JP2009178367A - Biosensor measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability in electric contact of a sensor chip by providing a biosensor measuring device hardly generating defective contact caused by the settling of a resilient contact terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The biosensor measuring device includes a connector housing 89 having a connection part insertion space 93 into which a biosensor chip 65 or a correction chip 53 is selectively inserted; and a connector 61 having the resilient contact terminal 81 disposed inside the connection part insertion space 93 and electrically conductive to electric contact parts 67 and 85. The resilient contact terminal 81 includes a proximal end fixed part supported/fixed at the connector housing 89; an intermediate contact part 107 projecting to the contact part insertion space 93 and bent to be disposed close to an opposite inner wall 109; and a distal end abutting part 113 urged in the direction of approaching the opposite inner wall 109 to abut on a support part 111 of the connector housing 61 with prescribed precompression force. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a biosensor measurement device, and more particularly to a biosensor measurement device that measures a specific component such as glucose in a sample by mounting a biosensor chip or the like to which a collected sample adheres.

  In recent years, in order to early detect and prevent deterioration of diabetes, self blood glucose measurement for monitoring fluctuations in daily blood sugar levels has been recommended. A lancet, a sensor chip, and a measuring device are used for self blood glucose measurement. Since the self blood glucose measurement may be performed a plurality of times a day, it is desirable that the measurement can be easily performed.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram in which an external perspective view of the lancet-integrated biosensor described in Patent Document 1 is shown in (a) and an exploded perspective view is shown in (b).
As shown in FIG. 6, the lancet-integrated biosensor 11 includes a sensor chip (chip body) 13, a lancet 15, and a protective cover 17. The chip body 13 has a cover 19 and a substrate 21 that can be opened and closed. An internal space 23 is formed on the inner surface of the cover 19. The internal space 23 has a shape that can accommodate the lancet 15 in a movable manner.

The puncture device (needle) 25 provided at the tip of the lancet 15 can be projected and retracted from the opening 27 formed at the front end of the internal space 23 of the tip body 13 as the lancet 15 moves. Yes.
The shape of the internal space 23 is curved so that the width of the inner space 23 is slightly narrower than that of the lancet 15 at the end where the protrusion 29 is located, and the lancet 15 is locked to the chip body 13 by mutual pressing force and frictional force. It is like that.

The protective cover 17 has a tube portion 31 into which the needle 25 is inserted, and the tube portion 31 can be accommodated inside the chip body 13 as the needle 25 moves.
Therefore, in a state before use, the protective cover 17 is put on the needle 25 to protect the needle 25 and not to injure the user accidentally. The substrate 21 is provided with a pair of electrode terminals 33, 33, and can be electrically connected to the measuring means via a connector provided in a biosensor measuring device (not shown).

  The lancet-integrated biosensor 11 configured as described above removes the protective cover 17 and pushes the lancet 15 to protrude the needle 25 from the chip body 13 during use. After puncturing the subject in this state, the needle 25 is housed in the chip body 13, and the opening 27 provided at the front end of the chip body 13 is brought close to the puncture port of the subject to collect the outflowed blood. .

  By the way, in the lancet-integrated biosensor 11 as described above, variations may occur between manufacturing lots. Such variations include, for example, variations in electrical resistance of detection electrodes, variations in reagent application, and the like. Such a variation in the biosensor 11 affects, for example, a calibration curve (blood glucose level conversion formula based on a measuring machine detection current value) when measuring a blood glucose level. For this reason, in the biosensor 11 that is commercially available, the correction chip 35 (see FIG. 7) that is bundled with the biosensor 11 (see which the calibration curve information is recorded) is inserted into the biosensor measurement device at the start of use. Some products are corrected.

WO02-056769

  However, when the electrical contact portion 37 provided on the electrode terminals 33, 33 of the biosensor 11 is repeatedly attached to and detached from the connector 39 of the biosensor measuring device shown in FIG. 7, the elastic contact terminal in the connector that repeats elastic deformation. 41 may be caused by metal fatigue, and the contact position with the electrical contact portion 37 may be displaced. That is, it is displaced to a position gradually separated from the original contact position.

  Further, the correction chip 35 includes a product in which the thickness t is set to be larger than the thickness T of the biosensor 11 (T <t). For this reason, the elastic contact terminal 41 that has been deformed by repeated insertion of the thick correction chip 35 and displaced in the contact position with the electrical contact portion 37 has a particularly low contact pressure with respect to the electrical contact portion 43 of the thin biosensor 11. There is a problem that the electrical contact with the biosensor 11 tends to become unstable.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and provides a biosensor measurement device that is unlikely to cause poor contact due to the settling of an elastic contact terminal, and aims to improve the electrical connection reliability of a sensor chip. And

The object of the present invention is to provide a connector housing having a contact portion insertion space into which an electrical contact portion of a sensor chip is inserted, and an elastic contact disposed in the contact portion insertion space and electrically conducting to the electrical contact portion. A biosensor measuring device provided with a connector having a terminal,
A base end fixing portion supported and fixed to the connector housing, an intermediate contact portion that is bent so as to protrude into the contact portion insertion space and be disposed close to the opposing inner wall, and the opposing inner wall It is achieved by a biosensor measurement device comprising: a tip contact portion that is biased in the approaching direction and contacts the connector housing with a predetermined preload.

  According to the biosensor measurement device having the above configuration, when the electrical contact portion of the sensor chip is inserted into the contact portion insertion space of the connector, the intermediate contact portion of the elastic contact terminal is in electrical elastic contact with the electrical contact portion. At this time, the pre-pressure of the elastic contact terminal is supported by the connector housing via the tip contact portion, and does not directly act on the intermediate contact portion that contacts the electrical contact portion. Therefore, the insertion resistance of the sensor chip can be kept low.

  When the electrical contact portion of the sensor chip is repeatedly attached to and detached from the connector, the elastic contact terminal that repeatedly undergoes elastic deformation generates settling due to metal fatigue, and the preload gradually decreases. At the time of disappearance, the contact pressure is equivalent to that of a connector having a conventional structure to which no preload is applied. That is, it is possible to delay the time until the contact failure due to the settling occurs as compared with the connector having the conventional structure by the time until the preload disappears.

  Further, in the biosensor measurement device having the above-described configuration, the gap between the tip contact portion and the intermediate contact portion of the elastic contact terminal gradually increases from the facing inner wall toward the insertion port of the contact portion insertion space. It is desirable that a guide inclined portion that is separated is formed.

  According to the biosensor measurement device having such a configuration, when the electrical contact portion of the sensor chip is inserted into the insertion port of the contact portion insertion space, the tip of the sensor chip hits the guide inclined portion, and the electrical contact portion is further inserted. Thus, the elastic contact terminal is deformed in the direction away from the opposing inner wall while the tip is in sliding contact with the guide inclined portion. Thereby, smooth insertion becomes possible, maintaining a favorable sliding contact state.

In the biosensor measuring apparatus having the above configuration, it is desirable to use a beryllium copper alloy as a material of the elastic contact terminal.
That is, beryllium copper alloy has the characteristics that it has high strength at room temperature, is hard to magnetize, and does not spark even when hit. For this reason, if beryllium copper alloy is used for an elastic contact terminal, durability will increase. Since beryllium copper alloy has electrical conductivity close to that of pure copper, it is suitable as a connector terminal material.

Moreover, in the biosensor measuring apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is desirable to apply gold plating having a thickness of 0.3 μm or more to the contact surface of the elastic contact terminal.
That is, since gold is a soft metal, the contact of the terminals is improved by performing the gold plating process. Also, since gold is stable, there is an advantage that it is difficult to oxidize.

According to the biosensor measurement device of the present invention, the proximal end fixing portion is supported and fixed to the connector housing, and the bent intermediate contact portion protrudes into the contact portion insertion space and is disposed close to the opposing inner wall, and the distal end There is provided a connector having an elastic contact terminal that is urged in a direction in which the abutting portion approaches the opposing inner wall with a predetermined preload and abuts against the connector housing.
Therefore, due to metal fatigue of the elastic contact terminals accompanying repeated attachment and detachment of the electrical contact part of the sensor chip, the contact failure due to stickiness compared to the conventional connector to which the preload is not applied, for the time until the preload disappears. Can be delayed. In particular, a good contact pressure for the thin correction chip can be maintained for a long period of time. As a result, it is possible to improve the electrical connection reliability of sensor chips such as a biosensor chip and a correction chip.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a biosensor measurement device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a biosensor measuring apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing biosensor chips (a) to (c) and a correction chip (d).

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the meanings described below, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the biosensor measurement apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is obtained by electrically connecting to a biosensor cartridge 51 or a correction chip 53 (see FIG. 2) that is a sensor chip that is selectively mounted. It has a measuring device 55 for obtaining sample (blood) information or calibration information. The measuring device 55 includes a power source 57, a control device 59, a connector 61, and a display unit 63, which are connected to each other.

  The connector 61 is electrically connected to an electrode 69 (see FIG. 2) exposed at the electrical contact portion 67 at the rear end of the sensor chip. The biosensor measurement apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment exemplifies a configuration in which the biosensor cartridge 51 in which the puncture tool 73 including the puncture instrument 71 and the biosensor chip 65 are integrated is mounted. Such a biosensor measurement device may be one that attaches only a biosensor chip 65 provided with a reagent, and measures a specific component of blood by detecting the electrical characteristics of the reagent without performing puncturing.

  The biosensor measuring device 100 is equipped with the biosensor cartridge 51 and connected to the electrode 69 of the biosensor cartridge 51 to obtain information on a specific component, and in addition, the detection electrical characteristics are obtained by mounting the correction chip 53. The information which calibrates can also be obtained.

Here, the biosensor chip 65 and the correction chip 53 as sensor chips will be further described.
First, the biosensor chip 65 is provided with a reagent that reacts with a specific component in a sample (for example, blood), and the electrode 69 detects the electrical characteristics of the reagent. A connector 61 of the measuring instrument 55 is electrically connected to the electrode 69. The measuring device 55 inputs a current generated by the reaction between the sample and the reagent to the control device 59, thereby measuring a specific component and displaying the result on the display unit 63.

  2A to 2C, the biosensor chip 65 includes two insulating substrates (hereinafter also simply referred to as “substrates”) 75 and 77 facing each other, and these substrates 75 and 77. A spacer layer 79 to be sandwiched is laminated. A plurality (five in this embodiment) of electrodes 69 are provided on the surface of the spacer layer side of at least one of the two substrates 75 and 77.

At the tip of the biosensor chip 65, a hollow reaction part (not shown) is formed by two substrates 75, 77 sandwiching the spacer layer 79, and the tip of this hollow reaction part is a sample collection for introducing the collected blood. It opens as a mouth (not shown).
In the hollow reaction part, the two electrodes 69 and 69 face each other and are bent in an L shape, and are separated as parallel counter electrodes. For example, a reagent that immobilizes an enzyme and a mediator and reacts with glucose in blood to generate an electric current is provided immediately above or in the vicinity of the counter electrode portion. That is, the hollow reaction part is a part where a sample such as blood collected from the sample collection port undergoes a biochemical reaction with the reagent.

  As the material of the substrates 75 and 77 and the spacer layer 79, an insulating material film is selected. As the insulating material, ceramics, glass, paper, biodegradable material (for example, polylactic acid microorganism-producing polyester), poly Examples thereof include thermoplastic materials such as vinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, acrylic resin, polybutylene terephthalate and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), thermosetting resins such as epoxy resins, and plastic materials such as UV curable resins. A plastic material such as polyethylene terephthalate is preferable because of its mechanical strength, flexibility, and ease of chip fabrication and processing. Representative PET resins include Melinex and Tetron (trade names, manufactured by Teijin DuPont Films, Inc.), Lumirror (trade names, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.), and the like.

  Examples of the reagent include glucose oxidase (GOD). In consideration of the blood sampling burden of the specimen, the volume of the hollow reaction part is preferably 1 μL (microliter) or less, particularly preferably 300 nL (nanoliter) or less. With such a small hollow reaction part, it is possible to collect a sufficient blood volume of the specimen even if the diameter of the puncture device is small.

  In the biosensor chip 65, when the electrical contact portion 67 is inserted into the connector 61, the elastic contact terminal 81 contacts the electrode 69. Thereby, the detected value is sent to the control device 59 via the signal wiring 83 connected to the elastic contact terminal 81.

On the other hand, the correction chip 53 shown in FIG. 2D includes chip information of the biosensor cartridge 51 included. Examples of the chip information include manufacturing lot information (manufacturing date, manufacturing number, etc.), reagent type, electrode material, electrode resistance value, and the like. These pieces of information are used as calibration values by the control device 59 as appropriate.
An electrical contact portion 85 is provided at the rear end of the correction chip 53, and the electrical contact portion 85 is provided with a plurality of electrodes 87 for detecting the chip information. In the correction chip 53, the elastic contact terminal 81 contacts the electrode 87 when the electrical contact portion 85 is inserted into the connector 61. As a result, the chip information detection value is sent to the control device 59 via the signal wiring 83 connected to the elastic contact terminal 81.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the thickness T of the biosensor chip 65 is formed thicker than the thickness t of the correction chip 53 (T> t). Therefore, the contact portion insertion space of the connector 61 to which the biosensor chip 65 is attached allows the correction chip 53 to be attached.

FIG. 3 is a structural member explanatory view in which the perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 1 is shown in (a), and the AA arrow view is shown in (b).
As shown in FIG. 3, the connector housing 89 of the connector 61 has a flat rectangular insertion port 91 into which the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 in the biosensor cartridge 51 or the correction chip 53 are inserted. It communicates with a contact portion insertion space 93 formed inside the connector housing 89.

  A plurality of terminal accommodating spaces 95 are defined in the contact portion insertion space 93, and each terminal accommodating space 95 accommodates an elastic contact terminal 81. The terminal accommodating space 95 is opened at the front surface 99 of the connector housing 89 with a front end portion as a through hole 97, and is opened at the rear surface 103 of the connector housing 89 with a rear end portion as a terminal outlet port 101.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the elastic contact terminal 81 of the present embodiment is disposed close to the opposing inner wall 109 so as to protrude from the base end fixing portion 105 supported and fixed to the connector housing 89 and the contact portion insertion space 93. An intermediate contact portion 107 that is bent so as to be bent, and a tip contact portion 113 that is urged in a direction approaching the opposing inner wall 109 and contacts the connector housing 89 with a predetermined preload.

The base end fixing portion 105 of the elastic contact terminal 81 is supported and fixed to the connector housing 89 in a state of being led out from the terminal lead-out port 101. The signal wiring 83 is connected to the end portion of the base end fixing portion 105.
The intermediate contact portion 107 bent and formed in a substantially V shape is disposed close to the opposed inner wall 109 in the lower part of the drawing, crossing the contact portion insertion space 93 from the upper side in the drawing, and is appropriately in contact.

  A support portion 111 is formed between the through hole 97 of the connector housing 89 and the insertion port 91. The tip contact portion 113 of the elastic contact terminal 81 is urged in a direction approaching the opposed inner wall 109 and is in contact with the support portion 111 with a predetermined preload.

Further, a guide inclined portion 115 is formed between the tip contact portion 113 and the intermediate contact portion 107 in the elastic contact terminal 81 and gradually separates from the opposing inner wall 109 toward the insertion port 91 of the contact portion insertion space 93. Has been.
Therefore, when the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 in the biosensor cartridge 51 or the correction chip 53 are inserted into the insertion port 91 of the contact portion insertion space 93, the tip thereof hits the guide inclined portion 115, and the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 further By being inserted, the elastic contact terminal 81 is deformed in the direction away from the opposing inner wall 109 while the tip is in sliding contact with the guide inclined portion 115. Thereby, smooth insertion is possible, maintaining a favorable sliding contact state.

  In addition, the bent front end of the intermediate contact portion 107 bent in a substantially V shape is provided with an R portion 117 bent in a curved shape. When the insertion tips of the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 are in contact with the R portion 117 of the intermediate contact portion 107, the electrical contact properties with respect to the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 and the insertability of the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 are further improved. It becomes good.

In addition, it is desirable to use a beryllium copper alloy as the material of the elastic contact terminal 81. That is, the beryllium copper alloy has a high strength at room temperature, is difficult to magnetize, and has a characteristic that no spark is generated even when hit. For this reason, if beryllium copper alloy is used for the elastic contact terminal 81, durability will increase. Since beryllium copper alloy has electrical conductivity close to that of pure copper, it is suitable as a connector terminal material.
Furthermore, it is desirable to apply gold plating with a thickness of 0.3 μm or more to the contact surface of the elastic contact terminal 81. That is, since gold is a soft metal, the contact of the terminals is improved by performing the gold plating process. Also, since gold is stable, there is an advantage that it is difficult to oxidize.

Next, the operation of the biosensor measurement apparatus 100 having the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 4 is a function explanatory diagram showing the connector with the biosensor chip inserted therein (a) and the connector with the correction chip inserted therein (b), and FIG. 5 is a graph showing the correlation between the contact pressure and time. It is.

  The biosensor chip 65 of the biosensor cartridge 51 shown in FIG. 4A or the correction chip 53 shown in FIG. 4B is selectively inserted into the connector 61 of the measuring instrument 55. Since the biosensor chip 65 and the correction chip 53 have different thicknesses T and t, the biosensor chip 65 and the correction chip 53 are intermediate between the elastic contact terminal 81 when the biosensor chip 65 is inserted into the connector 61 and when the correction chip 53 is inserted. The displacement amount of the contact portion 107 is different. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the displacement amount ΔT when the biosensor chip 65 is inserted is larger than the displacement amount Δt when the correction chip 53 is inserted.

By the way, the elastic contact terminal 81 is repeatedly deformed within the elastic deformation range, but over time, due to fatigue, settling occurs. If settling occurs, the contact pressure to the electrodes 69 and 87 becomes unstable. The stickiness becomes more prominent as the displacement amount of the elastic contact terminal 81 is larger.
The biosensor measurement device 100 has a high insertion frequency of the biosensor chip 65 in normal use. That is, every time the biosensor chip 65 is inserted a plurality of times, the correction chip 53 is inserted once. Therefore, in the state where the elastic contact terminal 81 has been set, especially when the correction chip 53 having a large thickness is inserted, the elastic contact terminal 81 is deformed in a direction in which the contact pressure decreases, and the biosensor 100 thereafter contacts. There is a disadvantage to sex.

Therefore, in the biosensor measurement device 100 according to the present embodiment, the above-described pre-pressure is applied to the elastic contact terminal 81 in the connector 61 of the measuring instrument 55.
For example, in the conventional elastic contact terminal 41 to which no preload is applied (see FIG. 7), when the electrical contact portion 37 is inserted, the contact pressure F1 shown in FIG. . On the other hand, in the elastic contact terminal 81 according to the present embodiment, since the pre-pressure F2 is applied, when the electric contact portion 67 is inserted, a contact pressure of F1 + F2 is generated.

In the conventional elastic contact terminal 41, when the attachment / detachment of the electric contact portion 37 is repeated and settling occurs, the contact pressure F1 disappears after the elapse of time T1. On the other hand, in the elastic contact terminal 81 according to the present embodiment, when the attachment / detachment is repeated and the settling occurs, first, the contact pressure corresponding to the preload F2 disappears. Even in the state where the contact pressure disappears, a contact pressure F1 substantially equal to that of the conventional elastic contact terminal 41 is ensured.
That is, the connector 61 according to the present embodiment delays the time until contact failure due to sag occurs, compared to the connector 39 having the conventional structure, by the time T2-T1 until the preload F2 disappears. it can.

  Therefore, according to the biosensor measurement device 100 of the present embodiment, when the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 in the biosensor cartridge 51 or the correction chip 53 are inserted into the insertion port 91 of the contact portion insertion space 93 in the connector 61, the elasticity is increased. The intermediate contact portion 107 of the contact terminal 81 is in electrical elastic contact with the electrical contact portions 67 and 85. At this time, the pre-pressure F2 of the elastic contact terminal 81 is supported by the support portion 111 of the connector housing 89 via the tip contact portion 113, and is directly applied to the intermediate contact portion 107 that contacts the electrical contact portions 67 and 85. Does not work. Therefore, the insertion resistance of the biosensor cartridge 51 or the correction chip 53 can be kept low.

  When the electrical contact portions 67 and 85 of the biosensor cartridge 51 or the correction chip 53 are repeatedly attached to and detached from the connector 61, the elastic contact terminal 81 that repeats elastic deformation generates setback due to metal fatigue, and the preload F2 is reduced. Although the pressure gradually decreases, when the pre-pressure F2 disappears completely, the contact pressure F1 is equal to that of the connector 39 having the conventional structure to which the pre-pressure F2 is not applied. That is, the connector 61 according to the present embodiment can delay the time until the contact failure due to the settling occurs, compared to the connector 39 having the conventional structure, by the time until the preload F2 disappears. In particular, a good contact pressure with respect to the thin correction chip 53 can be maintained over a long period of time. As a result, the electrical connection reliability of the biosensor chip 65 and the correction chip 53 can be improved.

It is a schematic diagram showing schematic structure of the biosensor measuring apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic diagram which represented the biosensor chip | tip with (a)-(c) and the correction | amendment chip | tip with (d). FIG. 2 is a structural member explanatory view in which a perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 1 is shown in (a), and an AA arrow view is shown in (b). It is an action explanatory view showing the connector in which the biosensor chip was inserted in (a), and the connector in which the correction chip was inserted in (b). It is a graph showing the correlation between contact pressure and time. It is the block diagram which represented the external appearance perspective of the conventional lancet integrated type sensor to (a), and the exploded perspective view to (b). It is sectional drawing of the connector provided in the conventional apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

53 ... Correction chip (sensor chip)
61 ... Connector 65 ... Biosensor chip (sensor chip)
67, 85 ... Electric contact part 81 ... Elastic contact terminal 89 ... Connector housing 91 ... Insertion port 93 ... Contact part insertion space 100 ... Biosensor measuring device 105 ... Base end fixing part 109 ... Opposite inner wall 107 ... Intermediate contact part 111 ... Support Part 113 ... Tip contact part 115 ... Guide inclined part 117 ... R part F2 ... Preload T, t ... Thickness of electrical contact part

Claims (4)

A connector housing having a contact portion insertion space into which an electric contact portion of the sensor chip is inserted, and an elastic contact terminal disposed in the contact portion insertion space and electrically conducting to the electric contact portion is provided. A biosensor measurement device,
A base end fixing portion supported and fixed to the connector housing, an intermediate contact portion that is bent so as to protrude into the contact portion insertion space and be disposed close to the opposing inner wall, and the opposing inner wall A biosensor measurement device comprising: a tip contact portion that is urged in the approaching direction and contacts the connector housing with a predetermined preload.   Between the tip contact portion and the intermediate contact portion of the elastic contact terminal, a guide inclined portion is formed that gradually separates from the opposing inner wall toward the insertion port of the contact portion insertion space. The biosensor measuring device according to claim 1, wherein   The biosensor measuring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a beryllium copper alloy is used as a material of the elastic contact terminal.   The biosensor measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the contact surface of the elastic contact terminal is gold-plated with a thickness of 0.3 µm or more.

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