JP2012032189A - Autoanalyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, since the temperature within a reagent storage is controlled but the temperature of a reagent container itself is not controlled, the deterioration of a reagent with a change in reagent temperature can not be recognized and there is no distinct means for knowing the deterioration.SOLUTION: Inside a reagent storage, a mechanism for measuring the temperature of a reagent container is provided, and the temperature of the reagent container is measured in any arbitrary timing. The measured temperature is held in a storage medium of an apparatus together with information on the reagent container or with a result of an actual specimen measurement. Thus, the temperature of the reagent container at that time point can be recognized and can be utilized for investigating a factor of the measurement result caused by abnormality in the temperature of the reagent container.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer that performs quantitative and qualitative analysis of biological samples such as blood and urine, and more particularly, to an automatic analyzer that includes a reagent storage that can store a plurality of reagent containers that contain reagents.

  Conventional automatic analyzers maintain the reagent quality by controlling the temperature in the reagent storage and keeping the reagent temperature constant. In such an automatic analyzer, for example, when the cold storage mechanism of the reagent storage is stopped at night, the reagent may deteriorate during the stopped period. It describes that it takes how long it takes to deviate from the temperature control value and compares it with a threshold value.

JP 2000-310443 A

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature in the reagent storage is provided, and the temperature management state of the reagent is determined based on the measured temperature. However, with this technique, even if a reagent container taken out from the reagent storage is left at room temperature, it cannot be detected. For this reason, the temperature in the reagent cooler is properly controlled, so even if it is determined that there is no problem, the reagent is actually deteriorated and the analysis value may be abnormal Sex could not be excluded.

  The purpose of the present invention is to make it easier to investigate the cause of variation in the measurement results by measuring the temperature of each reagent container, and to erroneously report measurement results due to the use of warmed reagents. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer that prevents the above.

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

  An automatic analyzer comprising: a reagent holding mechanism that holds a plurality of reagent containers that contain reagents; and a temperature measurement mechanism that can measure the temperature of each of the reagent containers held in the reagent holding mechanism.

  The reagent holding mechanism is a reagent disk in which a plurality of reagent containers are placed side by side on the circumference of the disk, and the reagent disk is rotated to the suction position of the reagent suction mechanism that sucks the reagent from the target reagent container. Alternatively, a reagent container may be arranged at a fixed position, and the mechanism may be moved to the position of the reagent to be aspirated by the reagent aspirating mechanism. The temperature measurement mechanism is preferably an infrared temperature measurement device, a radiant heat measurement device, or a thermography device that can measure temperature in a non-contact manner. It may be provided with a mechanism for moving so as to come into contact. The temperature measured by the temperature measuring mechanism may be recorded for each reagent container and may be compared with a predetermined reference temperature.

  According to the present invention, by measuring the temperature of each reagent container, it is possible to easily investigate the cause when variations appear in the measurement results. In addition, erroneous reporting of measurement results due to the use of warm reagents can be prevented.

The block diagram of the automatic analyzer in one Example of this invention. The figure which shows the example which displays the temperature of the installed reagent in one Example of this invention on a screen. The figure which shows the example which displays on the screen the temperature of the reagent used for the measurement in one Example of this invention. The figure which shows the example which sets the reference | standard range of the temperature of the reagent in one Example of this invention, and use availability on a screen. The processing flow figure from temperature reference range value setting to analysis result output in one example of the present invention.

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

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a multi-item chemical analyzer that analyzes a plurality of analysis items of a specimen sample by a photometric method.

  A thermometer 33 is provided outside the reagent storage 26.

  The thermometer 33 is a non-contact temperature measuring element and can measure the temperature of only one reagent container. As this thermometer, what is called a radiation thermometer is generally used, and the temperature can be measured in a non-contact manner using infrared rays or the like.

  In FIG. 1, reagent containers 12 corresponding to a plurality of analysis items are installed in the reagent storage 26.

  When the reagent container 12 is installed in the reagent storage 26, the temperature of the reagent container 12 is measured by the thermometer 33. After installation, the temperature is periodically measured and stored in the storage medium 24 together with reagent information.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen for displaying the temperature according to the present invention. In general, on the reagent management screen of an automatic analyzer, an analysis item name, a remaining amount, a manufacturing lot, a manufacturing serial number, an expiration date, etc. are displayed for each reagent container installed in the reagent storage. In the present invention, in addition to such information, the temperature of the reagent container 12 measured in the above description is displayed for each reagent together with the measured minimum temperature and maximum temperature.

  The list display on the screen can alert the operator by using means such as changing the color when the temperature is not in the reference range.

  If the temperature of the reagent container after installation is slightly outside the reference range, it is considered that there is little possibility of reagent deterioration. If the temperature of the reagent container falls within the reference range due to the cold storage function of the reagent storage, it can be used for analysis without any problems. For this reason, the operator re-measures the temperature of the reagent container at an arbitrary timing. Thereby, it is possible to start measurement of the specimen after confirming that the temperature has settled within the reference range.

  When the thermometer 33 is provided at a position where the temperature of the reagent container installed at the reagent dispensing position can be measured, the reagent dispensing immediately before dispensing the reagent by the reagent dispensing mechanism 8 when measuring the sample. The reagent container moved to the position can be measured by the thermometer 33. The measured temperature is stored in the storage medium 24 and displayed on the screen together with the measurement result of the sample.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen for displaying the measurement result of the specimen and the measured temperature. In general, on a measurement result screen of an automatic analyzer, an analysis item name, a measurement result, abnormality information, information on a used reagent, and the like are displayed for each sample. In the present invention, in addition to such information, the temperature of the reagent container 12 measured in the above description is displayed for each dispensing timing. Also, reagent container temperature abnormality is added as abnormality information.

  The operator can determine the measurement result in consideration of the reagent temperature.

  In FIG. 1, the thermometer 33 periodically measures the temperature of the reagent and stores it in the storage medium 24. A reagent whose temperature has been detected out of the reference range even once can be disabled by an instruction from the screen.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen for setting the temperature reference range. In the present invention, the lower limit value and the upper limit value of the reference range can be set for each analysis item, and the availability of the reagent that measures the temperature outside the reference range can be set.

  The outline from the temperature reference range value setting to the analysis result output will be described with reference to the processing flowchart of FIG.

  The operator sets in advance from the screen shown in FIG. 4 the reference range of the reagent temperature and the availability of the reagent when the temperature is outside the reference range (501). The setting contents are stored in the storage medium 24.

  The reagent container 12 to be used is installed in the reagent storage 26 (502).

  Periodic temperature measurement is performed on the installed reagent container 12 (503).

  When the analysis is started, the temperature is measured immediately before dispensing the sample (504), and it is determined whether the temperature is once outside the reference range (506) together with the temperature (503) measured periodically. If it is out of the reference range even once, the availability setting is determined (509), and if it is unavailable, the analysis is canceled (510). Thereby, it is not necessary to waste a rare sample. When the availability setting is enabled, an analysis is performed (511), and a temperature abnormality alarm is output to the screen shown in FIG. 3 together with the sample measurement result (512).

  If the temperature is within the reference range (506), the analysis is performed (507), and the measurement result of the sample is output to the screen shown in FIG. 3 without an alarm of temperature abnormality (508).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Specimen container 2 Specimen movement mechanism 3 Microcomputer 4 Interface 5 Specimen dispenser 7, 11 Liquid level detector 8 Reagent dispenser 9 Reaction container movement mechanism 12 Reagent container 17 Reaction container 18 CRT (display device)
21 Keyboard 23 Reagent ID Reader 24 Storage Medium 25 Memory Area 26 Reagent Storage 27 Printer 28 Specimen ID Reader 33 Reagent Container Temperature Detector

Claims (12)

A reagent holding mechanism for holding a plurality of reagent containers containing the reagents;
A temperature measuring mechanism capable of measuring the temperature of each of the reagent containers held in the reagent holding mechanism;
An automatic analyzer characterized by comprising: The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the temperature measuring mechanism is a mechanism capable of measuring a temperature without contacting a reagent container for measuring temperature. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The automatic analyzer is characterized in that the temperature measuring mechanism is an infrared temperature measuring device. The automatic analyzer according to claim 3,
2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the reagent holding mechanism includes a cooling mechanism using a heat insulating material, and a measurement window for the infrared temperature measuring device is provided in a part of the heat insulating material. The automatic analyzer according to claim 3,
The reagent holding mechanism is a reagent disk on which reagent containers are placed side by side on a circumference and capable of rotating.
The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the temperature measuring mechanisms is provided on a lid portion of the reagent disk, the position of which is fixed with respect to the reagent container on the rotating reagent disk. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
A reagent installation detection mechanism for detecting that the reagent container is installed in the reagent holding mechanism;
An automatic analyzer comprising a control mechanism that controls to measure the temperature of the reagent container in which the temperature measurement mechanism is installed based on the fact that the reagent installation detection mechanism detects the installation of the reagent container . The automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
The reagent holding mechanism is a reagent disk on which reagent containers are placed side by side on a circumference and capable of rotating.
At least one of the temperature measuring mechanisms is fixed in position with respect to the reagent container on the rotating reagent disk,
A control mechanism for controlling the reagent disk to rotate so that the installed reagent container detected by the reagent setting detection mechanism is positioned at a position that can be measured by the temperature measuring mechanism is provided. Automatic analyzer to do. The automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
The reagent holding mechanism is a reagent disk on which reagent containers are placed side by side on a circumference and capable of rotating.
At least one of the temperature measuring mechanisms is fixed in position with respect to the reagent container on the rotating reagent disk,
In accordance with the rotation of the reagent disk, the storage device is provided with a storage mechanism for measuring the temperature of the reagent container positioned at a position measurable by the temperature measuring mechanism and storing the measured temperature for each reagent container. Automatic analyzer. The automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
The reagent holding mechanism is a reagent disk in which reagent containers are placed side by side on a circumference and capable of rotating, and a reagent that aspirates a predetermined amount of reagent contained in the reagent container placed on the reagent disk Equipped with a dispensing mechanism,
At least one of the temperature measuring mechanisms is fixed in position with respect to the reagent container on the rotating reagent disk,
An automatic analyzer comprising a control mechanism for controlling the temperature of the reagent container at the time when the reagent dispensing mechanism starts dispensing of the reagent with the temperature measuring mechanism. In the automatic analyzer in any one of Claims 1-9,
An automatic analyzer comprising a notification mechanism for notifying an abnormality when the temperature measured by the temperature measurement mechanism is not within a predetermined reference range. In the automatic analyzer in any one of Claims 1-9,
An automatic analyzer comprising a control mechanism for controlling the analysis using the reagent when the temperature measured by the temperature measurement mechanism is not within a predetermined reference range. In the automatic analyzer in any one of Claims 1-8,
An automatic analyzer characterized in that the storage medium can read and write information without contact.

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