JP3331254B2 - Apparatus for aspirating excess liquid sample of test piece - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to, for example, medical examinations,
In particular, a continuous automatic liquid sample analyzer that automatically performs all of the removal of a test piece having several pads used for inspection for analyzing a liquid sample, immersion in a test solution, photometry, calculation, disposal, etc. The present invention relates to an apparatus for guiding a test piece to a test liquid in a sample container, and after immersion, pulling up the test piece after a predetermined time and simultaneously aspirating an excess liquid sample attached to the test piece.

[0002] This apparatus raises and lowers a test piece bottle containing a plurality of test pieces vertically and / or horizontally.
A mechanism for rotating, a pickup mechanism for taking out test specimens one by one from a test specimen bottle, a mechanism for judging the front and back of the taken out test specimen, and a mechanism for constantly aligning the pad surface to the upper side, and one test specimen for the next analyzer. From the test piece take-out part consisting of a turntable mechanism to send out, the supplied test piece is gripped with a chuck, taken out of the area of the test piece take-out part, and a rack in which a plurality of sample containers into which liquid samples are injected is set. When moving at a constant speed and once stopping at the liquid sample dip position, the test piece is immersed in the test liquid in the sample container, and after the excess liquid sample attached to the test pad is aspirated, the color of the reagent It forms part of a series of process lines consisting of delivering test strips to an analyzer that analyzes a detectable response, such as a change or a change in the amount of light absorbed or reflected by the reagent. It is.

The use of so-called multiple liquid sample specimens to measure bilirubin, urobilinogen, ketone bodies, occult blood, glucose, protein, nitrite, pH, specific gravity and leukocytes in a commonly known liquid sample diagnostic method. Can be. This type of test piece has a number of test piece pads corresponding to the measurement items impregnated with reagents suitable for performing specific tests.

At present, a test piece 1 most frequently used for analysis of a blood or liquid sample is provided with a pad 3 from one end of a transparent or opaque plastic strip 2 and holding the other end as shown in FIG. This is the unit 4. Pads 3 are provided in a number corresponding to the number of items to be measured, and small pieces of filter paper impregnated with various reagents are adhered with double-sided adhesive tape as pad 3. Some are made into films. A side region 6 is formed between the pad 3 and the substrate 5.

[0005]

These specimens are automatically wetted by the liquid sample and subsequently introduced into the analyzer. This should be done automatically, and this requires, among other things, a device for guiding the test strip to the liquid sample in the sample container, moistening and removing excess liquid sample adhering to the test pad. is there.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an excess liquid sample suction device for sucking an excess liquid sample attached to a test pad by using a suction mechanism.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention analyzes a component in a liquid sample by adhering a liquid sample to a test pad and optically measuring a color developed by a reaction between the liquid sample and a reagent. In a continuous automatic liquid sample analyzer, at least one protrusion on a wall surface where a strip of a test piece contacts and a portion corresponding to a side region of a test pad and a side region of the reagent correspond to at least one pair of suction holes. A suction portion having a portion formed in a tapered shape and having a discharge hole and a pair of connection protrusions joined to the suction hole via a cavity,
A base having a connection hole joined to the suction unit through the connection protrusion and joined to the discharge hole; an arm supporting and guiding the base; and an air suction tube attachment unit, and holding the test piece. At the same time, the tip of the test piece comes into contact with the tapered guide part of the suction part, the strip of the test piece is slightly bent in an arch shape, the test piece is guided into a sample container, immersed, and the reagent The method is characterized in that the excess liquid sample attached to the sample is sucked.

[0008]

1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for sucking excess urine of a test strip according to the present invention. The broken line indicates that the internal structure of the base 9 is hollow. In FIG. 1, the chuck 7 holds the test piece 1. The suction unit 8 is connected to a base 9, and the base 9 is connected to an air suction pipe mounting unit 10. Excess urine sucked by the suction holes 12 and 12 ′ of the suction unit 8 flows out to the waste tank via the base 9, the air suction pipe attachment part 10, and the air suction pipe 11. The arm 13 is joined to the base 9 so that the horizontal and vertical angles of the base 9 and the liquid sample dip position can be adjusted. Alternatively, the air suction pipe mounting part 10 and the air suction pipe 11 may be mounted on the other end of the arm 13 joined to the base 9 without mounting the air suction pipe mounting part 10 and the air suction pipe 11 on the base 9. In this case, the arm 13 not only supports and guides the base 9 but also serves as a passage for excess urine.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the suction unit 8. The broken line indicates that the internal structure of the suction unit 8 is hollow. In this embodiment, the protrusions 14 and 14 'and the suction holes 12 and 12' are provided.
Are provided. The connecting projections 15 and 15 ′ are connected to the connecting recesses 16 and 16 ′ of the base 9, and
The discharge hole 17 is inserted through the connection hole 18 of the base 9.
In this embodiment, a pair of connecting protrusions is provided to join the suction unit 8 and the base 9. However, means for connecting the suction unit and the base without the connecting protrusions, for example, the suction unit 8 is connected to the base 9.
It is also possible to form a unit or a discharge hole that is inserted into a spiral and join them. The suction holes 12 and 12 ′ are connected to the discharge holes 17 via the cavities 19.

FIG. 3 is a plan view when the test pad contacts the suction unit. Excess urine adhering to the test pad immersed in the liquid sample is sucked through the suction holes 12 and 12 'and led out to the waste tank.

FIG. 4 shows an operation in which the test piece 1 comes into contact with the suction section 8, is guided by the sample container, is immersed, and is lifted up. Since the movement stop position of the chuck is set so as to form an angle θ between the gripping line of the chuck and the vertical line of the sample container at the urine dip position, when the test piece is wet with the urine of the sample container, The tip of the test piece is brought into contact with the tapered guide part of the suction part, and the test piece is lowered while the strip of the test piece is slightly bent in an arch shape.
The test piece is surely immersed in the urine of the sample container. This angle θ
Is 5 ° to 15 °, preferably 7 °.

FIG. 5 shows that the test piece is immersed in a sample container containing urine, pulled up, and then the excess urine 21 remaining between the test pad and the strip adhered by the surface tension of the liquid to a suction hole. 12 illustrates the operation of forcibly sucking, completely removing excess urine from the entire pad of the test piece, and forcibly absorbing the suction hole 12 so that excess urine does not remain on the protrusions 14 and 14 ′. It is.

[0013]

In this series of suction operations, the chuck grips and removes one test piece from the test piece take-out unit based on a command from a control unit (not shown), and is guided to a predetermined urine dip position. The urine dip position can be adjusted so that the start / stop operation of the lifting / lowering operation of inserting the chuck holding the test piece into the sample container coincides with the position of the suction unit. When the rack in which the sample containers containing a plurality of liquid samples are set moves at a constant speed and stops at the urine dip position, the strip 2 of the test piece 1 is guided by the tapered guide 20 of the suction unit 8, Protrusions 14, 14 'of suction part 8
Abut. The test piece 1 is accurately guided and immersed in the urine in the sample container while being in contact with the projections 14 and 14 '. The test piece is pulled up after a predetermined time after being immersed in the urine in the sample container. At the time of this lifting operation, the test piece 1 is pulled up while being in contact with the projections 14 and 14 '.

The strip of the test piece does not come into surface contact with the wall surface of the suction section 8 and the tip of the projection 14, 14 ′ is
Make point contact with each other, so that the excess liquid sample
′. Further, the excess liquid sample 21 adhered to the test pad 3 is sucked from the suction hole by operating the vacuum pump, so that only a certain amount of the liquid sample adheres to the reagent. Thus, it is possible to eliminate a phenomenon that a certain liquid sample and another liquid sample are mixed and a phenomenon that adjacent pads on the same strip interfere with each other via the liquid sample. If the projections 14 and 14 'and the suction holes 12 and 12' of the suction unit 1 are not provided, the excess liquid sample adheres to the test piece pad, and these phenomena cause an analysis error.

The suction part is preferably made of a corrosion-resistant metal such as aluminum or stainless steel, but may be made of a corrosion-resistant synthetic resin such as polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). In this embodiment, if the function of the suction unit is deteriorated due to the adhesion of urine components, it can be replaced with another new suction unit. The excess liquid sample is sucked, and a test piece to which a constant amount of the liquid sample is adhered is gripped by a chuck and sent to a feed table of an analyzer for analyzing a color change on a test pad by reflectance photometry. And as long as the liquid sample to be tested remains
This apparatus repeats this series of operations. In addition, the operation of the chuck moving from the test piece take-out part to the liquid sample dip position, the operation of the chuck holding the test piece immersing the test piece in the sample container and lifting the test piece, the operation of the chuck holding the test piece to which the liquid sample adheres A series of operations that contact the suction unit, start and stop suction, and are sent to the feed table of the analyzer can be adjusted by the control device.

[0016]

The strip of the test pad to which the excess liquid sample has adhered and the projection arranged on the suction part make point contact, and the suction hole is provided in the portion corresponding to the side area of the test pad, so that the excess liquid The sample is prevented from adhering to the protrusions and test pieces, cross contamination between test pads due to excess liquid sample is eliminated, and the analysis accuracy is greatly improved because a fixed amount of liquid sample always adheres to the test pad.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device for sucking excess urine of a test pad according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a suction unit of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view when a test piece contacts a suction unit in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an operation in which a test piece comes into contact with a suction unit of the present invention and is guided and immersed in a sample container.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operation when a test piece is pulled up from a sample container in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a test piece of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Test piece 2 Strip 3 Test pad 4 Gripping part 5 Base material 6 Side area 7 Chuck 8 Suction part 9 Base 10 Air suction pipe attachment part 11 Air suction pipe 12, 12 'Suction hole 13 Arm 14, 14' Projection 15, 15 'connection protrusion 16 connection recess 17 discharge hole 18 connection hole 19 cavity 20 tapered guide portion 21 excess urine 22 sample container

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 35/04 G01N 35/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A test sample comprising a test pad impregnated with a reagent provided on a strip, a liquid sample adhered to the test piece, and a color developed by the reaction between the liquid sample and the reagent is optically measured to obtain a liquid sample. A continuous automatic liquid sample analyzer for analyzing the components of the test pad, wherein at least one projection is provided on the wall surface with which the strip of the test piece contacts, at least one pair of suction holes is provided on a portion corresponding to a side region of the test pad, Forming a portion corresponding to the partial region in a tapered shape, a discharge hole joined to the suction hole via a cavity, a suction portion having a pair of connection protrusions, and a connection with the suction portion via the connection protrusion, A base having a connection hole to be joined to the discharge hole; an arm supporting and guiding the base; and an air suction tube mounting portion. While the tip is slightly bent in an arch shape, its tip abuts against the tapered guide part of the suction part, and the test piece is guided into a sample container, immersed, and the excess liquid sample attached to the test pad. Aspirator for specimen of excess liquid sample.