JP2601669Y2 - Cuvette - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

The present invention relates to a blood coagulation measuring device for automatically analyzing a blood coagulation reaction in a clinical test field,
The present invention relates to a cuvette used in a measuring apparatus that prepares a cuvette for each sample and discards the cuvette after measurement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a blood coagulation measuring apparatus, a sample and a reagent are put in a cuvette, the cuvette is moved to a coagulation reaction measurement site for measurement, and the cuvette after the measurement is discarded. The measurement site is provided with a photometer that irradiates the cuvette with measurement light from a light source and detects light scattered or transmitted by the sample reaction solution with a photodetector. A cuvette used in a conventional blood coagulation measuring device is a cylindrical or rectangular tube. The blood coagulation measuring apparatus has a measurement item for measuring not only scattered light from a sample reaction solution due to measurement light but also transmitted light.

[0003] In a blood coagulation measuring apparatus, cuvettes randomly supplied to a cuvette supply position are collected by a cuvette supplying apparatus.
Unused cuvettes need to be lined up in the cuvette supply device so that they can be taken out one by one and held in the reaction section so that the sample and the reagent can be dispensed. To this end, there is an apparatus provided with an alignment member that moves a cuvette along a passage from a cuvette supply position and aligns the cuvette in a line.

[0004]

In the case of a cylindrical cuvette, alignment of the cuvette by such an alignment member is easy. That is, in the case of a cylindrical cuvette, only the vertical direction needs to be aligned, and it is not necessary to align in the rotational direction about the axis of the cylinder. However, in the measurement mode in which the sample reaction liquid in the cuvette is irradiated with the measurement light at the measurement site and the transmitted light is measured, if the position of the cuvette shifts in the cylindrical cuvette, the measurement light is refracted and the transmitted light is reproduced with good reproducibility. There is a problem that it cannot be detected.

[0005] On the other hand, a rectangular tube-shaped cuvette has an advantage that the measurement can be performed with good reproducibility even in a measurement mode using transmitted light even if the cuvette position is slightly shifted. But,
When the cuvettes are arranged and supplied, there is a problem that even if they are arranged along the passage, they cannot be easily arranged. In other words, in the case of a rectangular cylindrical cuvette, if the cuvette rotates around an axis and enters an oblique direction at the entrance to the passage, it is caught by the entrance of the passage and is not aligned well. Therefore, when the cuvette is inserted into the aligning member, it is necessary to align not only the vertical direction of the cuvette but also the rotational direction around the axis. An object of the present invention is to provide a cuvette that can be easily aligned when supplying a cuvette, and that can measure not only scattered light but also transmitted light at a measurement site with good reproducibility.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The cuvette of the present invention is:
The cross-section of the measurement site is a tetrahedron, and the cross-sectional shape in the direction perpendicular to the axis at the top end is a circle with an outer diameter larger than the circumcircle of the tetrahedron of the measurement site cross-section or a polygon that is easy to roll. The size of the outer diameter of the upper end corresponds to the width of the passage of the alignment member.

[0007]

1 shows an example of a blood coagulation measuring apparatus using the cuvette of the present invention. The reaction section 1 has a disk-shaped table, and the table can be rotated in a reciprocating direction by a drive mechanism not shown in the figure and can be stopped. A plurality of measuring unit modules 2 are arranged at equal intervals on the circumference of the table.

Each measuring module 2 detachably holds a cuvette into which a sample and a reagent are dispensed, and a light source such as an LED for irradiating the sample liquid in the cuvette with measurement light, and a light source such as an LED. A photodetector such as a photodiode for detecting scattered light or transmitted light of the measurement light is provided.

A cuvette transfer unit 3 is provided near the reaction unit 1. The cuvette transfer unit 3 mounts a cuvette on the measurement unit module 2 at a position A on the circumference of the table of the reaction unit 1. An arm 31 for removing a cuvette from the module 2 is provided. Arm 31
Is moved to a position where the cuvette is received by the cuvette supply unit 4 and a position where the cuvette is discarded by the cuvette disposal unit 5 in addition to the position A, and is driven so as to be stopped. The cuvette transfer unit 3 takes out the cuvettes stored in the cuvette supply unit 4 one by one,
The cuvette is transferred to and mounted on the measuring section module located in the above section, or the cuvette after the completion of the measurement at the position A of the reaction section 1 is taken out and discarded in the cuvette discarding section 5. In this example, the cuvette transfer unit 3 has both functions of supplying and discarding the cuvette, but the supply and discarding of the cuvette may be realized by a mechanism such as another arm.

[0010] A sampling probe 6 is provided near the reaction unit 1, aspirates the sample transferred to the position C of the rack type sample transfer unit 7, and measures the measurement module at the position B of the reaction unit 1. Dispense the sample into a cuvette.
A reagent probe 9 is further provided near the reaction unit 1, a predetermined reagent is aspirated from a plurality of reagents 8 according to the measurement items, and the reagent is placed in a cuvette of the measurement unit module at the position D of the reaction unit 1. Dispense. Reference numeral 10 denotes a syringe pump, which is connected to the sampling probe 6 and the reagent probe 9 by piping, and performs a predetermined amount of suction and discharge. An operation unit 11 includes a keyboard, a CRT, a printer, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows the cuvette aligning member 22 provided in the cuvette supply section of the blood coagulation measuring apparatus of FIG. The cuvette aligning member 22 has a receiving portion 24 that can supply the cuvette 20 at random, and is formed in an upwardly open shape.
A passage 26 for aligning the zeros is formed. The passage 26 is set to have the width of the outer shape of the upper portion 32 of the cuvette 20 shown in FIG.
When the cuvette 20 enters the cuvette 6, the cuvettes 20 aligned in a line along the passage 26 are sent to the cuvette supply unit 4.

FIG. 3A shows a cuvette of one embodiment. The cuvette 20 is a tetrahedron having a central section 30 whose outer cross-section is a square, and a central section 3 of the tetrahedron.
An upper portion 32 and a lower portion 34 leading to zero are formed in a cylindrical shape. The opening in the upper portion 32 is provided with a collar 36 to facilitate alignment by the alignment member passage 26 and to be gripped by the arm 31. FIG. 3B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cuvette 20, and the horizontal cross-sectional views of the respective parts are shown in FIGS. 3C to 3E.
The outer shape of the upper portion 32 and the lower portion 34 is formed in a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter larger than the circumscribed circle of the tetrahedron of the central portion 30, and the collar 36 is formed to have an outer shape larger than that of the upper portion 32.

Even if the cuvette of FIG. 3 is randomly placed in the cuvette receiving portion 24 of the alignment member 22 of FIG. 2, the cuvette enters the alignment passage 26 smoothly and is aligned in a line. Reaction unit 1
In the measuring unit module, measurement light is emitted from a light source to measure scattered light and transmitted light. The cuvette in the measuring unit module is so arranged that the portion irradiated with the measuring light is the central portion 30 of the tetrahedron. By adjusting the height of 20, the scattered light and the transmitted light can be measured with good reproducibility.

FIG. 4 shows a cuvette according to another embodiment. The cuvette shown in FIG. 4A is provided with circular flanges 42 and 44 having an outer diameter larger than a circumscribed circle of a cross section of the rectangular tube portion 40 at both ends of the rectangular tube portion 40. The cuvette of FIG. 4B is provided with polyhedral portions 46 and 48 at both ends of the central portion 30 of the tetrahedron, which have circumscribed circles larger than the circumscribed circle of the cross section and are easy to roll. 4, the cuvette shown in FIG. 4 can be easily aligned with the alignment member 22 similarly to the cuvette shown in FIG. 3, and the scattered light measurement and the transmitted light measurement with good reproducibility at the measurement site can be performed.

Measurement items which require not only scattered light measurement but also transmitted light measurement using a blood coagulation measuring device include antithrombin-III (AT-III), plasminogen, α ₂ -plasmin inhibitor (α ₂ PI) and so on. By using the cuvette of the present invention, such transmission light measurement and necessary items can be measured with good reproducibility.

[0016]

[Effect of the Invention] The cuvette of the present invention has both a circular section or a polygonal section with a degree of easy rolling and a rectangular tube section that allows easy measurement of transmitted light at the measurement site. The cuvette is easy to align in the section and is less affected by the shift of the optical axis of the measurement light at the measurement site.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a blood coagulation measuring apparatus as an example in which the cuvette of the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a cuvette aligning member in the measuring device.

FIG. 3 is a view showing one embodiment, (A) is a perspective view,
(B) is a longitudinal sectional view, (C) is a sectional view taken along the line AA in (B), (D) is a sectional view taken along the line DD in (B),
(E) is a sectional view taken along line CC of (B).

FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views each showing a cuvette according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 cuvette 30 square tube-shaped central portion 32, 34 cylindrical end portions 36, 42, 44 brim 40 square tube portion 46, 48 polyhedron portion

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-160366 (JP, A) JP-A-57-201837 (JP, A) JP-A-51-36177 (JP, A) JP-A-1- 229974 (JP, A) JP-A-3-146868 (JP, A) JP-A-56-154664 (JP, A) JP-A-4-202773 (JP, A) JP-B-46-3356 (JP, B1) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01N 35/00-35/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A cuvette supply / discard mechanism, a sample dispenser, and a reagent dispenser, wherein a reaction unit for detachably holding a plurality of cuvettes is provided. In a cuvette used in a measuring device provided with an alignment member for aligning the cuvette in a line along a passage, a cross-section of a measurement site is a tetrahedron, and a cross-sectional shape in a direction orthogonal to an axis in a cross-sectional shape of an upper end portion. Is a circle having an outer diameter larger than the circumscribed circle of the tetrahedron in the cross section of the measurement site or a polygon that is easy to roll, and the size of the outer diameter at the upper end corresponds to the width of the passage of the alignment member. A cuvette characterized in that: