JP2009020004A - Analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an analyzer which detects a contaminant even with respect to the region other than the photometric region of a container used in analyzing processing. <P>SOLUTION: The analyzer 1 is constituted so that not only the photometric region at the time of analyzing processing but also the region other than the photometric region of the side surface of a reaction vessel 21 are irradiated with light by raising and lowering a detecting light source 121 and a detecting photometric part 122 in synchronizing relationship in order to detect the contaminant of the reaction vessel 21 and the predetermined optical measurement of the respective regions of the reaction vessel 21 is further performed. The analyzer 1 detects the contaminant even with respect to the region other than the photometric region of the container used in analyzing processing in order to detect a degree of contamination on the basis of the measuring results in the respective regions of the reaction vessel 21 measured by the detecting photometric part 122. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an analyzer that analyzes a liquid specimen held in a container and detects dirt on the container to be used.

  Conventionally, as a device that automatically analyzes specimens such as blood and body fluids, analysis is performed by optically detecting the reaction between the reagent in the reaction container and the specimen by adding the specimen to the reaction container in which the reagent has been dispensed The device is known. In such an analyzer, the liquid mixture in the reaction vessel in which the optical measurement has been completed is sucked and discharged, and the reaction vessel is repeatedly washed by injecting and sucking a washing liquid such as a detergent or washing water. We are using. And in such an analyzer, after checking the cleanliness of the container after washing by injecting distilled water into the reaction container and measuring the absorbance, the reaction container was reused (see Patent Document 1). ).

JP-A-5-164762

  However, in the conventional analyzer, the absorbance measurement for detecting the dirt is performed only at one point of the photometry area measured at the time of the analysis process even when the dirt is detected, and the dirt other than the photometry area is detected. It wasn't. In particular, in order to improve the analysis accuracy required in recent years, dirt is detected also in areas other than the photometric area in the container after the cleaning process, and the dirt remaining in the container after the cleaning process is more strictly It is desirable to detect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an analyzer that can detect dirt in an area other than the photometric area of a container used for analysis processing.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an analyzer according to the present invention is an analyzer for analyzing a liquid sample held in a container, for analyzing light that irradiates the container holding the liquid sample. A photometric means for analysis comprising a light source and a light receiving means for analysis for receiving light transmitted through the container among light emitted from the light source for analysis, and photometry that is a region irradiated with light from the light source for analysis A detection light source for irradiating light to an area other than the area; a dirt measurement means comprising a detection photometry means for measuring optical characteristics of the container in an area other than the photometry area; and And a dirt detecting means for detecting the degree of dirt on the container based on the measurement result.

  Moreover, the analyzer according to the present invention is characterized in that the dirt measuring means includes an optical path moving means for relatively moving the light beam emitted from the detection light source and the container.

  Further, in the analyzer according to the present invention, the optical path moving means moves the detection light source up and down so that the light beam emitted from the detection light source moves up and down relative to the side surface of the container. And elevating means, and photometric side elevating means for elevating and lowering the detection photometric means in synchronization with the elevating operation of the light source side elevating means.

  Further, in the analyzer according to the present invention, the optical path moving means includes a light source side guiding mechanism that guides a light beam emitted from the detection light source to a region other than the photometry region at the time of contamination detection, and A photometric side guidance mechanism for guiding light that has passed through a region other than the photometric region out of the light emitted from the light source for detection to the photometric means for detection.

  Moreover, the analyzer according to the present invention is characterized in that the optical path moving means includes a container elevating means for elevating and lowering the container to be detected when dirt is detected.

  Further, in the analyzer according to the present invention, the detection photometry means measures the absorbance of light having a predetermined wavelength that has passed through an area other than the photometry area, and the dirt detection means is measured by the detection photometry means. If the absorbance of the light of the predetermined wavelength in the region other than the photometric region is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the container is not contaminated, and the region other than the photometric region measured by the detection photometric means In the case where the absorbance of the liquid exceeds the predetermined threshold value, it is determined that dirt remains in the container.

  Further, in the analyzer according to the present invention, the detection photometry means measures the amount of fluorescence emitted from an area other than the photometry area, and the dirt detection means is the photometry measured by the detection photometry means. When the fluorescence amount of the region other than the region is equal to or smaller than the predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the container is not contaminated, and the fluorescence amount of the region other than the photometric region measured by the detection photometric means is the predetermined threshold value It is judged that dirt remains in the container when it exceeds the limit.

  In the analyzer according to the present invention, the light source for analysis also serves as the light source for detection.

  In the analyzer according to the present invention, the light receiving means for analysis also serves as the photometric means for detection.

  Moreover, the analyzer according to the present invention is characterized in that the light source for detection irradiates light on a corner of the container.

  Moreover, the analyzer according to the present invention is characterized in that the detection photometric means is arranged in an upper part of the opening of the container.

  According to the present invention, in order to detect the dirt of the container, the optical characteristics of the container are measured by irradiating light to areas other than the photometric area, and the degree of dirt is detected based on the measurement result. Contamination can be detected in regions other than the photometric region in the container used for the analysis process.

  Hereinafter, an analyzer that is an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example an analyzer that detects dirt remaining in a reaction container into which a liquid specimen such as blood or urine is dispensed. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In the description of the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the analyzer according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the analyzer 1 according to the first embodiment dispenses a sample and a reagent to be analyzed into a reaction vessel 21 and optically measures a reaction that occurs in the dispensed reaction vessel 21. And a control mechanism 3 that controls the entire analyzer 1 including the measurement mechanism 2 and analyzes the measurement result in the measurement mechanism 2. The analyzer 1 automatically performs biochemical analysis of a plurality of specimens through the cooperation of these two mechanisms. The reaction container 21 is a very small container having a capacity of several nL to several mL, and is a transparent material that transmits 80% or more of the light contained in the analysis light (340 to 800 nm) emitted from the light source of the photometry unit 18. For example, glass including heat-resistant glass, synthetic resins such as cyclic olefin and polystyrene are used. The reaction vessel 21 is a rectangular tube-shaped reaction vessel in which a liquid holding portion having a rectangular horizontal cross section for holding a liquid is formed by a side wall and a bottom wall, and an opening is formed above the liquid holding portion.

  The measurement mechanism 2 is roughly divided into a sample transfer unit 11, a sample dispensing mechanism 12, a reaction table 13, a reagent storage 14, a reagent dispensing mechanism 16, a stirring unit 17, a photometric unit 18, a cleaning unit 19, and a stain detection photometric unit 20. Is provided.

  The sample transport unit 11 includes a plurality of sample racks 11b that hold a plurality of sample containers 11a containing blood as samples and sequentially transport them in the direction of the arrows in the figure. The sample in the sample container 11a transferred to a predetermined position on the sample transfer unit 11 is dispensed by the sample dispensing mechanism 12 into the reaction container 21 that is arranged and transported on the reaction table 13.

  The specimen dispensing mechanism 12 includes an arm 12a that freely moves up and down in the vertical direction and rotates around a vertical line passing through its base end as a central axis. A nozzle for aspirating and discharging the sample is attached to the tip of the arm 12a. The sample dispensing mechanism 12 includes a suction / discharge mechanism using a suction / discharge syringe or a piezoelectric element (not shown). The sample dispensing mechanism 12 sucks the sample from the sample container 11a transferred to a predetermined position on the sample transfer unit 11 by the nozzle, and rotates the arm 12a clockwise in the drawing to cause the sample to be transferred to the reaction container 21. To dispense.

  The reaction table 13 transfers the reaction container 21 to a predetermined position in order to perform dispensing of a sample or a reagent into the reaction container 21, stirring of the reaction container 21, photometry, washing, and photometry for contamination detection. The reaction table 13 is rotatable about a vertical line passing through the center of the reaction table 13 as a rotation axis by driving a drive mechanism (not shown) under the control of the control unit 31. An openable and closable lid and a thermostat (not shown) are provided above and below the reaction table 13, respectively.

  The reagent storage 14 can store a plurality of reagent containers 15 in which reagents to be dispensed in the reaction container 21 are stored. In the reagent store 14, a plurality of storage chambers are arranged at equal intervals, and a reagent container 15 is detachably stored in each storage chamber. The reagent storage 14 can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise about a vertical line passing through the center of the reagent storage 14 as a rotation axis by driving a drive mechanism (not shown) under the control of the control unit 31. The desired reagent container 15 is transferred to the reagent aspirating position by the reagent dispensing mechanism 16. An openable / closable lid (not shown) is provided above the reagent storage 14. In addition, a thermostatic bath is provided below the reagent storage 14. For this reason, when the reagent container 15 is stored in the reagent container 14 and the lid is closed, the reagent stored in the reagent container 15 is cooled to evaporate or denature the reagent stored in the reagent container 15. Can be suppressed.

  Similar to the sample dispensing mechanism 12, the reagent dispensing mechanism 16 includes an arm 16a having a reagent nozzle for aspirating and discharging a reagent attached to the tip. The arm 16a freely moves up and down in the vertical direction and rotates around a vertical line passing through its base end as a central axis. The reagent dispensing mechanism 16 sucks the reagent in the reagent container 15 moved to a predetermined position on the reagent storage 14 with a nozzle, rotates the arm 16a clockwise in the drawing, and conveys the reagent 16 to a predetermined position on the reaction table 13. Dispensed into the reaction vessel 21 prepared. The stirring unit 17 stirs the sample dispensed into the reaction vessel 21 and the reagent to promote the reaction.

  For example, the photometry unit 18 irradiates the reaction vessel 21 transported to a predetermined photometry position with analysis light (340 to 800 nm) from a light source such as a halogen lamp, and splits the light transmitted through the liquid in the reaction vessel 21. By measuring the intensity of each wavelength light by a light receiving element such as a PDA, the absorbance at a wavelength specific to the reaction solution of the sample to be analyzed and the reagent is measured.

  The cleaning unit 19 sucks and discharges the liquid mixture in the reaction vessel 21 that has been measured by the photometry unit 18 using the cleaning nozzle, and completes the analysis process by injecting and sucking cleaning liquid such as detergent or cleaning water. The reaction vessel 21 is washed. The washed reaction vessel 21 is reused.

  The dirt detection photometry unit 20 detects light that irradiates a region other than the photometry region by the light source of the photometry unit 18 in the reaction vessel 21 in order to detect contamination of the reaction vessel 21 used in the analyzer 1. A light source, and a detection photometry unit that measures predetermined optical characteristics of the reaction vessel 21 irradiated with light from the detection light source. The light source for detection irradiates a region other than the photometric region with light having a predetermined wavelength that is absorbed by the contamination of the reaction vessel 21. The detection photometry unit measures light having a predetermined wavelength that has passed through a region other than the photometry region, and measures the absorbance of light having a predetermined wavelength in a region other than the photometry region. The dirt detection photometry unit 20 performs a measurement process for detecting dirt in order to detect dirt in each reaction vessel 21 used in the analyzer 1 during maintenance before the analysis process, and also performs a reaction after washing by the washing unit 19. The container 21 is also subjected to a measurement process for detecting dirt.

  Next, the control mechanism 3 will be described. The control mechanism 3 includes a control unit 31, an input unit 32, an analysis unit 33, a dirt detection unit 34, a storage unit 35, and an output unit 36. These units included in the measurement mechanism 2 and the control mechanism 3 are electrically connected to the control unit 31.

  The control unit 31 is configured using a CPU or the like, and controls processing and operation of each unit of the analyzer 1. The control unit 31 performs predetermined input / output control on information input / output to / from each of these components, and performs predetermined information processing on this information. The input unit 32 is configured using a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and acquires various information necessary for analyzing the sample, instruction information for analysis operation, and the like from the outside. The analysis unit 33 performs component analysis of the specimen based on the absorbance measured by the photometry unit 18.

  The contamination detection unit 34 detects the degree of contamination of the reaction vessel 21 based on the measurement results of the photometry region in the reaction vessel 21 and regions other than the photometry region measured by the detection photometry unit in the contamination detection photometry unit 20. To do. When the absorbance of light of a predetermined wavelength in a region other than the photometric region in the reaction container 21 measured by the dirt detection photometry unit 20 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the dirt detection unit 34 follows the reaction container 21. It is removed to the extent that it does not affect the analysis process, and it is determined that this reaction vessel 21 is not contaminated. On the other hand, if any of the absorbances of light having a predetermined wavelength in a region other than the photometric region in the reaction vessel 21 measured by the soil detecting photometric unit 20 exceeds the predetermined threshold, It is determined that the reaction vessel 21 is still dirty enough to affect the next analysis.

  The storage unit 35 is configured using a hard disk that magnetically stores information and a memory that loads various programs related to the process from the hard disk and electrically stores them when the analyzer 1 executes the process. Various information including the analysis result of the sample is stored. The storage unit 35 may include an auxiliary storage device that can read information stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a PC card.

  The output unit 36 is configured using a display, a printer, a speaker, and the like, and outputs various information including the analysis result of the sample. The output unit 36 also outputs various information to an external device via a communication network (not shown).

  In the analyzer 1 configured as described above, the sample dispensing mechanism 12 dispenses the sample in the sample container 11a to the plurality of reaction containers 21 that are sequentially conveyed in a row, and the reagent dispensing mechanism. After 16 dispenses the reagent in the reagent container 15, the photometric unit 18 measures the spectral intensity of the sample in a state where the sample and the reagent are reacted, and the analysis unit 33 analyzes the measurement result, whereby the sample The component analysis is automatically performed. Further, the cleaning unit 19 performs cleaning while transporting the reaction container 21 that is transported after the measurement by the photometry unit 18 is completed, and then the soil detection photometry unit 20 and the soil detection unit 34 stain the reaction container 21 after cleaning. By detecting, a series of analysis operations are repeated continuously.

  Next, the dirt detection photometry unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the dirt detection photometry unit 20 includes the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122, and the luminous flux of light emitted from the detection light source 121 moves up and down with respect to the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. A light source side elevating mechanism 123 that elevates and lowers the detection light source 121 as indicated by an arrow Y11 and a photometric side that elevates and lowers the detection photometric unit 122 as indicated by an arrow Y12 in synchronization with the elevating operation of the light source side elevating mechanism 123. Elevating mechanism 124 is provided.

  For example, the light source side elevating mechanism 123 raises and lowers the detection light source 121 so that the light emitted from the detection light source 121 is irradiated from the side surface S11 to the region S13 of the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 shown in FIG. The photometry-side lifting mechanism 124 raises and lowers the detection photometry unit 122 in synchronization with the light source-side lifting mechanism 123 so that light transmitted through each region of the reaction vessel 21 in the light emitted from the light source 121 can be received.

  Specifically, when the dirt detection unit 34 detects the degree of dirt in the region S11 corresponding to the photometry area by the photometry unit 18, the light source side lifting mechanism 123 is for detection under the control of the control unit 31. The detection light source 121 is transferred to a height corresponding to the region S11 so that the light beam of the light E11a emitted from the light source 121 is irradiated onto the region S11. The photometric side lifting mechanism 124 can receive light E11b transmitted through the region S11 of the reaction vessel 21 out of the light E11a in synchronization with the lifting operation of the light source lifting mechanism 123 under the control of the control unit 31. The detection photometry unit 122 is transferred to a height corresponding to the area S11. When the dirt detection unit 34 detects the degree of dirt in the region S13 other than the photometry region, the light source side lifting mechanism 123 is controlled from the detection light source 121 as indicated by the arrow Y11 under the control of the control unit 31. The detection light source 121 is raised to a height corresponding to the region S13 so that the emitted light beam E13a is irradiated onto the region S13. Then, the photometry-side lifting mechanism 124 can receive light E13b transmitted through the region S13 of the reaction vessel 21 in the light E13a in synchronization with the lifting operation of the light source-side lifting mechanism 123 under the control of the control unit 31. Further, the detection photometry unit 122 is raised to a height corresponding to the region S13 as indicated by an arrow Y12.

  As described above, in the dirt detection photometry unit 20, the light beam emitted from the detection light source 121 is used as the reaction container 21 so that light is emitted also to the region other than the photometry region in the photometry unit 18. A light source side elevating mechanism 123 and a photometric side elevating mechanism 124 that move relative to the side surface are provided as optical path moving means. As a result, the detection light source 121 can irradiate the light from the detection light source 121 to the region from the region S11 to the region S13 on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 as indicated by the arrow Y13, and further the detection photometry unit 122. Can receive the transmitted light of each region from the region S11 to S13 in the reaction vessel 21 to obtain absorbance at a predetermined wavelength.

  Next, the light source side lifting mechanism 123 and the photometric side lifting mechanism 124 will be described with reference to FIG. The light source side elevating mechanism 123 includes an elevating motor 1231 connected to the pulley 1232a, an elevating belt 1233 arranged in parallel with the light source side axial column 1235 connected to the detection light source 121, and over which pulleys 1232a and 1232b are stretched. A moving plate 1234 fixed to a predetermined position of the lifting belt 1233 and provided so as to be lifted and lowered integrally with the light source side column 1235 is provided.

  When the elevating motor 1231 rotates in the direction of the arrow Y15a corresponding to the ascending direction under the control of the control unit 31, the elevating belt 1233 is rotated by transmitting the rotation of the elevating motor 1231 to the pulley 1232a. As a result, the moving plate 1234 rises as indicated by an arrow Y16a, whereby the light source side axial column 1235 rises as indicated by an arrow Y16c. The light source for detection 121 is also raised by the raising of the light source side axial column 1235. In addition, when the lifting motor 1231 rotates in a direction corresponding to the descending direction under the control of the control unit 31, the lifting belt 1233 is rotated by transmitting the rotation of the lifting motor 1231 to the pulley 1232a. As a result, the moving plate 1234 descends as indicated by an arrow Y17a, whereby the light source side axial column 1235 descends as indicated by an arrow Y18a. As the light source side column 1235 is lowered, the detection light source 121 is also lowered.

  In this way, the light source side axial column 1235 is moved up and down by the rotation of the lifting motor 1231. The detection light source 121 can irradiate the light E11a, 12a, and 13a on a wide range of the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 held by the holders 131 and 132 of the reaction table 13. The holder 131 is provided with a dirt detection photometry window W1 having an area wider than the photometry window in the photometry unit 18 so that the light from the detection light source 121 is widely irradiated on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. . The reaction vessel 21 is covered with a lid 133.

  The photometry-side lifting mechanism 124 is arranged in parallel with the lifting / lowering motor 1241 connected to the pulley 1242a and the photometry-side axial column 1245 connected to the detection photometry unit 122, and the lifting belt over which the pulleys 1242a and 1242b are stretched. 1243, and a moving plate 1244 fixed to a predetermined position of the lifting belt 1243 and provided so as to be movable up and down integrally with the photometric side axial column 1245.

  When the elevating motor 1241 rotates in the direction of the arrow Y15b corresponding to the ascending direction under the control of the control unit 31, the elevating belt 1243 rotates by transmitting the rotation of the elevating motor 1241 to the pulley 1242a. Along with this, the moving plate 1244 rises as indicated by an arrow Y16b, whereby the photometric side axial column 1245 rises as indicated by an arrow Y16d. As the photometry side axial column 1245 rises, the detection photometry unit 122 also rises. Further, when the lifting motor 1241 rotates in a direction corresponding to the descending direction under the control of the control unit 31, the lifting belt 1243 rotates by transmitting the rotation of the lifting motor 1241 to the pulley 1242a. Along with this, the moving plate 1244 descends as indicated by an arrow Y17b, whereby the photometric side axial column 1245 descends as indicated by an arrow Y18b. By the lowering of the photometry side axial column 1245, the detection photometry unit 122 is also lowered.

  As described above, the photometry side axial column 1245 is moved up and down by the rotation of the lifting motor 1241. The detection photometry unit 122 can receive the light beams E11b, 12b, and 13b transmitted from a wide area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 held by the holders 131 and 132 of the reaction table 13.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the stain detection process for the reaction vessel 21 in the analyzer 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the reaction table 13 conveys the reaction container 21 to be detected for contamination to the reagent discharge position by the reagent dispensing mechanism 16, and the reagent dispensing mechanism 16 injects an evaluation solution for detecting the contamination. An evaluation solution injection process is performed (step S2). This evaluation solution may be distilled water or the like, and contains a component that selectively reacts with components in the specimen remaining in the reaction vessel 21 to develop color and absorb light of a predetermined wavelength. May be. Further, this evaluation solution does not necessarily need to be injected, and the following processing for detecting dirt may be performed on the reaction vessel 21 in an empty state.

  Then, in order to detect contamination in the region corresponding to the first optical path, the light source side elevating mechanism 123 and the photometric side elevating mechanism are set so that the optical path of the light emitted from the detection light source 121 and transmitted through the reaction vessel 21 becomes the first optical path. Under the control of the control unit 31, the mechanism 124 moves the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122 to a height corresponding to the first optical path (step S6). The first optical path is, for example, an optical path when entering the region S11 corresponding to the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 shown in FIG. 2 and transmitting through the region S11.

  The detection light source 121 irradiates the reaction vessel 21 with light, and the detection photometry unit 122 receives the light transmitted through a predetermined region of the reaction vessel 21 and measures the absorbance of light of a predetermined wavelength. A photometric process for detection is performed (step S8). The dirt detection unit 34 determines whether or not the photometric value of the detection photometry unit 122 exceeds a predetermined threshold value that is a criterion for the presence / absence of dirt (step S10).

  When the dirt detection unit 34 determines that the measurement value of the dirt detection photometry unit 20 exceeds a predetermined threshold (step S10: Yes), the reaction container 21 is contaminated to the extent that it affects the next analysis process. It is detected that it remains (step S12). And the control part 31 performs the re-washing process which re-washes the reaction container 21 by which the dirt detection part 34 detected the dirt with respect to the washing | cleaning part 19 (step S14). Next, in order to determine again whether or not the re-washed reaction vessel 21 is dirty, the process returns to step S2 to inject the evaluation solution and perform each process for detecting the dirt.

  On the other hand, when the dirt detection unit 34 determines that the measurement value of the dirt detection photometry unit 20 does not exceed the predetermined threshold (step S10: No), that is, the measurement value of the dirt detection photometry unit 20 is predetermined. If it is determined that the threshold value is equal to or less than the threshold value, the region of the reaction vessel 21 corresponding to this optical path, that is, the region of the reaction vessel 21 corresponding to the first optical path, does not have any dirt that affects the next analysis process. Judgment is made (step S16).

  Then, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the photometry process for the entire area to be detected by the dirt detection photometry unit 20 has been completed (step S18).

  When it is determined that the control unit 31 has not ended (step S18: No), the controller 31 moves to the next optical path to determine the contamination of the region on the side surface of the reaction container corresponding to the optical path next to the optical path determined in step S16. (Step S20). That is, in order to determine the contamination of the region on the side surface of the reaction container corresponding to the next optical path, the light source side elevating mechanism 123 and the photometric side elevating mechanism 124 are set to the height corresponding to the next optical path. The part 122 is moved. For example, when the contamination detection on the side surface region of the reaction vessel 21 corresponding to the first optical path is finished, the contamination on the side surface region of the reaction vessel 21 corresponding to the second optical path shown in the light E12a, 12b illustrated in FIG. In order to make a determination, the light source side elevating mechanism 123 and the photometric side elevating mechanism 124 move the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122 to a height corresponding to the next second optical path. Next, the process returns to step 8, and the dirt detection photometry process (step S8) is performed by the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry part 122. The dirt detection part 34 is a dirt detection part in the side surface region of the reaction container corresponding to the second optical path. The process of determining dirt by 34 is performed. Thus, in the analyzer 1, the degree of contamination of each region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 corresponding to each optical path is detected for each set optical path.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the control unit 31 has ended (step S18: Yes), the contamination detection process for all the regions to be detected for contamination is ended, and it is determined that all the regions to be detected for contamination on the side surface of the reaction container are free of contamination. (Step S22). Next, the control unit 31 performs a rinsing cleaning process for the cleaning unit 19 to rinse the reaction vessel 21 determined to be free of contamination by the contamination detection unit 34 with water or the like (step S24). The stain detection process for is terminated. The reaction vessel 21 is used for analysis processing after rinsing and cleaning processing is performed.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, both the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122 are moved up and down in synchronization, so that the container can be soiled even in areas other than the photometry area by the photometry unit 18. Detect the degree of.

  Here, in a conventional analyzer, distilled water is injected into a reaction container and the absorbance is measured to confirm the cleanliness of the container after washing, and the reaction container is reused. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, after injecting distilled water L into the reaction vessel 21 to be detected for dirt, incident light Ei from the light source in the photometry unit is irradiated onto the photometry region Sp, and this photometry region Sp The absorbance measurement is performed in which the outgoing light Eo that has passed through is received by the light receiving unit. And in the conventional analyzer, when the light absorbency in this photometry area | region Sp exceeded the predetermined threshold value, it was judged that this reaction container 21 remained dirty.

  However, in the conventional analyzer, the analysis light source and the analysis photometry unit that are fixedly arranged are used for both the dirt detection and the analysis processing. Absorbance measurement was performed only for one point in the photometric area Sp that is sometimes photometrically measured, and no contamination was detected in areas other than the photometric area. Therefore, in the conventional analyzer, it is difficult to detect dirt even in the region other than the photometric region in the reaction vessel, and it has been difficult to improve the analysis accuracy required particularly in recent years.

  On the other hand, the analysis apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment raises and lowers the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122 in synchronization in order to detect the contamination of the reaction container 21, so that the analysis process can be performed. The absorbance of the reaction vessel 21 is measured by irradiating light to a region other than the photometric region. As a result, the analyzer 1 can detect the degree of contamination in the region other than the photometric region in the reaction vessel 21, and therefore can detect the contamination remaining in the container after the cleaning process more precisely, which has been required in recent years. Analysis accuracy can be improved.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the absorbance of each region on the side surface of the reaction container 21 is measured for detecting the contamination of the reaction container 21 is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. When the dirt remaining in the reaction vessel 21 is mainly protein, as shown by an arrow Y3 in FIG. 6 (1), the reaction solution selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong fluorescence. After the reagent Ld containing the substance is injected into the reaction vessel 21 by the reagent nozzle 161 or the like, the contamination detection process may be performed by measuring the amount of fluorescence emitted from the reaction vessel 21.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 6 (2), the light source side lifting mechanism 123 is as shown by an arrow Y11 so that the excitation light E13c irradiated from the detection light source 121 moves up and down with respect to the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. The detection light source 121 is moved up and down. Then, the photometry side lifting mechanism 124 moves the detection photometry unit 122 up and down as indicated by an arrow Y12 in synchronization with the lifting operation of the light source side lifting mechanism 123 to emit the fluorescence amount of the fluorescence E13d emitted from the reaction vessel 21. Measure.

  Next, when the fluorescence amount measured by the detection photometry unit 122 exceeds a predetermined threshold value that is a criterion for determining the presence or absence of contamination, the contamination detection unit 34 affects the reaction vessel 21 in the next analysis. It is judged that the dirt remains. On the other hand, when the amount of fluorescence measured by the detection photometry unit 122 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the contamination detection unit 34 removes the contamination of the reaction vessel 21 to the extent that it does not affect the next analysis process. Judge that

  As described above, even when the analyzer 1 measures fluorescence in order to detect contamination of the reaction vessel 21, the reaction vessel 21 is moved up and down in synchronization with the detection light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122. The degree of contamination can be detected not only in the photometric area but also in areas other than the photometric area.

  In addition, the analyzer 1 injects a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong light as an evaluation solution into the reaction container 21, and then the amount of light emitted from the reaction container 21. The dirt detection process may be performed by measuring. In this case, the dirt detection photometry unit 20 does not need to irradiate the excitation light, and therefore a configuration in which the detection light source 121 and the light source side lifting mechanism 123 are omitted from the configuration shown in FIG. 6 is sufficient.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the case where the photometric unit 18 that performs spectral intensity measurement as the analysis processing and the stain detection photometric unit 20 that performs photometric processing for stain detection are provided separately has been described as an example. However, it is not limited to this. That is, when the wavelength of the irradiation light or excitation light for detecting dirt is included in the irradiation wavelength of the halogen lamp in the photometry unit 18, the light source in the photometry unit 18 may also serve as a detection light source. When the photometric wavelength in the processing is included in the photometric wavelength of the light receiving element in the photometric unit 18, the light receiving element in the photometric unit may also serve as the detection photometric unit 122. Further, not only the area other than the photometry area but also the photometry area may be irradiated with light to detect the contamination of the container in the photometry area. Furthermore, when detecting dirt, the light is not limited to using a single wavelength, and dirt may be detected using a plurality of wavelengths.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, the light emitted from the light source is guided to a region other than the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction container when the dirt is detected, and the optical characteristics in the region other than the photometric region are measured.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of the analyzer according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the measurement mechanism 202 of the analyzer 201 according to the second embodiment includes a mechanism that guides the light emitted from the light source to a region other than the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel. The photometric unit 218 performs both the photometric process and the photometric process for detecting the contamination of the reaction vessel 21.

  Next, the photometry unit 218 shown in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the photometry unit 218 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the photometry unit 218 irradiates light to the reaction container 21 in order to analyze the sample, and irradiates light to the reaction container 21 to detect contamination of the reaction container 21, and a light source A light receiving unit 182 that measures light of a predetermined wavelength that has passed through each region of the reaction vessel 21 among the light emitted from 181 to acquire the absorbance.

  The photometry unit 218 includes a rotation shaft 1833 that rotates around the axis centered by the control of the control unit 31, a mirror 1831 that is connected to the rotation shaft 1833 and rotates by rotation of the rotation shaft 1833, and a mirror 1831. And a mirror 1832 fixedly arranged so as to reflect the reflected light of the reflected light to the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. Corresponding to this, the photometry unit 218 includes a mirror 1851 arranged in the light receiving unit side region so as to reflect the light transmitted through the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 so as to reflect in the direction of the mirror 1852, and a control. The rotating shaft 1853 that rotates about the axis by the control of the unit 31 and the mirror 1852 that is connected to the rotating shaft 1853 and rotates about the rotating shaft 1853 by the rotation of the rotating shaft 1853.

  Then, the photometry unit 218 includes, on the light source side region, a rotating shaft 1843 that rotates around the axis by the control of the control unit 31, a mirror 1841 that is connected to the rotating shaft 1843 and rotates by the rotation of the rotating shaft 1843, and A mirror 1842 that reflects the reflected light from the mirror 1841 to the lower region of the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. Corresponding to this, the photometry unit 218 includes a mirror 1862 arranged in the light receiving unit side region so as to reflect the light transmitted through the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 so as to reflect in the mirror 1861 direction. The rotary shaft 1863 rotates around the axis by the control of the unit 31, and the mirror 1861 connected to the rotary shaft 1863 and rotated around the rotary shaft 1863 by the rotation of the rotary shaft 1863.

  In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 8, the light beams emitted from the light source 181 are obtained by rotating the mirrors 1831, 1841, 1852, and 1861 to respective predetermined positions by the rotation operation of the rotation shafts 1833, 1843, 1853, and 1863. The incident light path E20a corresponding to the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 and the outgoing optical path E20b from the photometric region, the incident optical path E21a corresponding to the upper region of the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, and the exit from the upper area of the photometric region. The light is guided to either the light emission path E21b, the incident light path E22a corresponding to the lower area of the photometry area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, or the emission light path E22b from the lower area of the photometry area.

  First, with reference to FIG. 9, the case where the light beam emitted from the light source 181 is guided to the incident optical path E20a corresponding to the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 and the outgoing optical path E20b from the photometric area will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the mirrors 1831 and 1841 do not enter the incident light path E20a because the light emitted from the light source 181 is incident on the photometric area when analyzing the specimen or detecting the contamination of the photometric area in the reaction vessel 21. In this way, the rotation operation of the rotary shafts 1833 and 1843 is controlled. That is, the rotating shaft 1833 rotates as indicated by the arrow Y21, and the mirror 1831 is retracted from the incident optical path E20a. Further, the rotation shaft 1843 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y22, and retracts the mirror 1841 from the incident optical path E20a. As a result, the light emitted from the light source 181 enters the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 through the incident optical path E20a.

  Then, at the time of measuring the absorbance in the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, the light transmitted through the photometric area is made incident on the light receiving unit 182, so that the rotation shafts 1863 and 1853 rotate so that the mirrors 1861 and 1852 do not enter the outgoing optical path E20b. Operation is controlled. That is, the rotation shaft 1863 rotates as indicated by the arrow Y24, and the mirror 1861 is retracted from the emission optical path E20b. Further, the rotation shaft 1853 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y23, and retracts the mirror 1852 from the emission optical path E20b. As a result, the light transmitted through the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 enters the light receiving unit 182 through the outgoing optical path E20b.

  As described above, in the analysis apparatus 201, when the sample is analyzed or when the contamination of the photometric region in the reaction container 21 is detected, the rotation shafts 1833, 1843, 1863, and 1853 are rotated so as to be from above the incident optical path E20a and the outgoing optical path E20b. By retracting each mirror 1831, 1841, 1852, 1861, the light emitted from the light source 181 is irradiated to the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, and the transmitted light in the photometric area is received by the light receiving unit 182.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the case where the light beam emitted from the light source 181 is guided to the incident optical path E21a corresponding to the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 and the outgoing optical path E21b from the upper region will be described. .

  As shown in FIG. 10, when detecting dirt on the upper region of the reaction vessel 21 relative to the photometric region, the light emitted from the light source 181 is incident on the upper region, so that the mirror 1831 forms an incident light path E21a. The rotational motion of 1833 is controlled. That is, the rotation shaft 1833 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y25, and rotates the mirror 1831 so that the angle at which the light emitted from the light source 181 is reflected by the mirror 1832 is obtained. As a result, the light emitted from the light source 181 is sequentially reflected by the mirror 1831 and the mirror 1832 to enter the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 through the incident light path E21a.

  At the time of measuring the absorbance in the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, the transmitted light from the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 is incident on the light receiving unit 182, so that the mirror 1852 rotates the rotation shaft 1853 so as to form the outgoing optical path E21 b. Operation is controlled. That is, the rotation shaft 1853 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y26, and rotates the mirror 1852 so that the light transmitted through the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 and reflected by the mirror 1851 is reflected to the light receiving unit 182. . As a result, the light transmitted through the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 is sequentially reflected by the mirror 1851 and the mirror 1852, and enters the light receiving unit 182 through the outgoing light path E21b.

  As described above, the analyzer 201 guides the light emitted from the light source 181 to the upper region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 by rotating the rotating shafts 1833 and 1853 when detecting contamination in the upper region of the reaction vessel 21. Further, the transmitted light of the upper region is guided to the light receiving unit 182.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 11, the case where the light beam emitted from the light source 181 is guided to the incident optical path E22a corresponding to the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 and the outgoing optical path E22b from the lower region will be described. .

  As shown in FIG. 11, at the time of detecting dirt on the lower region than the photometric region in the reaction vessel 21, in order to cause the light emitted from the light source 181 to enter the lower region, the mirror 1841 rotates the rotation axis so as to form the incident optical path E22a. The rotation operation of 1843 is controlled. That is, the rotating shaft 1843 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y27, and rotates the mirror 1841 so that the light emitted from the light source 181 is reflected at the mirror 1842. As a result, the light emitted from the light source 181 is sequentially reflected by the mirror 1841 and the mirror 1842, and enters the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 through the incident optical path E22a. In this case, the mirror 1831 is retracted from the incident optical path E22a by the rotation operation of the rotation shaft 1833.

  Then, when measuring the absorbance in the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, the transmitted light from the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 is incident on the light receiving unit 182, so that the rotation axis 1863 rotates so that the mirror 1861 forms the outgoing optical path E22b. Operation is controlled. That is, the rotating shaft 1863 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y28, and rotates the mirror 1861 so that the light transmitted through the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 and reflected by the mirror 1862 is reflected to the light receiving unit 182. . As a result, the light transmitted through the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 is sequentially reflected by the mirror 1862 and the mirror 1861, and enters the light receiving unit 182 through the outgoing light path E22b. In this case, the mirror 1852 is retracted from the emission optical path E22b by the rotation operation of the rotation shaft 1853.

  As described above, the analyzer 201 guides the light emitted from the light source 181 to the lower region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 by rotating the rotation shafts 1843 and 1863 when detecting contamination in the lower region of the reaction vessel 21. Further, the light transmitted through the lower region is guided to the light receiving unit 182.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the stain detection process for the reaction vessel 21 in the analyzer 201 will be described. As shown in FIG. 12, the analysis apparatus 201 performs an evaluation solution injection process (step S202) as in step S2 of FIG. Next, the control unit 31 controls the rotation of the rotation shafts 1833, 1843, 1853, and 1863 so that the optical path of the light emitted from the light source 181 and transmitted through the reaction vessel 21 becomes the first optical path, whereby the mirrors 1831 and 1841 are controlled. , 1852, 1861 are rotated (step S206). The first optical path is, for example, an incident optical path E20a and an outgoing optical path E20b corresponding to the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 shown in FIG.

  Then, the light source 181 irradiates the reaction container 21 with light, and the light receiving unit 182 receives the light transmitted through a predetermined region of the reaction container 21 and measures the absorbance of the light with a predetermined wavelength, thereby measuring the photometry for contamination detection. Is performed (step S208). The dirt detection unit 34 determines whether or not the photometric value of the light receiving unit 182 exceeds a predetermined threshold value that is a reference for the presence / absence of dirt (step S210).

  When the dirt detection unit 34 determines that the measurement value of the dirt detection photometry unit 20 exceeds a predetermined threshold (step S210: Yes), the reaction container similarly to step S12 and step S14 shown in FIG. It is detected that the dirt which affects the next analysis process remains in 21 (step S212), and then the cleaning unit 19 performs the re-cleaning process (step S214). Next, in order to determine again whether or not the re-washed reaction container 21 is dirty, the process returns to step S202, the evaluation solution is injected, and each process for detecting dirt is performed.

  In contrast, when the dirt detection unit 34 determines that the measurement value of the dirt detection photometry unit 20 does not exceed the predetermined threshold (step S210: No), the region of the reaction container 21 corresponding to the first optical path. In step S216, it is determined that there is no remaining dirt that affects the next analysis process.

  Then, similarly to step S18 shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the photometric processing for the entire region has been completed (step S218). When it is determined that the control unit 31 has not ended (step S218: No), the control unit 31 moves to the next optical path in order to determine the contamination of the region on the side surface of the reaction container corresponding to the next optical path (step S220). That is, in order to determine the contamination of the region on the side surface of the reaction vessel corresponding to the next optical path, the rotation axes 1833, 1843, and 1853 are set so that the optical path of the light emitted from the light source 181 and transmitted through the reaction vessel 21 becomes the second optical path. , 1863 to rotate, the mirrors 1831, 1841, 1861, 1852 are rotated. Next, returning to step S208, the analyzer 201 performs a dirt detection photometric process (step S208), and then performs a dirt determination process by the dirt detector 34 in the side surface region of the reaction container corresponding to the second optical path. . The second optical path is, for example, an incident optical path E21a and an outgoing optical path E21b shown in FIG. Thus, in the analyzer 201, the degree of contamination of each region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 corresponding to each optical path is detected for each set optical path.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the control unit 31 has ended (step S218: Yes), the contamination detection process for all the regions to be detected for contamination is ended, and it is determined that all the regions to be detected for contamination on the side surface of the reaction container are not contaminated. (Step S222). Next, the cleaning unit 19 performs a rinse cleaning process on the reaction container 21 (step S224), and ends the contamination detection process on the reaction container 21. The reaction vessel 21 is used for analysis processing after rinsing and cleaning processing is performed.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the rotation shafts 1833, 1843, 1853, and 1863 are rotated to rotate the respective mirrors 1831, 1841, 1861, and 1852, whereby the light emitted from the light source 181 is converted into the reaction container. The light is guided to the photometry area on the side surface 21 and areas other than the photometry area, and the transmitted light of the photometry area is guided to the light receiving unit 182. Therefore, in the second embodiment, by providing such a guiding mechanism and moving the light beam emitted from the light source 181 with respect to the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, the region other than the photometry region by the photometry unit 18 is moved. However, the degree of contamination of the container can be detected, and the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In the analysis apparatus 201, as shown in FIG. 13, a transfer mechanism 186 that moves the mirror 1832 up and down with respect to the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 as indicated by an arrow Y29a, and a mirror 1842 as indicated by an arrow Y29c with respect to the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. The transfer mechanism 187 for moving in the vertical direction and the transfer mechanism 188 for transferring the mirror 1851 in the vertical direction with respect to the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 as shown by the arrow Y29b and the mirror 1862 in the vertical direction as shown by arrow Y29d for the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 A transfer mechanism 189 may be provided to transfer the light to the surface of the reaction vessel 21 and the optical path may be further increased so that various regions on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 can be detected.

  For example, the transfer mechanism 186 lowers the mirror 1832 from the position corresponding to the incident optical path E21a, and the transfer mechanism 188 descends the mirror 1851 from the position corresponding to the outgoing optical path E21b in synchronization with the lowering process of the transfer mechanism 186. Let In this case, the light beam emitted from the light source 181 enters the side surface of the reaction container 21 through the incident optical path E21ab, and the light transmitted through the side surface of the reaction container 21 enters the light receiving unit 182 through the output optical path E21bb. Then, based on the result of the absorbance measurement by the light receiving unit 182, the dirt detection unit 34 detects the degree of dirt in the region corresponding to the incident optical path E21ab and the outgoing optical path E21bb. Similarly, the transfer mechanism 187 raises the mirror 1842 from a position corresponding to the incident optical path E22a, and the transfer mechanism 189 moves the mirror 1862 from a position corresponding to the outgoing optical path E22b in synchronization with the ascent process of the transfer mechanism 187. Raise. In this case, the light beam emitted from the light source 181 enters the side surface of the reaction container 21 through the incident optical path E22ab, and the light transmitted through the side surface of the reaction container 21 enters the light receiving unit 182 through the output optical path E22bb. Then, based on the result of the absorbance measurement by the light receiving unit 182, the dirt detection unit 34 detects the degree of dirt in the region corresponding to the incident optical path and the outgoing optical path E22bb.

  Similarly to the analyzer 1, the analyzer 201 injects a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong fluorescence as an evaluation solution, and the fluorescence in each region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. The contamination detection process may be performed by measuring the amount. In addition, the analyzer 201 injects into the reaction vessel 21 a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong light as an evaluation solution, and then the amount of luminescence emitted from the reaction vessel 21. The dirt detection process may be performed by measuring. In this case, since it is not necessary for the photometry unit 218 to irradiate the excitation light, a configuration in which the mirrors 1831, 1832, 1841, and 1842 and the rotation shafts 1833 and 1843 in FIG.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, the optical characteristics in the photometric area and areas other than the photometric area are measured by raising and lowering the reaction container itself at the time of detecting the dirt.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of the analyzer according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, the measurement mechanism 302 of the analyzer 301 according to the third embodiment includes a reaction table 313 provided with a mechanism for raising and lowering the reaction container 21 to be detected in the photometric process for detecting dirt, and an analysis. A photometric unit 318 that performs both photometric processing for processing and photometric processing for detecting contamination of the reaction vessel 21.

  Next, an elevating mechanism in the reaction table 313 shown in FIG. 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. As shown in FIG. 15, the reaction table 313 includes an elevating mechanism that has a rotating shaft 3181 that is connected to a rotating motor or a stepping motor (not shown) and rotates around an axis, and a cam 3182 through which the rotating shaft 3181 passes. .

  When a rotation motor or a stepping motor (not shown) rotates under the control of the control unit 31, the rotation shaft 3181 rotates as indicated by an arrow Y31 in FIG. As a result of the rotation of the rotating shaft 3181, the cam 3182 through which the rotating shaft 3181 passes also rotates as indicated by the arrow Y32. As a result, the reaction vessel 21 positioned on the cam 3182 also moves up as indicated by an arrow Y33 in FIG.

  As a result, as shown by an arrow Y34 in FIG. 16, the incident region of the light E31a from the light source 181 moves from the region S31 on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 shown in FIG. 15 to the region S33 shown in FIG. The light receiving unit 182 receives the transmitted light E31b transmitted through the region S31 and the light E33b transmitted through the region S33.

  As described above, the analyzer 301 measures the optical characteristics in the photometric area and the areas other than the photometric area by rotating the rotating shaft 3181 and the cam 3182 to raise and lower the reaction container 21 itself when detecting dirt.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 17, the stain detection process for the reaction vessel 21 in the analyzer 301 will be described. As shown in FIG. 17, the analyzer 301 performs an evaluation solution injection process (step S302) in the same manner as step S2 of FIG. Then, the rotation shaft 3181 is rotated by a predetermined amount so that the light emitted from the light source 181 is applied to the first dirt detection target area, and the reaction container 21 is moved up and down to a height corresponding to the first dirt detection target area. (Step S306). Note that the first dirt detection target region is, for example, a region S31 shown in FIG.

  Then, similarly to step S208 and step S210 shown in FIG. 12, a dirt detection photometric process (step S308) and a process for determining whether or not the photometric value exceeds the threshold value (step S310) are performed.

  When the dirt detection unit 34 determines that the measurement value of the light receiving unit 182 exceeds a predetermined threshold (step S310: Yes), in the reaction container 21 as in step S12 and step S14 shown in FIG. It is detected that there is residual dirt that affects the next analysis process (step S312), and then the cleaning unit 19 performs a re-cleaning process (step S314). Next, in order to determine again whether or not the re-washed reaction vessel 21 is dirty, the process returns to step S302, the evaluation solution is injected, and each process for detecting dirt is performed.

  On the other hand, when the dirt detection unit 34 determines that the measurement value of the dirt detection photometry unit 20 does not exceed the predetermined threshold (step S310: No), the first dirt detection target region is subjected to the next analysis. It is determined that there is no remaining dirt that affects the process (step S316).

  Then, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the photometric process for the entire area to be detected by the photometric unit 318 has been completed (step S318).

  When determining that the process has not been completed (step S318: No), the control unit 31 moves to the next area in order to determine the dirt of the next dirt detection target area (step S320). That is, in order to determine the next second dirt detection target area, the rotation shaft 3181 rotates so that the light emitted from the light source 181 is irradiated to the second dirt detection target area, and the reaction container 21 is moved to the second dirt detection target area. Move up and down to a height corresponding to the target area. Note that the second dirt detection target region is, for example, a region S33 shown in FIG. As described above, the analysis apparatus 301 detects the degree of dirt in each dirt detection target region on the side surface of the reaction container 21.

  On the other hand, if the control unit 31 determines that the process has been completed (step S318: Yes), the process of detecting the dirt for all the areas to be detected for dirt is completed, and determines that all the areas to be detected for dirt on the side surface of the reaction container are free of dirt. (Step S322). Next, the cleaning unit 19 performs a rinse cleaning process on the reaction container 21 (step S324), and ends the contamination detection process on the reaction container 21. The reaction vessel 21 is used for analysis processing after rinsing and cleaning processing is performed.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, the reaction container 21 itself is irradiated with the light emitted from the light source 181 to the photometry area on the side surface of the reaction container 21 and the area other than the photometry area by the rotation control of the rotation shaft 3181. It is going up and down. Therefore, in the third embodiment, an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the reaction vessel 21 is provided, and the reaction vessel 21 is moved up and down with respect to the light beam emitted from the light source 181, so that the region other than the photometric region by the photometric unit 318 The degree of contamination of the container can be detected for the region, and the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In the third embodiment, the reaction vessel 21 may be moved up and down using a repulsive force of a magnet in addition to a cam. In this case, as shown in FIG. 18, a holder 3131 provided with electromagnets 3132 and 3133 below the reaction vessel 21 is used at the photometric position of the reaction table 313. The electromagnet 3132 is fixed to the bottom wall of the holder 3131, and the electromagnet 3133 is provided on the electromagnet 3132 so that the holder 3131 can be moved up and down.

  The control unit 31 sets the electromagnet 3132 to the S pole and the electromagnet 3133 to the N pole so that the electromagnets 3132 and 3133 are attracted to each other at the time of the sample analysis process or the detection of the contamination of the photometric region in the reaction vessel 21. In this case, the reaction vessel 21 maintains a height at which the light emitted from the light source 181 can enter the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. Therefore, the light E41a emitted from the light source 181 enters the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction container 21, and the light receiving unit 182 receives the light E41b that has passed through the photometric area on the side surface of the reaction container 21.

  Then, in the case of performing contamination detection in a region other than the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, the control unit 31 sets the electromagnet 3133 to the S pole as shown in FIG. 19 so that the electromagnets 3132 and 3133 repel each other. To do. As a result, a repulsive force H31 is generated between the S-polarized electromagnet 3132 and the electromagnet 3133. Since the electromagnet 3132 is fixed to the bottom wall of the holder 3131, the electromagnet 3133 moves up in the region R31 of the holder 3131 by the action of the generated repulsive force H31. As the electromagnet 3133 rises, the reaction vessel 21 on the electromagnet 3133 rises to a height at which the light emitted from the light source 181 can enter a region other than the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 as indicated by an arrow Y36. become. Therefore, the light E43a emitted from the light source 181 enters the lower region of the photometric region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21, and the light receiving unit 182 receives the light E43b that has passed through the lower region. Note that the height of the reaction vessel 21 can be adjusted by adjusting the strength of the repulsive force generated between the electromagnets 3132 and 3133.

  When the reaction vessel 21 is lifted and lowered using the repulsive force of the magnet as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, it is not necessary to provide a lifting mechanism having a large configuration such as the cam 3182 as shown in FIGS. Thus, the lifting mechanism can be downsized.

  Similarly to the analyzer 1, the analyzer 301 injects a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong fluorescence as an evaluation solution, and fluoresces in each region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. The contamination detection process may be performed by measuring the amount. In addition, the analyzer 301 injects into the reaction vessel 21 a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong light as an evaluation solution, and then the amount of luminescence emitted from the reaction vessel 21. The dirt detection process may be performed by measuring. In this case, the light source 181 in the photometry unit 318 need not irradiate excitation light.

  Further, in the first to third embodiments, at the time of contamination detection, a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong fluorescence is injected as an evaluation solution in each region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. In the case of measuring the amount of fluorescence, a dirt detection light receiving part may be provided at the upper part of the opening of the reaction vessel 21 to ensure the dirt detection process. For example, when applied to the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 20, a detection photometry unit 122a is newly provided above the opening of the reaction vessel 21 so as to avoid the optical axis from the detection light source 121. Deploy. Thus, the detection photometry unit 122a installed at the upper part of the opening of the reaction vessel 21 can detect the amount of fluorescence with higher sensitivity than detecting the amount of fluorescence through the side wall of the reaction vessel 21, and can emit light emitted from the light source 121 for detection. Since light is not directly received, the influence of light emission from the detection light source 121 on the light reception result can be eliminated. Therefore, the detection photometry unit 122a can reliably measure only the fluorescence E131d emitted from the reaction vessel 21.

  Further, in the case where a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong fluorescence as an evaluation solution is injected and the amount of fluorescence on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 is measured to perform a stain detection process, FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, instead of the detection light source 121 of FIG. 20, a detection light source 121 a that can irradiate the entire side surface of the reaction vessel 21 with excitation light may be provided. When the detection light source 121a is used to irradiate the entire side surface of the reaction vessel 21 with excitation light, the detection photometry unit 122a above the opening of the reaction vessel 21 has a low concentration of dirt in each region on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. Even in this case, it is possible to measure the fluorescence amount E131e in a state where dirt on the entire side surface of the reaction vessel 21 is piled up. For this reason, the dirt detection unit 34 can detect dirt at a lower concentration based on the fluorescence amount measured by the detection photometry unit 122a.

  In the first to third embodiments, a reagent containing a component that selectively reacts with a protein in blood and emits strong light as an evaluation solution is injected into the reaction container 21, and then the reaction container 21 Similarly, when measuring the amount of emitted light, for example, as shown in FIG. 22, a detection photometry unit 122a for detecting dirt is provided at the upper part of the opening of the reaction vessel 21 to ensure the dirt detection process. Also good.

  In the first to third embodiments, the light source side elevating mechanism, the photometric side elevating mechanism, the guiding mechanism, and the like, so that the light beam emitted from the detection light source is applied to the corners of the side surface of the reaction vessel 21. You may set the arrangement position etc. of a container raising / lowering mechanism.

  For example, in the dirt detection photometry unit 20 according to the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 23, the side corners of the reaction container 21 are irradiated with the light emitted from the detection light source 121. The arrangement positions and orientations of the light source 121 and the detection photometry unit 122 are set. Then, the light source side elevating mechanism 123 raises and lowers the detection light source 121 as indicated by an arrow Y411, and the photometry side elevating mechanism 124 elevates and lowers the detection photometry unit 122 in synchronization with the light source side elevating mechanism 123 as indicated by an arrow Y412. As a result, as shown by an arrow Y413, the contamination detection target region changes from the region S411 at the side corner of the reaction vessel 21 to the region S413. That is, by the raising and lowering operations of the light source side raising / lowering mechanism 123 and the photometry side raising / lowering mechanism 124, the detection light source 121 can irradiate the region S411 on the side surface corner of the reaction vessel 21 and the detection photometry unit 122 transmits the region S411. The light E411b can be received. The detection light source 121 can irradiate the light E413a to the region S413 on the side surface corner of the reaction vessel 21, and the detection photometry unit 122 can receive the light E413b transmitted through the region S413.

  In this way, the light source side elevating mechanism, the photometric side elevating mechanism, the guiding mechanism, the arrangement position of the container elevating mechanism, etc. are set, and the corners on the side surface of the reaction vessel 21 that is considered to be likely to generate dirt are also contaminated. Detection may be performed to ensure the detection of dirt.

  The analysis devices 1, 201, and 301 described in the above embodiments can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer system. This computer system implements the processing operation of the analyzer by reading and executing a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium. Here, the predetermined recording medium is not only a “portable physical medium” such as a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, an MO disk, a DVD disk, a magneto-optical disk, and an IC card, but also inside and outside the computer system. It includes any recording medium that records a program readable by a computer system, such as a “communication medium” that holds the program in a short time when transmitting the program, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) provided. In addition, this computer system obtains a program from a management server or another computer system connected via a network line, and executes the obtained program to realize the processing operation of the analyzer.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an analyzer according to a first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the photometry part for dirt detection shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the light source side raising / lowering mechanism and photometry side raising / lowering mechanism shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the contamination detection process of the reaction container in the analyzer shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the conventional dirt detection processing. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining another example of the dirt detection method in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an analyzer according to a second embodiment. It is a figure explaining the photometry part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of each structure part of the photometry part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of each structure part of the photometry part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of each structure part of the photometry part shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the contamination detection process of the reaction container in the analyzer shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the photometry part shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an analyzer according to a third embodiment. It is a figure explaining the reaction table and photometry part which are shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the reaction table and photometry part which are shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the contamination detection process of the reaction container in the analyzer shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the reaction table shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the reaction table shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the photometry part for dirt detection shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the photometry part for dirt detection shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the photometry part for dirt detection shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the photometry part for dirt detection shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1, 201, 301 Analyzing device 2, 202, 302 Measuring mechanism 3 Control mechanism 11 Specimen transfer unit 11b Specimen rack 11a Specimen container 12 Specimen dispensing mechanism 12a, 16a Arm 13, 313 Reaction table 14 Reagent box 15 Reagent container 16 Reagent Injection mechanism 17 Stirring unit 18, 218, 318 Photometric unit 19 Washing unit 20 Dirt detection photometric unit 21 Reaction vessel 31 Control unit 32 Input unit 33 Analysis unit 34 Dirt detection unit 35 Storage unit 36 Output unit 121, 121a Detection light source 122 , 122a Detection photometry unit 123 Light source side lifting mechanism 124 Photometry side lifting mechanism 131, 132 Holder 133 Lid 161 Reagent nozzle 181 Light source 182 Light receiving unit 186, 187, 188, 189 Transfer mechanism 1231, 1241 Lifting motors 1232a, 1232b, 1242a , 1242 Pulley 1233, 1243 Lifting belt 1234, 1244 Moving plate 1235 Light source side axial column 1245 Metering side axial column 1831, 1832, 1841, 1842, 1851, 1852, 1861, 1862 Mirror 1833, 1843, 1853, 1863 Rotating shaft 3131 Holder 3132 , 3133 Electromagnet 3181 Rotating shaft 3182 Cam

Claims (11)

In an analyzer for analyzing a liquid sample held in a container,
A light source for analysis that irradiates light to the container holding the liquid specimen, and a light metering means for analysis that includes light receiving means for analysis that receives light transmitted through the container among the light irradiated from the light source for analysis;
A detection light source for irradiating light to an area other than the photometry area, which is an area irradiated with light from the analysis light source, and a detection photometry means for measuring optical characteristics of the container in the area other than the photometry area A measuring means for dirt provided;
A contamination detection means for detecting the degree of contamination of the container based on the measurement result of the detection photometry means;
An analyzer characterized by comprising:   The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the dirt measuring unit includes an optical path moving unit that relatively moves a light beam emitted from the detection light source and the container. The optical path moving means is
Light source side elevating means for elevating and lowering the detection light source so that the light beam emitted from the detection light source moves up and down with respect to the side surface of the container;
A photometric elevating means for elevating the detection photometric means in synchronization with the elevating operation of the light source side elevating means;
The analyzer according to claim 2, further comprising: The optical path moving means is
A light source side guiding mechanism for guiding a light beam emitted from the light source for detection to a region other than the photometric region when detecting dirt;
A photometric side guidance mechanism for guiding light that has passed through a region other than the photometric region out of the light emitted from the detection light source at the time of dirt detection, to the detection photometric means;
The analyzer according to claim 2, further comprising:   The analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the optical path moving unit includes a container elevating unit that elevates and lowers the container as a dirt detection target when the dirt is detected. The detection photometry means measures the absorbance of light of a predetermined wavelength that has passed through an area other than the photometry area,
The dirt detection means determines that the container is not dirty when the absorbance of light of the predetermined wavelength in a region other than the photometry area measured by the detection photometry means is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, When the absorbance of the light of the predetermined wavelength in the region other than the photometric region measured by the detection photometric means exceeds the predetermined threshold, it is determined that dirt remains in the container. The analyzer according to claim 1. The detection photometric means measures the amount of fluorescence emitted from a region other than the photometric region,
The contamination detection means determines that the container is not contaminated when the fluorescence amount of the area other than the photometry area measured by the detection photometry means is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, and the detection photometry means 2. The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein when the amount of fluorescence measured in a region other than the photometric region exceeds the predetermined threshold, it is determined that dirt remains in the container.   The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the light source for analysis also serves as the light source for detection.   2. The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving means for analysis also serves as the photometric means for detection.   The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the light source for detection irradiates light to a corner portion of the container.   The analyzer according to claim 7, wherein the photometric means for detection is arranged at an upper part of the opening of the container.

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