JP2011179825A - Autoanalyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce consumption of cell blank water used in a reaction container in a preparatory state. <P>SOLUTION: An autoanalyzer includes: a plurality of repeatedly used reaction containers; a sampling mechanism for dispensing a sample or reagent in the reaction containers; a cell blank water injection mechanism for injecting cell blank water in the reaction containers; a cell blank water discharge mechanism for discharging the cell blank water from the reaction containers; an optical measuring means for optical measuring the cell blank water in the reaction containers permitting the cell blank water to enter and the sample in the reaction containers permitting a sample reaction solution to enter; and a calculation function for comparing the cell blank measuring value and sample measuring value measured by the optical measuring means with each other during the successive movement of a plurality of the reaction containers to calculate a proper sample measuring value, is characterized by providing a water reducing mode for restricting the number of the reaction containers permitting the cell blank water to enter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for performing qualitative / quantitative analysis of biological samples (samples) such as blood and urine, and to cell blank water (distilled water / ion exchange) in a reaction vessel in the same manner as a sample (sample) to be measured. The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer equipped with a means for measuring the absorbance of the reaction vessel itself.

  Biological samples such as blood and urine measured by an automatic analyzer contain proteins and lipids, and dirt is likely to adhere to the reaction container. In the case of an automatic analyzer, because of a random access method for measuring a plurality of items, a reagent of various properties and samples in various states are loaded and measured in one reaction vessel.

  Before measuring biological samples, perform cell blank measurement in which cell blank water is contained in all reaction vessels (reaction cells) and the absorbance of the reaction vessel is measured with analytical wavelength light, and there is no abnormality in the reaction vessel Confirm.

  In addition, the sample measurement value obtained by measuring the sample with the absorbance is corrected with the cell blank measurement value, and an accurate and appropriate sample measurement value is calculated. For this reason, the cell blank measurement is performed in all the reaction cells before measuring the biological sample. This cell blank measurement is described in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-332581).

  However, since the cell blank measurement requires time, the cell blank measurement becomes an obstacle to rapid measurement when urgent measurement is performed. Therefore, the automatic analyzer continues the cell blank measurement while maintaining the ready state even after the measurement is completed. As a result, the next measurement or urgent measurement can be performed quickly.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-332581

  When many samples are continuously measured with an automatic analyzer, cell blank measurement of a reaction vessel is essential, but the time zone during which continuous measurement is performed in a laboratory is limited. Although it is possible to stop the cell blank measurement of the reaction vessel by stopping the measurement, once the measurement is stopped, the automatic analyzer needs to perform many preparation processes in order to be able to perform the measurement again.

  For this reason, once the measurement is stopped, it takes a lot of time to make the measurement ready. In the laboratory, in order to respond quickly to an urgent analysis request, the measurement is not stopped and the automatic analyzer is often maintained in a ready state.

  In the preparation state, the cell blank measurement of the reaction vessel is continuously maintained in order to maintain a state where the measurement can be started. This cell blank measurement requires the generation of distilled water in the host system, and continues to consume distilled water even during the time period when measurement is not performed. Urgent analysis requests require fewer reaction vessels than the case of continuous measurement, and there is no need to use all reaction vessels. Nevertheless, since cell blank measurement is performed for all reaction vessels, cell blank water is wasted as a result.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to respond to an urgent analysis request promptly and to suppress the wasteful use of cell blank water and support the reduction of operation costs.

  The present invention limits the number of reaction vessels for performing cell blank measurement to the minimum necessary according to the situation when an automatic analyzer is maintained in a so-called preparation state in preparation for an urgent analysis request.

  More specifically, for example, the actual number of measurement item processing of the automatic analyzer performed in unit time for one hour is compared with the number of measurement item processing capabilities that the automatic analyzer can process the measurement item in unit time. When the automatic analyzer transitions to the ready state, if the operating status falls below the standard, it is determined that the number of measurement items has decreased, and the number of reaction vessels for automatic cell blank measurement is determined. Restrict. This reduces the consumption of useless cell blank water used in the ready state.

  Further, by enabling the user to arbitrarily set ON / OFF of the water reduction state of the cell blank water on the screen of the display means, it is possible to cope with operation of an automatic analyzer that differs for each user. Furthermore, if the reduced cell blank water quantity can be accumulated and displayed and printed using numerical values and graphs, resource savings due to improved laboratory operation can be recorded.

  By this invention, it becomes possible to reduce the cell blank water used with an automatic analyzer, and it contributes to the reduction of the operating cost of a laboratory. In addition, since the user can check the amount of cell blank water reduction on the screen or in a form, it is possible to save resources by improving operations and to expect environmental conservation effects.

It is a figure which concerns on the Example of this invention, and is a figure which shows the arrangement configuration of the reaction container of an automatic analyzer. It is a figure which concerns on the Example of this invention, and shows the screen which performs water reduction mode setting. It is a figure which concerns on the Example of this invention and shows the state transition of an automatic analyzer. It is a figure of the screen which concerns on the Example of this invention and shows the reduced amount of water reduction and printing. It is a figure of the screen which concerns on the Example of this invention and shows the reduced water quantity graph and printing. It is a figure which concerns on the Example of this invention, and shows the water reduction mode setting table for reducing the water quantity of a cell blank measurement automatically. It is a figure which concerns on the Example of this invention, and shows the water reduction table for reducing the water quantity of a cell blank measurement automatically. It is a figure which concerns on the Example of this invention, and shows the processing flow of the cell blank measurement based on water volume reduction.

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

  First, referring to FIG. 1, the outline of an automatic analyzer including the arrangement of reaction vessels and the mechanisms related to measurement analysis will be described.

  The automatic analyzer includes a reagent disk 105, a reaction vessel 101, a reagent sampling mechanism 108, a specimen 107 (sample), a sample sampling mechanism 106, a distilled water discharge mechanism 102 (cell blank water injection mechanism), and distilled water. It has a discharge mechanism 104 (cell blank water extraction mechanism) and a photometer 103 (optical measurement means). In addition, for example, a cleaning water discharge / discharge mechanism, a stirring mechanism for stirring the sample / reagent, and the like, which are not shown, are also provided around the reagent disk 105.

  A plurality of reaction vessels 101 arranged in a circle are mounted on a rotating disk (moving means) and move around the reagent disk 105 while rotating at a fixed period. The biological sample is dispensed into one of the plurality of reaction vessels 101 using the specimen sampling mechanism 106 that extracts the biological sample from the specimen 107 containing the biological sample.

  The reaction vessel 101 rotates around the reagent disk 105 in which the reagent is stored, dispenses the reagent from the reagent sampling mechanism 108 to the reaction vessel 101, the reagent and the biological sample are mixed and reacted, and the sample reaction A liquid is produced. When the reaction vessel 101 containing the sample reaction solution rotates at a constant cycle, the photometer 103 performs absorptiometric measurement to measure the components of the sample.

  The cell blank of the reaction vessel 101 is measured before measuring the sample. This cell blank measurement is carried out in either a reaction container that is washed and reused each time a sample is measured or a reaction container that is disposable every time a sample is measured. When the reaction vessel 101 containing distilled water is rotated at a fixed period by the distilled water discharge mechanism 102, the photometric measurement of the reaction vessel 101 is performed by the photometer 103, and the cell blank measurement is performed.

  In the rotation at a constant cycle, the rotating disk makes one round and rotational movement for one reaction vessel. The reaction vessel placed on the rotating disk is moved intermittently through a pause by one reaction vessel by rotation at regular intervals. In this intermittent movement, since the rotating disk makes a round each time, all the reaction vessels are measured by the photometer 103 (optical measuring means).

  Therefore, if the intermittent movement is repeated once, one reaction vessel is measured many times, and a more appropriate measurement result can be obtained using a lot of measurement data. What can be measured many times in one round can adopt various forms including polygons as long as a plurality of reaction vessels arranged endlessly move.

  The above cell blank measurement is repeated for all reaction vessels when the automatic analyzer is in the ready state, and the ready state is maintained. Cell blank measurement is performed regardless of whether there is an analysis request, and cell blank water is used as usual.

  A rotation control unit that controls the rotational movement of the rotating disk (moving means), a sampling drive control unit that drives the sampling mechanism, a cleaning water drive control unit that drives the cleaning water discharge / discharge mechanism, and a cell blank water discharge / A cell blank water drive controller for driving the discharge mechanism and an optical measurement controller for controlling the measurement of the optical measurement means are provided in the automatic analyzer, although not shown.

  The automatic analyzer performs qualitative and quantitative analysis of the sample using the control function, calculation function, analysis processing function, measurement function, and other functions provided in these control units.

  The reduction of cell blank water will be described.

  The water reduction state includes the number of reaction vessels for performing cell blank measurement in FIG. 2, the water reduction mode setting screen for setting the water reduction state to be valid / invalid, and the amount of distilled water reduction in FIG. It is operated and executed on the function screen of the display operation function constituted by the water reduction amount screen displayed on a monthly basis and the screen for displaying the transition of the water reduction amount in FIG. 5 in a graph.

  FIG. 2 shows a screen for setting the water reduction state.

  The screen for setting the water reduction mode includes the number of items 201 to be secured in the water reduction mode, the automatic switching 202 for automatically transitioning to the water reduction mode, the manual switching 203 for manually transitioning to the water reduction mode, and a button for registering settings 207, a button 206 for closing the water reduction mode setting screen.

  The number of items (reaction containers) 201 to be secured in the water reduction mode allows the user to input the number of reaction containers with a limited quantity used in the water reduction state from a plurality of reaction containers. A number can be specified. The automatic switching 202 enables the setting to automatically switch to the water reduction mode when the operating rate of the automatic analyzer decreases, and the user can arbitrarily set the operating rate 203 at which the user automatically switches to the water reduction mode.

  The operating rate is displayed in the current operating rate 204 and updated every hour (every unit time). In this way, it is determined whether the operating rate for switching to the water reduction mode is appropriate. The operating rate of the automatic analyzer is the value obtained by dividing the actual number of item processing measured in one hour (unit time) by the number of item processing capabilities that the automatic analyzer can measure per hour (unit time). The operating rate of the fluctuating automatic analyzer is used as an index for automatic switching of the water reduction mode.

  The unit time for calculating the operation rate, which is an index for automatic switching of the water reduction mode, is not limited to one hour. The unit time can be selected from a time shorter than one hour, a long time such as half a day to one day. The operating rate can be obtained from an arbitrary unit time.

  Based on the operating rate, the operating status of the automatic analyzer can be well understood.

  Under the operating condition in which the reaction vessel subjected to the cell blank measurement is moved without being used for the sample measurement, the cell blank water can be reduced by limiting the number of reaction vessels into which the cell blank water is put. Since the operating status is well understood, the number of reaction vessels can be appropriately limited.

  In addition, the quantity limited by the operating rate is adjusted, the quantity is limited when the operating rate falls below the standard value set for the operating rate, and the quantity restriction is released when the operating rate exceeds the standard value. The management of water can be managed more carefully.

  In addition, as for the operation rate other than the processing real number, for example, it is possible to cope with the increase / decrease in the analysis request quantity by considering the time schedule contents including the analysis item quantity for which the analysis request has been received.

  The manual switching 203 enables the user to switch the water reduction mode between starting and stopping at an arbitrary timing using the pull-down 205. Automatic switching 202 and manual switching 203 can be selected by check boxes, and only one of them is valid. After setting the water reduction mode, the setting is validated with the registration button 207 and the screen is terminated with the close button 206.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of state transition of the automatic analyzer.

  When measuring the biological sample, the automatic analyzer performs the cell blank measurement from the stop state 302, transitions to the measurement state 301, and starts measuring the biological sample. After the measurement is completed, the state transits to the stop state 302. However, when the user designates the transition to the preparation state 303, the state transitions to the preparation state 303.

  In the preparation state 303, the cell blank measurement is continuously performed for the time specified by the user in order to quickly transition to the measurement state when the user performs measurement again. In the preparation state 303, the time specified by the user elapses after the measurement is completed, or the state transitions to the stop state by the user's screen operation.

  The water reduction state of the present invention is implemented in the preparatory state 303, limiting the number of reaction vessels for performing rapid measurements and reducing the distilled water used in cell blank measurements. In this way, it is possible to quickly respond to an urgent analysis request, and it is possible to reduce operation costs by suppressing unnecessary use of cell blank water (distilled water / ion exchange water).

  FIG. 4 shows a water reduction amount screen for displaying the reduction amount of distilled water.

  The water reduction amount screen includes a title portion 401 that displays the year, date, and month, and a data display portion 403 that displays the reduction amount in units of days, and displays the amount of water reduced in units of months as a cumulative value 402.

  The title part 401 arranges the month on the vertical axis and the day on the horizontal axis with respect to the year display 404. The data display unit 403 displays the daily water reduction amount 602 accumulated in the database of FIG. 6 on a daily basis.

  The cumulative value 402 displays the cumulative value of the amount of water reduced in each month by adding the reduction amount 602 per day accumulated in the database of FIG. 6 every month. Thereby, the amount of water reduced by the operation by the user is provided as an effect of quantitative operation improvement. A close button 405 ends the screen. Printing is performed with a print button 406.

  In addition, by selecting the month 501 and the unit 502 in the distilled water reduction amount graph shown in FIG. A close button 505 ends the screen. Printing is performed with a button 504 for printing.

  FIG. 6A shows a water reduction mode setting table and FIG. 6B shows a water reduction amount table.

  The database table includes a water reduction mode setting table 601 and a water reduction amount table 602. The water reduction mode setting table stores and holds values set on the water reduction mode setting screen of FIG.

  In addition, the current operating rate of the automatic analyzer is calculated and stored every hour. Further, it is determined which of the entire reaction vessels is used when the water reduction mode is enabled. Whether or not each reaction vessel is used is determined by dividing the total number of reaction vessels by the number of items 201 to be secured designated on the water reduction mode setting screen in FIG. 2, and when the division result is N, one reaction vessel for every N pieces. Efficiently arrange reaction vessels to be used on the circle. In this way, the reaction vessels in which the number of cell blank measurements is limited are arranged in a distributed manner. When the situation in the water reduction mode is repeated, the cell blank measurement is transferred to another reaction container so that the same reaction container is not used, and the use frequency of the reaction container is leveled.

  The water reduction amount table stores the amount of water reduced on a daily basis. The reduced amount of water is multiplied by the number of reaction vessels that did not use the amount of distilled water discharged into one reaction vessel at the time of cell blank measurement, and added to the amount of water reduced on a daily basis.

  FIG. 7 shows a processing flow in the water reduction mode.

  The processing shown in FIG. 7 is started after the measurement of the requested item is completed by the automatic analyzer. After the measurement of the requested item is completed 701 by the automatic analyzer, an automatic water reduction determination 702 is performed to determine whether the water reduction mode is set to automatic. The automatic water reduction determination 702 obtains automatic / manual information stored in the water reduction mode setting table 601 of FIG. 6 and determines whether or not automatic is set.

  When the determination result is set to automatic, the operation rate of the automatic analyzer is acquired by the operation rate acquisition 704. The operation rate acquisition 704 acquires the performance of the automatic analyzer from the water reduction mode setting table 601 in FIG. 6 and acquires the operation rate of the automatic analyzer.

  Next, the operation rate decrease determination 705 is performed and the execution of the water reduction mode is determined. The operation rate decrease determination 705 acquires the specified operation rate 203 set by the user in FIG. 2 from the operation rate (number of items / module performance) of the water reduction mode setting table 601 in FIG. Compare the results of the analyzer with the results.

  When the performance of the automatic analyzer is lower than the specified operation rate 203, the water reduction mode is performed. If the determination result is not set to automatic in the automatic water reduction determination 702, it is determined manually in the water reduction ON 703 whether the water reduction mode is ON.

  The water reduction ON 703 obtains the water reduction mode ON / OFF from the water reduction mode setting table 601 in FIG. 6 and determines whether to implement the water reduction mode. When the water reduction mode is executed automatically or manually, the reaction vessel used when the water reduction mode is executed is determined by the use vessel setting 706.

  In the use container setting 706, reaction containers to be used are uniformly arranged out of the total number of reaction containers arranged on a circle, and set to use / nonuse of reaction containers in the water reduction mode setting table 601 of FIG. Next, the cell blank measurement 707 is performed on each reaction vessel used in the water reduction mode, and distilled water used for the cell blank measurement in the ready state is reduced.

101 ... Reaction vessel 102 ... Distilled water discharge mechanism (cell blank water injection mechanism)
103 ... Photometer (optical measurement means)
104 ... Distilled water discharge mechanism (cell blank water extraction mechanism)
105 ... Reagent disc 106 ... Sample sampling mechanism 107 ... Sample (sample)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 108 ... Reagent sampling mechanism 201 ... Number of items 203 ... Designated operation rate 204 ... Operation rate 205 ... Pull-down 207 ... Button to register setting 206 ... Button to close water reduction mode setting screen 301 ... Measurement state 302 ... Stop state 303 ... Preparation state 401 ... Title portion 403 ... Data display portion 402 ... Cumulative value 404 ... Year display 501 ... Month 502 ... Unit 503 ... Graph 505 ... Close button 504 ... Print button 601 ... Water reduction mode setting table 701 ... Measurement complete 701
702 ... Automatic determination of water reduction 703 ... Water reduction ON
704 ... Occupancy rate acquisition 705 ... Occupancy rate decrease determination 706 ... Used container setting 707 ... Cell blank measurement

Claims (9)

A plurality of reaction containers that are used repeatedly, a sampling mechanism that dispenses samples and reagents into the reaction container, a cell blank water discharge mechanism that injects cell blank water into the reaction container, and cell blank water from the reaction container. A cell blank water discharge mechanism for removing, an optical measurement means for optically measuring the cell blank measurement of the reaction vessel containing cell blank water and the sample measurement of the reaction vessel containing a sample reaction solution, and a plurality of the reaction vessels sequentially An automatic analyzer having a calculation function for calculating an appropriate sample measurement value by comparing the cell blank measurement value measured by the optical measurement means and the sample measurement value while moving to
An automatic analyzer comprising a water reduction mode for limiting the number of reaction vessels into which the cell blank water is placed. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
An automatic analyzer having a function capable of arbitrarily selecting the water reduction mode and the normal mode without the quantity limitation. Cell blank measurement for optically measuring a plurality of reaction vessels containing cell blank water, sample measurement for optically measuring the reaction vessel containing the replaced sample reaction solution, and while the reaction vessel moves sequentially In the automatic analyzer in which the cell blank measurement and sample measurement are performed,
An automatic analyzer that limits the number of the reaction vessels into which the cell blank water is put in an operating state in which the reaction vessels subjected to the cell blank measurement are moved without being used for the sample measurement. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
It has a display that can display a screen that includes at least one of various settings and operating conditions.
It is possible to display a screen on which the user can arbitrarily set whether to specify the operation rate and the number of reaction vessels for performing cell blank measurement and whether to implement the water reduction mode automatically or manually. Automatic analyzer to do. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
It has a display that can display a screen that includes at least one of various settings and operating conditions.
A screen that displays the amount of reduced cell blank water accumulated in units of days and months,
A screen that displays the amount of reduction in numerical values and graphs
And an automatic analyzer capable of selecting and displaying on the display unit at least one of screens for printing the displayed lower surface. The automatic analyzer according to claim 3,
The operating status is grasped by an operating rate obtained by dividing the actual number of measurement item processing items of the sample measured per unit time by the number of measurement item processing capabilities of the sample that can be analyzed and processed per unit time, and this operating rate falls below the reference value And an automatic analyzer that releases the quantity restriction when the operating rate exceeds a reference value. The automatic analyzer according to claim 3,
The operation status is grasped by an operation rate obtained by dividing the actual measurement item processing number of the sample measured in unit time by the number of measurement item processing capabilities of the sample that can be analyzed and processed in unit time, and the quantity to be limited by this operation rate. Automatic analyzer characterized by adjusting the amount. A plurality of reaction vessels arranged in an endless manner, a moving means for intermittently repeatedly moving the plurality of reaction vessels in a row direction, a sampling mechanism for dispensing a sample or a reagent into the reaction vessel, and a cell in the reaction vessel A cell blank water discharge mechanism for injecting blank water, a cell blank water discharge mechanism for extracting cell blank water from the reaction container, a cell blank measurement of the reaction container for containing cell blank water, and a sample reaction liquid for the reaction container Optical measurement means for optically measuring sample measurement, and a calculation function for calculating an appropriate sample measurement value by comparing the cell blank measurement value measured by the optical measurement means with the sample measurement value,
Dispensing of samples and reagents, injection of cell blank water, extraction of cell blank water is performed at the stop between intermittent movements, in an automatic analyzer that performs cell blank measurement and sample measurement during intermittent movements,
An automatic analyzer that limits the number of reaction vessels into which the cell blank water is placed in an operation state in which the reaction vessels subjected to the cell blank measurement are repeatedly used without being used for the sample measurement. In the automatic analyzer as described in any one of Claims 1-9,
The automatic analyzer is characterized in that the reaction containers corresponding to the limited quantity are distributed without being distributed.

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