequency and the antiresonance frequency, the reaction recess 6a. The interval between the sound waves that enter the liquid changes at the bottom surface. For example, when the vibrator 22b is driven at a center frequency f0 {= (fr + fa) / 2} between the resonance frequency fr and the anti-resonance frequency fa, as shown in FIG. Become the widest. Then, as the distance from the center frequency f0 increases, the interval between the sound waves becomes narrower. For example, when the transducer 22b is driven at frequencies f1, f2 (f1 <f0 <f2, | f0−f1 | <| f2−f0 |). As shown in FIG. 7, when the vibrator 22b is driven at the frequency f2, the interval between the sound waves incident on the liquid becomes the smallest.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the distance from the center of the vibrator 22b to the center of the reaction recess 6a and the half of the arrangement interval of the reaction recess 6a along the circumferential direction of the reaction wheel 6 are Da, Db ( Da ≠ Db), and the surface acoustic wave element 22 is driven at different frequencies f0, f1, and f2. Then, the interval between the sound waves incident on the liquid in the reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-3 changes according to the frequencies f0, f1, and f2, and asymmetric acoustic flows F12 and F22 are generated in the reaction recess 6a-2. The stirring efficiency can be improved by the driving frequency of the surface acoustic wave element 22.

  Therefore, when the stirring device 20 changes the drive frequency of the adjacent vibrator 22b by the drive circuit 23, the direction of the acoustic flow generated in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a is switched according to the rotational position of the reaction wheel 6. The interval of sound waves incident on the liquid can be changed. As a result, when the driving frequency of the adjacent vibrators 22b is changed, the stirring device 20 causes the temporary flow to stay in the case where the arrangement intervals of the reaction recesses 6a and the vibrators 22b along the circumferential direction of the reaction wheel 6 are equal. In addition, the asymmetry of the acoustic flow generated in the liquid held in the reaction recess 6a can be further increased, and the stirring efficiency of the liquid held in the reaction recess 6a can be further increased. The driving frequency of the vibrator 22b is set to a frequency f2 away from the center frequency f0 when the amount of liquid held in the reaction recess 6a is large, and a frequency close to the center frequency f0 when the amount of liquid is small. And

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the stirring device 20 includes a half (Da) of the arrangement interval of the reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-3 along the circumferential direction of the reaction wheel 6 and the center of the vibrator 22b. Is set equal to the distance Db from the center of the reaction recess 6a (Da = Db). The surface acoustic wave element 22-1 has, for example, a center frequency of f3 and drive frequencies of f0, f1, and f2, and the surface acoustic wave element 22-2 has a center frequency of f0 and drive frequencies of f3, f4, and f5. The drive frequencies of the adjacent surface acoustic wave elements 22 are set to different frequencies so that (f5 <f3 <f2 <f4 <f0 <f1). As described above, when the driving frequencies of the adjacent surface acoustic wave elements 22 are set to different frequencies, the stirring device 20 can minimize the influence of the temporary flow retention and is held in the reaction recess 6a. The asymmetry of the acoustic flow generated in the liquid is further increased, and the stirring efficiency of the liquid held in the reaction recess 6a is improved.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the stirring device 20 has a plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22 arranged in a liquid tank 21. However, as shown in FIG. 10, the stirring device 20 has a configuration in which the surface acoustic wave element 22 is provided with a plurality of vibrators 22 b on a single piezoelectric substrate 22 a, and the single piezoelectric substrate 22 a is placed in the liquid tank 21. When arranged, it is not necessary to handle a plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22, and it is only necessary to handle a single piezoelectric substrate 22a, so that the surface acoustic wave elements can be handled easily.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment according to the stirring device and the analysis device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the stirring device of the first embodiment, the surface acoustic wave element is arranged on the bottom surface side of the reaction wheel 6, whereas in the stirring device of the second embodiment, the surface acoustic wave element is arranged on the side surface side of the reaction wheel 6. Has been. FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram of the automatic analyzer of the present invention provided with the stirring device according to the second embodiment. 12 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the reaction wheel and the liquid tank of the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. In the following description, the same components as those of the automatic analyzer and the stirrer according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The stirring device 30 according to the second embodiment includes a reaction wheel 6, a plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22, and a drive circuit 23 that drives the surface acoustic wave elements 22, and the plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22 includes These are disposed in the liquid tank 31 holding the acoustic matching agent Lm such as gel or liquid and disposed on the outer surface side of the reaction wheel 6. Here, the acoustic matching agent Lm increases the transmission efficiency of sound waves to the wall surface of the reaction wheel 6 so that the thickness is an odd multiple of λ / 4 with respect to the wavelength λ of the frequency emitted by the surface acoustic wave element 22. Or adjust it to be as thin as possible. The liquid tank 31 is fixed on the work table 2 outside the reaction wheel 6. Further, in the stirring device 30, the arrangement interval of the reaction recesses 6a along the circumferential direction of the reaction wheel 6 is set to be equal to the arrangement interval of the vibrator 22b.

  Therefore, in the automatic analyzer 1 equipped with the stirring device 30, the sample dispensing mechanism 5 moves the sample from the plurality of sample containers 4 of the sample table 3 into the reaction recess 6 a that is conveyed along the circumferential direction by the rotating reaction table 6. Are dispensed sequentially. The reaction recess 6 a into which the specimen has been dispensed is conveyed to the vicinity of the reagent dispensing mechanism 12 by the rotation of the reaction wheel 6, and the reagent is dispensed from a predetermined reagent container 14. The reaction recess 6a into which the reagent is dispensed reacts while the reagent and the sample are stirred by the stirring device 30 while being conveyed along the circumferential direction by the rotation of the reaction wheel 6, and the light source 8 and the light receiving element 9 are reacted. Pass between. At this time, the liquid sample in the reaction recess 6a is measured by the light receiving element 9, and the analysis unit 17 analyzes the component concentration and the like. After the analysis, the reaction recess 6a is discharged by the discharge device 11 and then cleaned by a cleaning device (not shown) and used again for analysis of the specimen.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 12, the stirring device 30 has two reaction recesses 6 a adjacent to each other where each surface acoustic wave element 22 is positioned above the liquid tank 21 as the reaction wheel 6 rotates in the direction of the arrow. Simultaneously irradiates with sound waves. For this reason, the position where the sound wave emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22 is incident on the reaction wheel 6 from the side wall varies depending on the relative position with respect to the reaction recess 6 a accompanying the rotation of the reaction wheel 6. For example, in FIG. 12, the four surface acoustic wave elements 22 are designated as surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4 from the left, and the reaction recesses 6a are similarly indicated from the left as reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-5. Will be distinguished from each other.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 12, the sound wave Wa emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 22-1 and incident on the reaction wheel 6 from the side wall propagates through the wall, and then reacts with the reaction recess 6a-1 and the reaction recess 6a-. The same applies to the other surface acoustic wave elements 22-2 to 22-4 that are incident on the liquid from the respective side surfaces. At this time, the surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4 are located in the middle of the adjacent reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-5. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 12, the acoustic flow Fcw in the clockwise direction is generated in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a-1, and the acoustic flow Fcc in the counterclockwise direction is generated in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a-5. .

  On the other hand, in the liquids in the reaction recesses 6a-2 to 6a-4 located between them, as shown in FIG. 12, the sizes are equally oriented from the adjacent surface acoustic wave elements 22-1 to 22-4. Of different sound waves Wa. For this reason, in the liquids in the reaction recesses 6a-2 to 6a-4, the acoustic flow Fcc and the acoustic flow Fcw are generated and collide with each other to cancel each other.

  However, for example, when the reaction wheel 6 is located slightly before the position shown in FIG. 12, the liquid in the reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-5 is counterclockwise as shown in FIG. An acoustic flow Fcc is generated. For example, in the reaction recess 6a-3, the sound wave Wa irradiated to the upper right and the surface acoustic wave element 22-2 and the sound wave Wa irradiated to the upper left of the surface acoustic wave element 22-3 are shown in the lower right corner of the figure. Is incident on. At this time, the sound wave Wa irradiated by the surface acoustic wave element 22-2 obliquely upward to the right is incident on the reaction recess 6a-3, then reflected by the inner wall surface, and irradiated by the surface acoustic wave element 22-3 obliquely upward to the left. Superimposed on the sound wave Wa, a counterclockwise acoustic flow Fcc is generated.

  On the other hand, when the reaction wheel 6 further rotates from the position shown in FIG. 12 to the position shown in FIG. 14, a clockwise acoustic flow Fcw is generated in the liquid in the reaction recesses 6a-1 to 6a-5. For example, in the reaction recess 6a-3, the sound wave Wa irradiated to the upper right and the surface acoustic wave element 22-2 and the sound wave Wa irradiated to the upper left of the surface acoustic wave element 22-3 are shown in the lower left corner of the figure. Is incident on. At this time, the sound wave Wa irradiated by the surface acoustic wave element 22-3 obliquely upward to the left is incident on the reaction recess 6a-3, then reflected by the inner wall surface, and irradiated by the surface acoustic wave element 22-2 obliquely upward to the right. A clockwise acoustic flow Fcw is generated by being superimposed on the sound wave Wa.

  Therefore, the stay of the flow described above is temporary accompanying the rotation of the reaction wheel 6, and as described in the first embodiment, when the driving frequency of the adjacent vibrator 22b is changed, the stirrer 30 causes the reaction to occur. In the case where the reaction recesses 6a and the vibrators 22b are disposed at the same interval along the circumferential direction of the wheel 6, the influence of temporary flow retention can be minimized.

  As described above, since the direction of the acoustic flow generated in the liquid in the reaction recess 6a is switched according to the rotational position of the reaction wheel 6, the stirring device 30 and the automatic analysis device 1 according to the first embodiment. Similar to the apparatus 1, the stirring effect of the liquid held in the reaction recess 6a is improved, and the liquid can be stirred uniformly. Further, in the stirring device 30, a plurality of surface acoustic wave elements 22 disposed in the liquid tank 31 irradiate sound waves to at least two reaction recesses 6 a positioned in the sound wave propagation direction. For this reason, the stirrer 30 and the automatic analyzer 1 can uniformly stir the liquid that is held and transported in the reaction recess 6a by the surface acoustic wave elements 22 having a smaller number than the reaction recess 6a.

  Here, although the stirring apparatus 30 was arrange | positioned at the outer surface side of the reaction wheel 6, if there is no problem in arrangement | positioning, you may arrange | position at the inner surface side. The reaction wheel 6 is provided with one row of reaction recesses 6a along the circumferential direction, but may be provided with two rows. In this case, the automatic analyzer 1 arranges the stirring devices 30 on both the outer surface side and the inner surface side of the reaction wheel 6, and the reaction liquid in each reaction recess 6a that has reacted with the reagent and the sample being stirred, Detection and analysis are performed by a light source 8 and a light receiving element 9 provided between the two reaction wheels 6. At this time, one surface of the reaction recess 6a is used as a mirror, and an intersection line branched into two from the light source 8 is incident on the reaction recess 6a from the side, reflected by the mirror surface facing the incident surface, and detected by the light receiving element 9. Analyze. Alternatively, instead of the light source 8 and the light receiving element 9, an image is taken by an imaging means such as a CCD camera disposed above the reaction wheel 6, and the component concentration of the specimen is analyzed using the obtained image data.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the stirring device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the first and second embodiments, a plurality of liquid holding portions are provided in the reaction wheel 6 that also serves as a container, whereas in the third embodiment, the plurality of liquid holding portions are provided in a microtiter plate that is a container. Yes. FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the stirring device of the third embodiment. 16 is a back view showing the microtiter plate of the stirring device shown in FIG. 15 together with the vibrator of the surface acoustic wave device. FIG. 17 is an enlarged perspective view of a surface acoustic wave device used in the microtiter plate shown in FIG. FIG. 18 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the center of the well along the longitudinal direction of the microtiter plate.

  The stirrer 40 is a stirrer that stirs a liquid by irradiating sound waves, and as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a microtiter plate (hereinafter simply referred to as a “microplate”) 45 and a bottom surface of the microplate 45. The liquid sample held in the plurality of wells 45b serving as the liquid holding portion is agitated.

  As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the microplate 45 has a plurality of wells 45b serving as liquid sample holding portions formed in a matrix on the upper surface of a rectangular main body 45a. The microplate 45 is a reaction container for analyzing a component concentration of a specimen by dispensing a reagent and a specimen such as blood or body fluid to each well 45b and reacting them, and optically measuring the reaction liquid. . Here, in the illustrated microplate 45, the number of wells 45b is 4 × 6, but various numbers of wells 45b can be used.

  The power transmission body 41 is supported by a position control member (not shown) that controls the distance to the microplate 45 and the position in the two-dimensional direction along the plate surface of the microplate 45. As shown in FIG. And an RF transmission antenna 41a, a drive circuit 41b, and a controller 41c that are disposed to face the surface acoustic wave element 43. The drive circuit 41b is a drive unit that drives the surface acoustic wave element 43, and includes the oscillation unit 25 and the amplification unit 26 of the drive circuit 23 of the first embodiment. The controller 41c uses the stirring control unit 24 of the first embodiment. The power transmission body 41 transmits the power supplied from the AC power source to the surface acoustic wave element 43 as a radio wave from the RF transmission antenna 41a while moving in a two-dimensional direction along the plate surface of the microplate 45. At this time, the relative position of the power transmission body 41 is adjusted by the position control member so that the RF transmission antenna 41a and an antenna 43c (described later) of the surface acoustic wave element 43 face each other during power transmission to transmit power to the surface acoustic wave element 43. Adjusted.

  The surface acoustic wave element 43 is a sound wave generating means attached to the bottom surface 45c of the microplate 45 via an acoustic matching layer (not shown) such as an epoxy resin. As shown in FIG. 17, lithium niobate (LiNbO3) A vibrator 43b made of a comb-shaped electrode (IDT) is integrally provided with an antenna 43c serving as a power receiving means on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate 43a. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 18, the surface acoustic wave element 43 radiates sound waves to the two wells 45 b positioned in the propagation direction of the emitted sound wave Wa simultaneously. One is provided at a position where the distance from one well 45b is equal. However, the surface acoustic wave element 43 is provided by being displaced from the center of two adjacent wells 45b. Further, as shown in FIG. 18, the surface acoustic wave element 43 is attached to the bottom surface 45c of the microplate 45 while being displaced from the central axis Ac of the well 45b.

  In the stirring device 40 configured as described above, when the RF transmission antenna 41a and the antenna 43c face each other, the power transmission body 41 transmits radio waves from the RF transmission antenna 41a under the control of the controller 41c. Then, the antenna 43c of the surface acoustic wave element 43 disposed to face the power transmission body 41 receives this radio wave, and an electromotive force is generated by a resonance action. The stirrer 40 generates surface acoustic waves (ultrasonic waves) in the vibrator 43b by this electromotive force, propagates from the acoustic matching layer into the main body 45a of the microplate 45, and leaks into a liquid sample having a close acoustic impedance. Take it out.

  At this time, the stirrer 40 has two adjacent wells between two adjacent wells 45b so that the two wells 45b located in the propagation direction of the sound waves emitted from the surface acoustic wave element 43 are simultaneously irradiated with the sound waves. The surface acoustic wave elements 43 are provided one by one by being displaced from the center of 45b. For this reason, the microplate 45 has the same well 45b because the propagation distance in the wall of the sound wave incident on the same well 45b among the sound waves emitted from the adjacent surface acoustic wave elements 43, and hence the attenuation amount of the sound wave is different. There is a difference in the amount of sound waves incident on.

  As a result, in the liquid sample held in the well 45b, as shown in FIG. 18, a clockwise acoustic flow Fcw and a counterclockwise acoustic flow Fcc having a smaller flow velocity than the acoustic flow Fcw are generated asymmetrically. The reagent dispensed into the well 45b and the specimen are uniformly stirred without generating a retention region. At this time, if the frequency of the radio wave transmitted from the RF transmission antenna 41a to the antenna 43c is changed between the resonance frequency fr and the anti-resonance frequency fa, the interval between the sound waves incident on the liquid sample held in the well 45b changes. Therefore, the asymmetry of the acoustic flow generated in the liquid sample is increased, and the stirring efficiency of the liquid held in the well 45b can be increased.

  Then, the liquid sample that has reacted with the reagent and sample being stirred is imaged from above the microplate 45 by an imaging means such as a CCD camera, and the sample components are analyzed using the obtained image data. Alternatively, in the case of an immune reaction in which the reaction between the reagent and the specimen can be detected by fluorescent color development, the analysis is performed by measuring the fluorescence intensity from above the microplate 45.

  As described above, the stirring device 40 uses the RF transmission antenna 41a and the antenna 43c to transmit power from the power transmission body 41 to the surface acoustic wave element 43 attached to the microplate 45 in a non-contact manner, and to the plurality of wells 45b. Stir the dispensed reagent and sample. At this time, the agitation device 40 is displaced from the center of two adjacent wells 45b between two adjacent wells 45b, and one surface acoustic wave element 43 is provided. For this reason, even if the liquid sample becomes a very small amount and the well 45b becomes minute or thin, the stirring device 40 does not generate a staying region in the retained liquid and the number of retained liquids is smaller than the number of the wells 45b. The surface acoustic wave element 43 can be uniformly stirred.

  Here, as for the microplate 45 used with the stirring apparatus 40, the arrangement | positioning space | interval of the several well 45b and the distance of the surface acoustic wave element 43 and the well 45b do not necessarily need to be constant. For example, in the microplate 45 shown in FIG. 16, the longitudinal direction is the X-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is the Y-axis direction. At this time, as shown in FIG. 19, the microplate 45 is provided between two wells 45b adjacent to each other in the sound wave emitting direction, in addition to making the arrangement interval in the X-axis direction of adjacent wells 45b different from X1 and X2. The surface acoustic wave element 43 may be provided with different center distances L1, L2, and L3 between the surface acoustic wave element 43 and the well 45b.

  In addition, the microplate used in the stirring device 40 has square columnar wells 46b arranged in a matrix like the microplate 46 shown in FIG. 20, and the vibrator 43b straddles a plurality of wells 46b and is adjacent to each other. A plurality of surface acoustic wave elements may be attached to the bottom surface 46c via an acoustic matching layer (not shown) such as an epoxy resin so as to be displaced from the center of the two wells 46b.

  Therefore, in the agitator 40 using the microplate 46, when the surface acoustic wave element 43 is driven, the sound wave Wa is symmetrical from the center Ci of each transducer 43b as shown in FIG. Although emitted, each transducer 43b is provided by being displaced from the center of two adjacent wells 46b, so that the propagation distance of the sound wave propagating in the wall, and hence the attenuation amount of the sound wave, is different. For this reason, in the microplate 46, acoustic flows Fa having different flow velocities are generated asymmetrically in the liquids held in the respective wells 46b in accordance with the propagation distance in the wall of the sound wave Wa emitted from the plurality of transducers 43b. Therefore, the stirrer 40 does not generate a staying area in the retained liquid even if the liquid sample becomes very small and the well 46b becomes minute or thin, and the number of surfaces of the retained liquid smaller than the number of the wells 46b. The elastic wave element 43 can uniformly stir.

  Here, in the liquid held in each well 46b, the acoustic wave emitted from the adjacent surface acoustic wave element 43 leaks, so that an acoustic stream having a smaller flow velocity is generated in addition to the illustrated acoustic stream Fa. Since these flow rates are small, they hardly contribute to the stirring of the liquid and are not shown in the figure.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic analyzer of the present invention provided with a stirrer according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view along CC line of the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. It is a top view of the surface acoustic wave element which comprises the stirring apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the cross section of 1 structural unit of a stirring apparatus with a drive circuit in the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view after the reaction wheel rotates after time t 1 has elapsed from the position of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view after the reaction wheel rotates after time t2 has elapsed from the position of FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing explaining the change of the space | interval of the sound wave which injects into a liquid from the reaction recessed part bottom face of a reaction wheel when the drive frequency of a surface acoustic wave element is changed. It is sectional drawing which shows the change of the space | interval of the sound wave which injects into a liquid from the bottom face of a reaction recessed part when the drive frequency of a surface acoustic wave element is changed, and the asymmetrical acoustic flow which generate | occur | produces in a reaction recessed part. It is sectional drawing which shows the change of the space | interval of the sound wave which injects into a liquid from the reaction recessed part bottom surface when the drive frequency of an adjacent surface acoustic wave element is set to a different frequency, and the asymmetrical acoustic flow which generate | occur | produces in a reaction recessed part. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of a surface acoustic wave element. It is a schematic block diagram of the automatic analyzer of this invention provided with the stirring apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the horizontal direction in the part of the reaction wheel and liquid tank of the automatic analyzer of FIG. FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view of the reaction wheel and the liquid tank of the automatic analyzer in FIG. 11 at a position slightly before the position shown in FIG. 12. It is sectional drawing of the horizontal direction in the part of the reaction wheel and liquid tank of the automatic analyzer of FIG. 11 in the position after rotating from the position shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a stirring device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 16 is a back view showing the microtiter plate of the stirring device shown in FIG. 15 together with the vibrator of the surface acoustic wave device. It is the perspective view which expanded the surface acoustic wave element used with the microtiter plate shown in FIG. It is the fragmentary sectional view cut | disconnected by the center of the well along the longitudinal direction of the microtiter plate. It is a schematic diagram explaining the arrangement | positioning space | interval of the well provided in a microtiter plate, and the center distance of a surface acoustic wave element and a well. FIG. 9 is a bottom view showing the arrangement of wells and vibrators of surface acoustic wave elements in a microplate used in the stirring device of the third embodiment. It is the A section enlarged view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows arrangement | positioning of the comb-shaped electrode of the surface acoustic wave element to the container in the conventional stirring apparatus, and the residence area | region of the flow by the symmetrical acoustic flow produced in the liquid in a container.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic analyzer 2 Work table 3 Sample table 3a Storage chamber 4 Sample container 5 Sample dispensing mechanism 6 Reaction wheel 6a Reaction recessed part 7 Drive mechanism 8 Light source 9 Light receiving element 11 Discharge device 12 Reagent dispensing mechanism 13 Reagent table 13a Storage chamber 14 Reagent container 15 Reading device 16 Control unit 17 Analysis unit 18 Input unit 19 Display unit 20 Stirring device 21 Liquid tank 22 Surface acoustic wave element 22a Piezoelectric substrate 22b Vibrator 22c Electrical terminal 22d Bus bar 23 Drive circuit 24 Stirring control unit 25 Oscillating unit 26 Amplifying unit 27 Wiring 30 Stirring device 31 Liquid tank 40 Stirring device 41 Power transmission body 41a RF transmission antenna 41b Drive circuit 41c Controller 43 Surface acoustic wave element 43a Piezoelectric substrate 43b Vibrator 43c Antenna 45, 46 Microplate 45a Main body 45b, 46b Well 45c, 46c Bottom surface Ci Center of vibrator F11 to F45 Acoustic flow Fa Acoustic flow Fcc, Fcw Acoustic flow Lm Acoustic matching agent Wa sound wave

Claims (10)

In a stirrer that stirs a liquid by irradiating sound waves,
A plurality of liquid holding portions for holding liquid;
A sound wave generating means disposed between at least two of the liquid holding parts and irradiating the two liquid holding parts with the sound waves;
A stirrer comprising:   The stirring device according to claim 1, wherein the sound wave generating unit simultaneously irradiates the sound wave to at least two liquid holding units located in a propagation direction of the sound wave.   The stirring device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the sound wave generating units are provided, and the number thereof is smaller than the number of the plurality of liquid holding units.   The stirring device according to claim 1, wherein the sound wave generating unit is disposed between two adjacent liquid holding units.   The stirring device according to claim 4, wherein the sound wave generating unit is disposed so as to be displaced from the center of two adjacent liquid holding units. The plurality of liquid holding portions are formed in one container,
The stirring device according to claim 3, wherein the sound wave generating means is disposed on a bottom side of the container. The plurality of liquid holding portions are formed in one container,
The stirring device according to claim 3, wherein the sound wave generating means is disposed on a side surface side of the container.   The stirring device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the container rotates so that a relative position between the sound wave generation unit and the liquid holding unit changes.   The stirring device according to claim 1, wherein the sound wave generating unit is a surface acoustic wave element that generates a surface acoustic wave as the sound wave. An analyzer that stirs and reacts a plurality of different liquids to analyze the reaction liquid, and stirs and reacts the plurality of different liquids using the stirrer according to any one of claims 1 to 9. And analyzing the reaction solution.

Images