JP2009243995A - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a period for analysis with shortening a reaction time by properly selecting a timing for dispensing a reagent. <P>SOLUTION: An automatic analyzer includes a sample container for storing a sample, a sample dispensation probe for sucking and discharging a sample from the sample container, a reagent container for storing a reagent, a reagent dispensation probe for sucking and discharging a reagent from the reagent container, a reactor for storing the dispensed sample and reagent, and a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the reactor, having a plurality of timing for dispensing the reagent in which an item to be measured varies depending on a change in a reaction process absorbance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer that performs qualitative / quantitative analysis of biological samples such as blood and urine, and more particularly to an automatic analyzer that can perform analysis using a plurality of types of reagents with different discharge timings.

  The automatic analyzer handles a large number of samples at the same time and has a wide variety of components to be measured. In addition, since various samples such as serum and urine are used for measurement, they are used for tests in various fields such as biochemical tests and immunoserologic tests. In the automatic analyzer, after the sample is first added to the reaction vessel, a reagent called the first reagent is added to the reaction vessel, then a reagent called the second reagent is added to the reaction vessel, and a third reagent is added. And analysis of the sample is performed. In this case, the reagent dispensing timing is uniquely determined by the processing capacity of the apparatus and the number of reaction vessels.

  In general, in an item in which two types of reagents are dispensed in one measurement, the first reagent and the second reagent or the first reagent and the third reagent are often used as the reagent dispensing timing. In addition, since there are many reagents that measure the absorbance after a lapse of a certain time after the second reagent is discharged, the earlier the timing of discharging the second reagent, the shorter the analysis time and the shorter the time until result output. The Many measurement items mounted on conventional automatic analyzers have an item with a reaction time of 10 minutes. In this case, many use the reagent dispensing timing of the first reagent and the third reagent.

  By the way, when an automatic analyzer is used in a hospital, the analysis result leads to diagnosis and determination of a treatment policy. Therefore, it is required to shorten the time from measurement to result output as much as possible. In response to this problem, Patent Document 1 makes it unnecessary to re-examine the specimen to shorten the examination time.

  Moreover, in a specific item, it is possible to shorten the time until result output by shortening the reaction time of the sample and the reagent. Therefore, the reaction time can be shortened and the inspection time can be shortened by changing the item measured using the first reagent and the third reagent to the item using the first reagent and the second reagent. .

JP 7-289286 A

  However, when the reaction time between the sample and the first reagent is short, the reaction between the sample and the first reagent may not be completed for a specific sample. In addition, in the conventional automatic analyzer, the reaction time is set for each item. In order to correspond to the specific sample, it is necessary to select the first reagent and the third reagent as the reagent dispensing timing, and even if the reaction time is short and the sample is sufficient. The dispensing timing of the first reagent and the third reagent was used. An object of the present invention is to enable measurement with a shorter reaction time than a conventional automatic analyzer by appropriately selecting reagent dispensing timing according to a sample, and to shorten the time until result output.

  The configuration of the present invention for achieving the object is as follows.

  A sample container for storing a sample, a sample dispensing probe for sucking and discharging the sample from the sample in the sample container, a reagent container for storing the reagent, and a reagent dispensing for sucking and discharging the reagent from the reagent in the reagent container An automatic analyzer equipped with a probe, a reaction container that contains the dispensed sample and reagent, and a washing mechanism for washing the reaction container, characterized by changing the timing of dispensing the reagent under specific conditions An automatic analyzer.

  By appropriately selecting the dispensing timing of the second reagent, the processing time can be shortened. For samples that cannot reduce the processing time, the analysis performance can be improved by not changing the dispensing timing of the second reagent. Can also be ensured.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 show an embodiment of an automatic analyzer to which the present invention is applied. First, the whole comprises an analysis unit 123 and a control unit 124. The colorimetric analysis unit holds a plurality of sample containers, holds a sample disk 115 as a sample moving device that moves to position each sample container at a sample suction position, and a plurality of reagent containers according to analysis items, Reagent disks 106 and 107 as reagent moving devices that move so that each reagent container is positioned at the reagent aspirating position, a reaction container 101 for reacting a sample and a reagent, and a plurality of reaction containers 101 are arranged in a ring shape as a reaction line A functioning reaction disk 125, a sample pipetting mechanism 116 having a sample dispensing probe for dispensing a sample into the reaction vessel 101, a reagent pipetting mechanism 104, 105 for dispensing a reagent into the reaction vessel 101, A stirring mechanism 103 that stirs and mixes the poured sample and reagent, and a multi-sensor that measures the absorbance of the reaction solution in the reaction vessel 101. Length photometer 117 includes a cleaning mechanism 102 is attached along the reaction disk 125 to clean the reaction vessel 101. The control unit 119 performs operation control of each mechanical system and screen display control.

  The reaction disk 125 is controlled so as to repeat the operation of rotating and stopping the reaction container row by a predetermined number of reaction containers every cycle. The multi-wavelength photometer 117 has a plurality of detectors at the wavelength positions to be detected, and detects light transmitted through the reaction container contents when the reaction disk 125 is in a rotating state.

  Next, a sample analysis operation at the time of colorimetric measurement in the automatic analyzer will be described. When the start switch for starting the analysis operation in the interface 118 is pressed, the reaction vessel 101 starts washing the reaction vessel 101 and further measures the water blank. The measured value of the water blank serves as a reference for the absorbance measured thereafter in the reaction vessel 101. When the washed reaction container advances to the sample dispensing position 301 by repeating the operation of the reaction disk 125 in one cycle, that is, the operation of moving the fixed distance and temporarily stopping, the sample container moves to the sample dispensing position. At the same time, the two reagent disks 106 and 107 move so that the reagent of the corresponding analysis item is positioned at the reagent suction position. Next, the sample pipetting mechanism 116 operates to suck the sample from the sample container, and then discharge a predetermined amount of the sample to the reaction container 101. On the other hand, the reagent pipetting mechanism 104 starts its operation and sucks the reagent installed on the reagent disk 106.

  Next, the reagent pipetting mechanism 104 moves to the corresponding reaction vessel 101 on the reaction disk 125 and discharges a predetermined amount of the reagent that has been sucked and held, and then the reagent pipetting mechanism 104 is moved to a cleaning mechanism (not shown). ) To prepare for the next reagent dispensing. After the reagent is dispensed by the reagent pipetting mechanism 104, measurement using a multiwavelength photometer is started. Photometry is performed when the reaction vessel 101 crosses the light beam while the reaction disk 125 is rotating. After the reagent is added, the reaction vessel 101 moves to the stirring position 303, and the stirring mechanism 103 operates to stir the sample and the reagent. Next, the reagent is added to the reaction vessel 101 by the reagent pipetting mechanism 105, and then the mixed solution is stirred by the stirring mechanism 111. As the reaction disk 125 rotates, the reaction vessel 101 crosses the light beam one after another, and the absorbance of each reaction solution is measured each time. After completion of the measurement, the reaction vessel 101 is washed by the reaction vessel washing mechanism 102 to prepare for the next sample measurement. The concentration or enzyme activity value is converted from the measured absorbance and the analysis result is displayed on the display unit 122.

  The control system includes a control unit 119, an input unit 120 for inputting information, an information storage unit 121 for storing the information, and a display unit 122 for displaying measurement data, and controls the colorimetric analysis unit via the interface 118. I do.

  In the present invention, an information storage unit 121 that stores the absorbance after the reagent pipetting mechanism 104 ejects the first reagent, and an input unit 120 for setting an allowable change in absorbance or a difference at a specific photometric point. And a display unit 122, and a control unit 119 for comparing the absorbance with a set value.

The determination patterns of reaction process absorbance for determining reagent dispensing timing in the present invention are the following 1) to 3).
1) Difference in absorbance at two points after addition of the first reagent and before addition of the second reagent 2) Absorbance value at one point after addition of the first reagent and before addition of the second reagent 3) After addition of the first reagent Slope of absorbance at multiple points before the second reagent is added

  Details of the determination pattern will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of reaction process absorbance and reagent dispensing timing of the automatic analyzer. In the present invention, the automatic analyzer holds two dispensing timings of dispensing timing A and dispensing timing B when dispensing the second reagent. In 1), arbitrary photometry points j and k (j <k) are selected, and the difference is calculated by the arithmetic processing unit. Here, the photometric point k needs to be before the second reagent dispensing timing so that the control unit 119 can switch the reagent dispensing timing. The absolute value of the difference in absorbance between the photometric point j and the photometric point k is X, and X is compared with the value Y set in advance by the display unit 122. If X ≦ Y, the second reagent is used at the reagent dispensing timing A. To dispense. When X ≧ Y, it is determined that the reaction between the sample and the first reagent is insufficient, and the second reagent is dispensed at the reagent dispensing timing B. In 2), the reagent dispensing timing is determined by comparing the value X ′ of a certain photometric point k before the second reagent dispensing timing with the value Y ′ set in advance by the display unit 122. In 3), all the photometry points between the photometry point j and the photometry point k are used, the absorbance change amount ΔA between the photometry points j and k is calculated, and this ΔA and the value Y set by the display unit 122 are calculated. The reagent dispensing timing is determined by comparing with ″.

  Here, the photometric points j and k may be the same photometric point in all of 1) to 3), or by setting different photometric points in advance by the display unit 122, each may have its own photometric point. . Further, it is desirable that the photometric points j and k are appropriately selected from the arithmetic processing capability and communication speed of the apparatus so that the control unit 119 can control the reagent dispensing timing.

  In addition, when the dispensing timing is changed in this way, it is common to change the photometric point generally used for the reaction time and concentration calculation. Therefore, it is desirable to create analysis parameters according to changes in dispensing timing.

  Further, the photometric points j and k shown in the above embodiment can be arbitrarily changed according to the items and the determination pattern. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to select a suitable pattern for each item by making it possible to set values such as a measurement item, a selected photometry point, an upper limit of the range of the determination pattern, and an addition / subtraction for each determination pattern. it can.

  Next, the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in the apparatus, the sample dispensing probe discharges the sample into the reaction container 101 at the sample dispensing position 301, and then the reagent dispensing probe dispenses the first reagent into the reaction container 101. (STEP 1) Next, the absorbance of the reaction vessel 101 is measured, and the absorbance at the arbitrary photometric points j and k described above is obtained. (STEP 2) Further, the absorbance at arbitrary photometric points j and k is determined by the calculation processing unit as one of the determination patterns 1) to 3) or the absorbance value is processed for each of the plurality of patterns as a value X for determination. It is stored in the information storage unit 121. (STEP 3) The apparatus compares the value X with a preset value set in the apparatus, and (STEP 4) When the processed result is within the range, the reaction liquid of the sample and the first reagent is stable. The second reagent is dispensed at reagent dispensing timing A. If the processed result is out of the range, it is determined that more time is required for the reaction solution of the sample and the first reagent, and the apparatus dispenses the second reagent at the reagent dispensing timing B (STEP 5). .

  By the way, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, if there is a reagent that is normally dispensed at the dispensing timing of the first reagent and the third reagent, it is necessary to set a longer reaction time between the sample and the first reagent in a special sample. It is also possible to dispense the second reagent instead of the dispensing timing B, for example, at the reagent dispensing timing C that is newly set.

1 shows an embodiment of an automatic analyzer according to the present invention. Schematic of the automatic analyzer of the present invention. The figure which showed the reaction process light absorbency and reagent dispensing timing which show an example of the determination pattern of this invention. The figure which shows an example for setting the range for determining the reagent dispensing timing in this invention. The flowchart which shows an example of the operation flow of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 Reaction vessel 102 Washing mechanism 103, 111 Stirring mechanism 104, 105 Reagent pipetting mechanism 106, 107 Reagent disc 108 Electrolyte measuring unit 109 Shipper mechanism 110 Electrolyte pipetting mechanism 112 Reagent container 113 Standard solution reagent container 114 Comparison Electrode solution reagent container 115 Sample disk 116 Sample pipetting mechanism 117 Multi-wavelength photometer 118 Interface 119 Control unit 120 Input unit 121 Information storage unit 122 Display unit 123 Analysis unit 124 Control unit 125 Reaction disk 301 Sample dispensing position 302 Diluent Discharge position 303 Stirring position

Claims (4)

  Adjust the addition timing of the reagent to be added at a later timing based on the change in the reaction absorbance of the reagent added at the previous timing for the measurement item to measure the sample by adding multiple types of reagents with different addition timings An automatic analyzer comprising control means for controlling reagent dispensing means. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The change in the reaction absorbance is a difference in absorbance at two different preset time points after the first reagent dispensing, and the control means compares the difference with a preset reference value to compare the reagent dispensing means. An automatic analyzer characterized by controlling. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The change in the reaction absorbance is a slope of the reaction absorbance in a preset time range after the first reagent dispensing, and the control means compares the slope with a preset reference value and the reagent dispensing means An automatic analyzer characterized by controlling.   2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein an absorbance value at a specific photometric point where the change in absorbance during the reaction process is present is determined by comparing with a preset value.

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