JP2016040528A - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily monitor the degradation of a halogen lamp when combining light of an ultraviolet LED light source and light of the halogen lamp.SOLUTION: Light from an ultraviolet LED light source 32 and light from a halogen lamp 31 are coaxially combined by a prism 42 with a reflecting portion 41 for reflecting ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light from the halogen lamp, which is reflected by the reflecting portion, is received on a halogen lamp ultraviolet light quantity receiver 43, and the end of life of the lamp is indicated if the quantity of received light is smaller than a threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an analyzer that analyzes the amount of a component contained in a sample, for example, an automatic analyzer that analyzes the amount of a component contained in blood or urine.

  As an analytical device for analyzing the amount of components contained in a sample, light from a light source is irradiated on the sample or a reaction solution in which the sample and the reagent are mixed, and the single or multiple measurement wavelengths that pass through the sample or the reaction solution 2. Description of the Related Art An automatic analyzer that measures the amount of transmitted light with a light receiving element, calculates the absorbance, and calculates the component amount from the relationship between the absorbance and the concentration is widely used (for example, Patent Document 1). In order to cope with a large number of inspection items, the automatic analyzer requires a plurality of measurement wavelengths, and in order to measure with high accuracy, it is necessary to be able to stably measure a certain amount of light at all wavelengths. Up to now, halogen lamps having a relatively large light amount and a broad emission spectrum have been used as light sources, but there has been a problem that the amount of light in the vicinity of 340 nm, which is highly important, is small in ultraviolet light, particularly in automatic analyzers. On the other hand, in recent years, the application of light emitting diodes (LEDs), which are semiconductor light emitting elements, to automatic analyzers is being studied. In halogen lamps, the wavelength of ultraviolet light, which emits less light, is combined with a filter or the like. Has been devised (for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).

U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,433 JP 2008-002849 A Japanese Patent No. 5260903

  When a plurality of light sources are used, it is necessary to manage the individual light sources, and a light receiver for monitoring the amount of light emitted from the light sources is essential. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a separate light amount monitoring light receiver. In particular, the decrease in the light intensity of halogen lamps is more pronounced with ultraviolet light, and until now it was possible to quickly know the deterioration from the light intensity of the wavelength of ultraviolet light after spectroscopy, but when ultraviolet light was reflected by a filter, There was a problem that light could not be received and the light quantity deterioration could not be known quickly.

  In the present invention, the light from the ultraviolet LED light source and the light from the halogen lamp are combined on the same axis by the reflection part that reflects the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet LED light source or the reflection part that transmits the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet LED. The deterioration of the halogen lamp is detected by monitoring the ultraviolet light from the halogen lamp reflected by the reflector.

  An automatic analyzer according to one aspect of the present invention generates a first light source that generates light having a first wavelength in the ultraviolet region, and light that includes the first wavelength and a plurality of measurement wavelengths longer than the first wavelength. A second light source that reflects light having a first wavelength and transmits light having a plurality of measurement wavelengths, and coaxially combines the light from the first light source and the light from the second light source. And a cell that holds the sample solution and receives light having the first wavelength from the first light source reflected by the reflecting portion and light including a plurality of measurement wavelengths from the second light source that has passed through the reflecting portion. And a first detector for detecting light of the first wavelength of the second light source reflected by the reflecting unit, and detection for detecting light of the first wavelength and light of a plurality of measurement wavelengths transmitted through the cell A container array.

An automatic analyzer according to another aspect of the present invention includes a first light source that generates light having a first wavelength in the ultraviolet region, and light including a first wavelength and a plurality of measurement wavelengths longer than the first wavelength. A second light source that is generated and a reflection that transmits light of a first wavelength and reflects light of a plurality of measurement wavelengths, and combines light from the first light source and light from the second light source on the same axis. The first wavelength light from the first light source that holds the sample solution and the sample solution is transmitted, and the light including the plurality of measurement wavelengths from the second light source reflected by the reflection unit is incident. A first detector for detecting light of the first wavelength of the second light source that has passed through the reflection unit, and detection for detecting light of the first wavelength and a plurality of measurement wavelengths that has passed through the cell; A container array.
Here, the first light source can be a light emitting diode, and the second light source can be a halogen lamp.

The first light source, the reflector, and the first detector can be integrated as a unit.
In addition, the life of the halogen lamp can be displayed by comparing the amount of light detected by the first detector with a preset threshold value and displaying an alarm when it is smaller than the threshold value.
Further, when the time change rate of the light amount detected by the first detector is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the light amount data of a plurality of measurement wavelengths detected by the detector array may be drift-corrected. Good.

According to the present invention, by receiving ultraviolet light from a halogen lamp, it is possible to quickly know the deterioration of the halogen lamp, and it is possible to appropriately replace it before filament breakage, etc., and to maintain analytical performance. it can.
Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of embodiments.

The schematic diagram which shows the example of whole structure of an automatic analyzer. The figure which shows the structural example of an absorbance measurement part. The figure which shows the example of the reflectance characteristic of a prism. The figure which shows the example of the light-receiving amount in a detector array. The figure which shows the example of the reflectance characteristic of a prism. The figure which shows the structural example of an absorbance measurement part. The flowchart which shows the example of the process sequence at the time of determining deterioration of a light source. The figure which shows the light quantity deterioration and threshold value of a halogen lamp. The figure which shows the example of the alarm display at the time of halogen lamp light amount deterioration. The flowchart which shows the example of the process sequence at the time of performing drift correction.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

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

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of an automatic analyzer. The automatic analyzer according to this embodiment includes three types of disks, a sample disk 3, a reagent disk 6 and a reaction disk 9, a dispensing mechanism for moving samples and reagents between these disks, and a control circuit 23 for controlling these. A light amount measuring circuit 24 for measuring the absorbance of the reaction solution, a data processing unit 26 for processing data measured by the light amount measuring circuit 24, and an input unit 27 and an output unit 28 which are interfaces with the data processing unit 26. .

  The data processing unit 26 includes a memory 2601 and an analysis unit 2602. The memory 2601 stores control data, measurement data, data used for data analysis, analysis result data, and the like. The input unit 27 and the output unit 28 input / output data to / from the memory 2601. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the input unit 27 is a keyboard, but may be a touch panel, a numeric keypad, or another input device.

  On the circumference of the sample disk 3, a plurality of sample cups 2 as storage containers for the sample 1 are arranged. Sample 1 is, for example, blood. On the circumference of the reagent disk 6, a plurality of reagent bottles 5 that are containers for the reagent 4 are arranged. On the circumference of the reaction disk 9, a plurality of reaction cells 8 that are containers for the reaction liquid 7 in which the sample 1 and the reagent 4 are mixed are arranged.

  The sample dispensing mechanism 10 is a mechanism used when moving a certain amount of the sample 1 from the sample cup 2 to the reaction cell 8. The sample dispensing mechanism 10 includes, for example, a nozzle that discharges or sucks a solution, a robot that positions and transports the nozzle to a predetermined position, and a pump that discharges or sucks the solution from the nozzle.

  The reagent dispensing mechanism 11 is a mechanism used when a certain amount of reagent 4 is moved from the reagent bottle 5 to the reaction cell 8. The reagent dispensing mechanism 11 also includes, for example, a nozzle that discharges or sucks a solution, a robot that positions and transports the nozzle to a predetermined position, and a pump that discharges or sucks the solution from the nozzle.

  The stirring unit 12 is a mechanism unit that stirs and mixes the sample 1 and the reagent 4 in the reaction cell 8. The cleaning unit 14 is a mechanism unit that discharges the reaction solution 7 from the reaction cell 8 after the analysis process and then cleans the reaction cell 8. The next sample 1 is again dispensed from the sample dispensing mechanism 10 into the reaction cell 8 after completion of washing, and a new reagent 4 is dispensed from the reagent dispensing mechanism 11 to be used for another reaction process. .

  In the reaction disk 9, the reaction cell 8 is immersed in a constant temperature fluid 15 in a constant temperature bath whose temperature and flow rate are controlled. For this reason, the temperature of the reaction cell 8 and the reaction liquid 7 therein is maintained at a constant temperature even during movement by the reaction disk 9. In the present embodiment, water is used as the constant temperature fluid 15 and its temperature is adjusted to 37 ± 0.1 ° C. by the control circuit 23. Of course, the medium and temperature used as the constant temperature fluid 15 are examples.

  An absorbance measurement unit (absorptiometer) 13 is disposed on a part of the circumference of the reaction disk 9. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of the absorbance measurement unit 13. The absorbance measurement unit 13 includes a halogen lamp 31 and an ultraviolet LED light source 32. Irradiation light 16 a generated from the halogen lamp 31 is cut by an infrared light component in the heat ray cut filter 18, then condensed by the condenser lens 17 a, and applied to the prism 42 including the reflection portion 41. Further, the irradiation light 16 b generated from the ultraviolet LED light source 32 is collected by the condenser lens 17 b and is irradiated to the prism 42 including the reflecting portion 41.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the reflectance characteristic of the reflecting portion 41 of the prism 42. The reflecting portion 41 of the prism 42 is made of a film that reflects the ultraviolet wavelength band. In this embodiment, a reflecting film that reflects light of 360 nm or less is used. In the present embodiment, a prism is used for the combined portion of the light from the halogen lamp and the light from the ultraviolet LED, but a plate-shaped element such as a filter may be used instead of the prism. As a result, the ultraviolet light of 360 nm or less among the light generated from the halogen lamp 31 is reflected by the reflecting portion 41, and light on the longer wavelength side is transmitted. On the other hand, an LED that generates a wavelength band of 340 nm ± 10 nm as a peak wavelength was used for the ultraviolet LED light source 32. Most of the generated light is reflected by the reflecting portion 41, is coaxially combined with light having a wavelength longer than 360 nm generated from the halogen lamp 31, and is irradiated to the reaction cell 8 together.

  The light transmitted through the reaction cell 8 is split by the diffraction grating 34 in the spectroscope 33 and received by a detector array 35 having a large number of light receivers. The measurement wavelengths received by the detector array 35 are, for example, first to twelfth wavelengths, and are 340 nm, 405 nm, 450 nm, 480 nm, 505 nm, 546 nm, 570 nm, 600 nm, 660 nm, 700 nm, 750 nm, and 800 nm. Measurement wavelengths other than the wavelength of 340 nm are generated from the halogen lamp 31. Light reception signals from these light receivers are transmitted to the memory 2601 of the data processing unit 26 through the light amount measurement circuit 24. Ultraviolet light of 350 nm or less generated from the halogen lamp 31 and reflected by the reflecting portion 41 is received by a separately provided halogen lamp ultraviolet light amount receiver 43 and transmitted to the memory 2601 through the light amount measurement circuit 24. The ultraviolet LED light source 32 is also provided in the vicinity of the ultraviolet LED light amount receiver 44, and this light reception signal is also transmitted to the memory 2601 through the light amount measurement circuit 24.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the received light amount of 12 measurement wavelengths received by the detector array 35 after the light from the halogen lamp and the light from the ultraviolet LED light source are coaxially combined. In order to make circuit components common, the light amount of the ultraviolet LED light source 32 was adjusted while being monitored by the ultraviolet LED light amount receiver 44 so as to be substantially equal to the light amount of the halogen lamp 31.

  As a result, the amount of light received by the 340 nm light receiver of the detector array 35 becomes the transmitted light of the light generated from the ultraviolet LED light source 32, and the amount of light from the halogen lamp 31, which has been a problem with a small amount of light, can be compensated. In addition, by replacing the light of the corresponding wavelength with a different light source in the reflection unit 41 without mixing with a half mirror or the like, it can be seen that the corresponding light source is the cause even when the light of the corresponding wavelength drifts. It is advantageous because it can be done quickly.

  The ultraviolet LED light source 32, the prism 42, the halogen lamp ultraviolet light quantity light receiver 43, and the ultraviolet LED light quantity light receiver 44 are integrated and arranged in one housing to form an ultraviolet LED unit 45. It is useful because it can be easily removed and replaced during assembly and maintenance.

  Irradiation light 16 a from the halogen lamp 31 enters the ultraviolet LED unit 45 after passing through the heat ray cut filter 18. With this arrangement, the incidence of infrared light on the ultraviolet LED unit 45 is reduced, and the temperature of the entire unit is kept constant, so that the structure is excellent in dimensional stability against heat.

  In contrast to the case shown in FIG. 3, the reflection part 41 provided on the prism 42 transmits light having a reflection and transmission characteristic of 360 nm or less and reflects light having a longer wavelength as shown in FIG. You may do. In that case, the same effect can be obtained by reversing the positional relationship between the two light sources so as to substantially reflect the light of 360 nm or more from the halogen lamp 31 and to substantially transmit the light from the ultraviolet LED light source 32. Is obtained.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of the absorbance measurement unit 13 when a film that transmits an ultraviolet wavelength band is used for the reflection unit 41. The reflection part (film) 41 provided on the prism 42 of the ultraviolet LED unit 45 reflects light having a longer wavelength than 360 nm and transmits light having a shorter wavelength than that. Ultraviolet light of 360 nm or less incident on the ultraviolet LED unit 45 from the halogen lamp 31 is transmitted through the reflecting portion 41 of the prism 42 and incident on the halogen lamp ultraviolet light amount receiver 43. Light having a measurement wavelength incident from the halogen lamp 31 to the ultraviolet LED unit 45, for example, 405 nm, 450 nm, 480 nm, 505 nm, 546 nm, 570 nm, 600 nm, 660 nm, 700 nm, 750 nm, and 800 nm is reflected by the reflecting portion 41 of the prism 42. The Ultraviolet light having a peak wavelength of 340 nm ± 10 nm generated from the ultraviolet LED light source 32 disposed in the ultraviolet LED unit 45 is transmitted through the reflecting portion 41 and longer than 360 nm generated from the halogen lamp 31 and reflected by the reflecting portion 41. The light including the measurement wavelength of the wavelength is multiplexed on the same axis and irradiated to the reaction cell 8.

  The concentration of the component contained in the sample 1 is quantified by the following procedure. First, the control circuit 23 instructs the cleaning unit 14 to clean the reaction cell 8. Next, the control circuit 23 dispenses a predetermined amount of the sample 1 in the sample cup 2 to the reaction cell 8 by the sample dispensing mechanism 10. Next, the control circuit 23 dispenses a predetermined amount of the reagent 4 in the reagent bottle 5 into the reaction cell 8 by the reagent dispensing mechanism 11.

  At the time of dispensing each solution, the control circuit 23 drives the sample disk 3, the reagent disk 6, and the reaction disk 9 to rotate by the corresponding drive unit. At this time, the sample cup 2, the reagent bottle 5, and the reaction cell 8 are positioned at predetermined dispensing positions in accordance with the driving timings of the dispensing mechanisms corresponding thereto.

  Subsequently, the control circuit 23 controls the stirring unit 12 to stir the sample 1 and the reagent 4 dispensed in the reaction cell 8 to generate the reaction solution 7. Due to the rotation of the reaction disk 9, the reaction cell 8 containing the reaction solution 7 passes through the measurement position where the absorbance measurement unit 13 is disposed. Each time it passes through the measurement position, the amount of light transmitted from the reaction solution 7 is measured via the absorbance measurement unit 13. In this embodiment, each measurement time is about 10 minutes. Measurement data obtained by the absorbance measurement unit 13 is sequentially output to the memory 2601 and accumulated as reaction process data.

  During the accumulation of the reaction process data, if necessary, another reagent 4 is additionally dispensed into the reaction cell 8 by the reagent dispensing mechanism 11, stirred by the stirring unit 12, and further measured for a certain time. Thereby, reaction process data acquired at regular time intervals is stored in the memory 2601.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for determining deterioration of a halogen lamp. After turning on the power of the apparatus, after a certain time, the received light quantity of the halogen lamp ultraviolet light received by the halogen lamp ultraviolet light quantity receiver 43 and measured by the light quantity measurement circuit 24 is transmitted to the memory 2601 and stored. The analysis unit 2602 compares the amount of received light with a threshold value set in advance by the manufacturer. If the amount of received light is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the standby state is awaited without starting anything. When the amount of received light is smaller than the threshold value, it is determined that the light source has reached the end of its life and an alarm is displayed to prompt the user to replace the halogen lamp.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the light reception signal of the halogen lamp ultraviolet light receiver 43 and the lamp lighting time. In this embodiment, the threshold value of the received light amount is 20000, and an alarm is displayed on the screen 1200 hours after the received light amount becomes smaller than 20000. An example of the display screen is shown in FIG. Alarms are displayed in color on the display screen of the output unit 28, and a more detailed display of the decrease in the amount of halogen lamp light is made by clicking on the corresponding part. This is useful because it is possible to know the deterioration of the halogen lamp and prompt the user to replace it in advance. This alarm display can also be applied to the ultraviolet LED light source 32 using the received light amount of the ultraviolet LED light amount receiver 44.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure when drift correction is performed when the component concentration is determined. After the start of measurement, for example, reaction process data for 10 minutes is acquired in the detector array 35 of the spectrometer 33. At the same time, the light quantity fluctuation for 10 minutes is detected in the halogen lamp ultraviolet light quantity receiver 43. The received light quantity is stored in the memory 2601. The fluctuation of the halogen lamp ultraviolet light amount detected by the halogen lamp ultraviolet light receiver 43 over a certain period is calculated by linear approximation or the like. Compare the time change rate of the light intensity with the threshold value set in advance by the manufacturer, and if it is more than the threshold value, judge that it is drift and display a light intensity fluctuation alarm. Calculate drift correction. In the drift correction, for example, when the received light amount of the halogen lamp ultraviolet light receiver 43 decreases by 0.1% in one minute, the reaction process data is corrected in a direction in which the 0.1% light amount increases per minute. As a result, the calculation result is calculated. The obtained component concentration results are displayed as reference values. When the change rate of the halogen lamp ultraviolet light amount is equal to or less than a threshold value set in advance by the manufacturer, a quantitative value of the component concentration is output without correction. Moreover, these can also apply the same display to the ultraviolet LED light source 32 using the ultraviolet LED light quantity light receiver 44. FIG. Thus, even when there is a large variation due to the light source, a reference value of the component concentration can be output and there is no need for retesting, which is useful.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

1 Sample 2 Sample cup 3 Sample disk 4 Reagent 5 Reagent bottle 6 Reagent disk 7 Reaction liquid 8 Reaction cell 9 Reaction disk 10 Sample dispensing mechanism 11 Reagent dispensing mechanism 12 Stirring unit 13 Absorbance measuring unit 14 Washing unit 15 Constant temperature fluid 16a Irradiation Light 16b Irradiation light 17a Condensing lens 17b Condensing lens 18 Heat ray cut filter 23 Control circuit 24 Light quantity measurement circuit 26 Data processing unit 2601 Memory 2602 Analysis unit 27 Input unit 28 Output unit 31 Halogen lamp 32 Ultraviolet LED light source 33 Spectroscope 34 Diffraction Lattice 35 Detector array 41 Reflector 42 Prism 43 Halogen lamp UV light receiver 44 UV LED light receiver 45 UV LED unit

Claims (10)

A first light source that generates light having a first wavelength in the ultraviolet region;
A second light source for generating light including the first wavelength and a plurality of measurement wavelengths longer than the first wavelength;
A reflection unit that reflects the light of the first wavelength and transmits the light of the plurality of measurement wavelengths, and coaxially combines the light from the first light source and the light from the second light source;
The first wavelength light from the first light source that holds the sample solution and is reflected by the reflecting portion, and the light that includes the plurality of measurement wavelengths from the second light source that has passed through the reflecting portion. A cell on which is incident,
A first detector for detecting the light of the first wavelength of the second light source reflected by the reflecting unit;
A detector array for detecting the light of the first wavelength and the light of the plurality of measurement wavelengths transmitted through the cell;
The automatic analyzer characterized by having. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the first light source is a light emitting diode and the second light source is a halogen lamp. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein
The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the first light source, the reflector, and the first detector are integrated as a unit. A control method for an automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
Comparing the amount of light detected by the first detector with a preset threshold;
Displaying an alarm when the amount of light detected by the first detector is less than the threshold;
A method characterized by comprising: A control method for an automatic analyzer according to claim 1,
Comparing the time change rate of the amount of light detected by the first detector with a predetermined threshold;
Drift correction of the light quantity data of the plurality of measurement wavelengths detected by the detector array when the time change rate is equal to or greater than the threshold;
A method characterized by comprising: A first light source that generates light having a first wavelength in the ultraviolet region;
A second light source for generating light including the first wavelength and a plurality of measurement wavelengths longer than the first wavelength;
A reflection unit that transmits the light of the first wavelength and reflects the light of the plurality of measurement wavelengths to coaxially combine the light from the first light source and the light from the second light source;
The first wavelength light from the first light source that holds the sample solution and transmitted through the reflection unit, and the light that includes the plurality of measurement wavelengths from the second light source reflected by the reflection unit A cell on which is incident,
A first detector for detecting the light of the first wavelength of the second light source that has passed through the reflecting section;
A detector array for detecting the light of the first wavelength and the light of the plurality of measurement wavelengths transmitted through the cell;
The automatic analyzer characterized by having. The automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the first light source is a light emitting diode and the second light source is a halogen lamp. The automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the first light source, the reflector, and the first detector are integrated as a unit. A control method for an automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
Comparing the amount of light detected by the first detector with a preset threshold;
Displaying an alarm when the amount of light detected by the first detector is less than the threshold;
A method characterized by comprising: A control method for an automatic analyzer according to claim 6,
Comparing the time change rate of the amount of light detected by the first detector with a predetermined threshold;
Drift correction of the light quantity data of the plurality of measurement wavelengths detected by the detector array when the time change rate is equal to or greater than the threshold;
A method characterized by comprising:

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