JP6415828B2 - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an automatic analyzer.

  In recent years, with the reduction of reagent costs and the diversification of reagents, user needs to use general-purpose reagent containers in automatic analyzers are increasing. However, generally, in the automatic analyzer, a reagent container (reference container) that can be used is set in advance. Therefore, when a general-purpose reagent container is used, the position of the reference container and the position of the general-purpose reagent container are different from each other. There is a risk that the reagent cannot be accurately aspirated by hitting the jar.

JP 2009-300152 A

  An object is to provide an automatic analyzer capable of using a general-purpose reagent container.

According to the embodiment, the automatic analyzer includes a reagent disk having a plurality of holders for installing a plurality of reagent containers, a rotation driving unit that rotationally drives the reagent disks, and a reagent container installed in the plurality of holders. A probe section for sucking a reagent, a probe moving section for rotating and moving the probe section up and down, a reagent aspiration position determining section for determining a reagent aspiration position for each holder based on the container type of each reagent container, and the reagent aspiration Rotation correction angle corresponding to the determined reagent suction position using a rotation correction table representing the relationship between the reagent suction position determined by the position determination unit and the rotation correction angle determined in advance for the reagent suction position. identify and anda mechanism control unit for controlling the rotation of the rotation of the probe portion and the rotary drive unit in accordance with the rotation correction angles the specified.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an automatic analyzer according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the measurement unit and the mechanism unit of the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a view showing the appearance of the reagent container. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a reagent container arranged on the reagent disk. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of reagent container information stored in advance in the container information storage unit of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a holder management table generated by the holder management table generation unit of FIG. FIG. 7 is a view showing container information indicating a rotation correction angle corresponding to the reagent container type by the suction position specifying unit of FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the reagent probe rotation angle and the reagent table rotation angle. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a reagent suction position for each type of reagent container. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a reagent table rotation correction angle corresponding to the reagent container type B in FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a procedure for creating a holder management table by the data processing unit of FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an inspection process procedure by the inspection process control unit of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an automatic analyzer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of an automatic analyzer according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a view showing the appearance of the mechanism unit 31 of the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. The reaction disk 11 forming one component of the mechanism unit 31 holds a plurality of reaction tubes 10 arranged on the circumference. The reaction disk 11 is rotated by a reaction disk rotation drive unit (not shown) which is a constituent part of the mechanism drive unit 30. The sample disk 12 is disposed in the vicinity of the reaction disk 11. The sample disk 12 holds a sample container 12a that is maintained at a constant temperature in which a sample is accommodated. The sample disk 12 is rotated by a sample disk rotation drive unit (not shown) which is a constituent part of the mechanism drive unit 30. A sample arm 15 is disposed between the reaction disk 11 and the sample disk 13. The sample probe 15c of the sample arm unit 15 is supported from the support column 15a via the arm 15b. The sample probe 15 c is rotated by a sample probe drive unit (not shown) that forms one component of the mechanism drive unit 30 and is moved up and down. A sample suction position on the sample disk 12 and a sample dispensing position on the reaction disk 11 are set on the rotation trajectory of the sample probe 15c. A sample is sucked from the sample container 12a through the sample probe 15c at the sample suction position on the sample disk 12. The sucked sample is sequentially dispensed into the plurality of reaction tubes 10 at the sample dispensing position on the reaction disk 11.

  The reagent disk 14 d of the reagent storage 14 forming one component of the mechanism unit 31 is rotatably supported, and the rotation is driven by the rotation driving unit 23. The reagent disk 14d has a plurality of holders 14b for detachably installing a plurality of reagent containers 14a for storing reagents. The plurality of holders 14b are arranged in a circle along the circumferential direction of the reagent disk 14d. Each holder 14b is adapted to various types of reagent containers 14a from various reagent manufacturers. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the reagent container 14 a generally has a wedge shape. The reagent container 14a has a reagent suction port 14c for inserting / removing the reagent probe 17c of the reagent dispensing mechanism 17 on the upper surface thereof. Reagent information such as reagent identification information, reagent manufacturing date, expiration date, and reagent container type is typically provided as a barcode label on the back of the reagent container 14a. Instead of the bar code label, for example, an IC chip or RFID may be used as another information storage medium. The barcode label on the back of each reagent container is read by a reading unit (barcode reader) 35 disposed near the outer periphery of the reagent disk 14d. The read barcode is decoded by the reading control unit 34 and supplied to the data processing unit 36.

  A plurality of types of reagent containers 14c are in circulation, and in the different types of reagent containers 14a, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the center position of the reagent suction port 14c on the upper surface of the reagent container 14a is different. For example, in the reagent container type A, the reagent suction port 14c is provided at a position defined by a distance x1 from the back surface and a distance y1 from the back surface. In the reagent container type B, the reagent suction port 14c is provided at a position defined by a distance x2 from the back surface and a distance y2 from the back surface. In the reagent container type C, the reagent suction port 14c is provided at a position defined by a distance x3 from the back surface to the side surface and a distance y3 from the back surface. In addition, although the opening diameter of the reagent suction port 14c, the edge height, and the like may vary depending on the container type, only the difference in the center position will be described here.

  The position of the reagent suction port 14c is expressed by the container coordinate system (xn, yn), and the reagent suction position is expressed by the reagent disk coordinate system (Xn, Yn) with the reagent disk rotation center as the origin.

  A reagent arm portion 14 is disposed between the reagent disk 14 and the reaction disk 11. The reagent probe 117b of the reagent arm unit 17 is supported from the support column 17a via the arm 17b. The reagent probe 117 b is rotated by a reagent probe moving unit 24 that is a constituent part of the mechanism driving unit 30. The reagent suction position and the reagent dispensing position on the reaction disk 11 are set on the rotation trajectory of the reagent probe 17c. At the reagent suction position on the reagent disk 14, the reagent is sucked from the reagent container 14a through the reagent probe 17c. The sucked reagent is appropriately dispensed into the reaction tube 10 at the reagent dispensing position on the reaction disk 11.

  In FIG. 2, a reagent store 13 of another system is provided inside the reaction line together with the reagent store 14, and a reagent dispensing mechanism 16 is similarly arranged in the vicinity of the reagent store 13. As described above, a plurality of reagent containers and reagent dispensing mechanisms are provided. In the following description, only the reagent container 14 and the reagent dispensing mechanism 17 will be described, but the reagent container 13 and the reagent dispensing mechanism 16 will be described. The description of the reagent storage 14 and the reagent dispensing mechanism 17 can be applied as it is.

  In the vicinity of the reaction line of the reaction disk 11, an agitation unit 20, a cleaning unit 21, a photometry unit 22, and the like that constitute a constituent part of the mechanism unit 30 are disposed. The operation of the mechanism unit 30 is controlled by the mechanism control unit 29. Thereby, the analysis process proceeds.

  The system control unit 25 controls operation of the entire system. The operation unit 26 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and a trackball, a selection device such as a switch button, or an input device such as a keyboard. The operator inputs various analysis conditions, for example, correction of a reagent suction position and a value. Is provided. The display unit 6 includes a display device such as a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or a plasma display, and is provided to display the analysis conditions, a list of reagent suction positions, an analysis process progress status, measurement results, and the like. It has been.

  The data processing unit 36 includes a suction position specifying unit 37, a holder management table generating unit 38, and a container type specifying unit 39. The container type identifying unit 39 identifies the container type from the barcode information decoded by the reading control unit 34 for each reagent container installed in the holder 14b. The suction position specifying unit 37 refers to the container information stored in the container information storage unit 28 of the storage unit 27 illustrated in FIG. The position of the reagent suction port is specified. An example of the container information stored in the container information storage unit 28 is shown in FIG. The container information has a center position (xn, yn) of the suction port for each container type for a plurality of types of reagent containers distributed in the market. As shown in FIG. 9, the reagent suction position is identified, that is, the reagent suction port (xn, yn) expressed in the reagent container coordinate system is changed to the reagent suction position (Xn, Yn) expressed in the reagent disk coordinate system. The conversion is performed by calculating the intersection point between the rotation trajectory of the center position of the reagent suction port of the reagent container 14a accompanying the rotation of the reagent disk 14d and the rotation trajectory of the reagent probe 17c. The reagent suction position (reference reagent suction position) P0 (= PA) to be the reference is determined for the standard container type A reagent container 14a as shown in FIG. Similarly, the reagent suction positions PB, PC, PD of the reagent containers of the container types B, C, D are determined based on the positions of the reagent suction ports of the container types B, C, D.

  The holder management table generating unit 38 generates the information from the barcode information decoded by the reading control unit 34 for each reagent container installed in the holder 14b and the reagent suction position specified for each holder by the suction position specifying unit 37 in FIG. Create an example holder management table. The holder management table is displayed on the display unit 41. The operator corrects the suction position of the holder management table via the operation unit 26 as necessary, and adds the suction position.

  When the mechanism control unit 29 actually controls the rotation of the reagent disk 14d and the rotation of the reagent probe 17c, the rotation correction table shown in FIG. 7 is used. In the rotation correction table, the correction angle with respect to the reference rotation angle of the reagent probe 17b and the correction angle with respect to the reference rotation angle of the reagent disk 14d corresponding to the reference reagent aspiration position (reference reagent aspiration position) P0 (= PA) Each of the plurality of reagent suction positions is determined in advance. It is determined according to the reference reagent suction position PA. Similarly, the reference rotation angle of the reagent disk 14d is determined according to the reference reagent suction position PA. The rotation correction angle with respect to the reference rotation angle of the reagent probe 17b of each of the reagent container types B, C, and D and the rotation correction angle with respect to the reference rotation angle of the reagent disk 14 are determined in advance. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the rotation correction angle relating to the reagent probe 17b of the reagent container type B is equivalent to the y coordinate of the reagent container type A based on the y coordinate of the reagent suction port. Since the rotation trajectories of A and B are the same, they are “zero”. On the other hand, the rotation correction angle Δφ1 with respect to the reference rotation angle of the reagent disk 14 is the x coordinate of the reagent container type A based on the x coordinate of the reagent suction port. Because of the difference, the rotation angle is determined according to the x coordinate difference.

  The system control unit 25 identifies the holder holding the reagent used in the next step from the holder management table, and supplies the reagent suction position information to the mechanism control unit 29. The mechanism control unit 29 converts the supplied reagent suction position into a rotation correction angle according to the rotation correction table of FIG. 7 and controls the rotation of the reagent probe 17b and the rotation of the reagent disk 14.

  Next, a method for generating the holder management table for the reagent disk 14 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The holder management table generation process is performed under the control of the system control unit 25. The reagent disk 14d is rotated once (step S11). During the one rotation period, the optical reading operation of the barcode attached to the back surface of the plurality of reagent containers 14a installed in the plurality of holders 14b by the reading unit 35 is repeated (step S12). The barcode read by the reading unit 35 is decoded by the reading control unit 34 and supplied to the data processing unit 36. S11 and S12 are repeated until the reading of the bar codes attached to the back surfaces of all the reagent containers 14a is completed (step S13).

  The container type specifying unit 39 of the data processing unit 36 specifies the container type from the decoded barcode information (S14). The container type specified by the container type specifying unit 39 is referred to the container information (see FIG. 5) stored in the container information storage unit 28 by the suction position specifying unit 37 (step S15). Thereby, the position of the reagent suction port unique to the container is specified. (Step S16). The reagent suction position specifying unit 37 converts the reagent suction port (xn, yn) into a reagent suction position (Xn, Yn) expressed in the reagent disk coordinate system. The intersection between the rotation trajectory of the center position of the reagent suction port of the reagent container 14a accompanying the rotation of the reagent disk 14d and the rotation trajectory of the reagent probe 17c is given as a reagent suction position (Xn, Yn).

  The holder management table generator 38 generates the holder management table from the barcode information decoded by the reading control unit 34 for each reagent container installed in the holder 14b and the reagent suction position specified for each holder by the suction position specifying unit 37. Is created (step S16). The holder management table is displayed on the display unit 41 (step S17). The operator corrects the suction position of the holder management table via the operation unit 26 as necessary, and adds the suction position.

  FIG. 12 shows a reagent suction / discharge operation procedure in the automatic analysis process according to the present embodiment. Analysis is started by an instruction from the operator via the operation unit 26. Under the control of the system control unit 25, according to an inspection management table describing a plurality of inspection item procedures and analysis process procedures such as sample aspiration dispensing, reagent aspiration dispensing, stirring, reaction, photometry, and washing, The type of reagent used in the next process or the subsequent process is specified (step S21). The holder 14b in which the specified type of reagent is installed is specified in the holder management table (step S22), and the reagent suction position corresponding to the reagent container is read together with the holder number (step S23). Then, the rotation correction angle corresponding to the reagent suction position is specified from the rotation correction table (step S24), and the probe 17c and the reagent disk 14d are rotated according to the rotation correction angle (S25). The reagent is aspirated through the probe 17c and discharged into the reaction container.

  According to the present embodiment, various types of reagent containers having different positions of the reagent suction ports can be easily used.

  In the above description, the type of the reagent container is recognized from an information storage medium such as a bar code label attached to the back surface of the reagent container, and the position of the reagent suction port is specified from the container type. However, the position information of the reagent suction port may be stored in an information storage medium or used together. Further, a camera for photographing the upper surface of the reagent container may be installed above the reagent disk, and the reagent suction port region may be extracted from the photographed image by image processing such as pattern recognition and the position thereof may be specified.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Reaction tube, 11 ... Reaction disk, 12 ... Sample disk, 15 ... Sample arm part, 14 ... Reagent storage, 20 ... Stirring part, 21 ... Washing part, 22 ... Photometry part, 23 ... Rotation drive part, 24 ... Reagent Probe moving unit, 25 ... system control unit, 26 ... operation unit, 27 ... storage unit, 28 ... container information storage unit, 29 ... mechanism control unit, 30 ... mechanism drive unit, 31 ... mechanism unit, 36 ... data processing unit, 37 ... Suction position specifying unit, 38 ... Holder management table generating unit, 39 ... Container type specifying unit, 41 ... Display unit.

Claims (7)

A reagent disc having a plurality of holders for installing a plurality of reagent containers;
A rotation drive unit for rotating the reagent disk;
A probe part for aspirating a reagent from a reagent container installed in the plurality of holders;
A probe moving section that rotates and moves the probe section up and down;
A reagent aspiration position determination unit for determining a reagent aspiration position for each holder based on the container type of each of the reagent containers;
Corresponding to the determined reagent aspiration position using a rotation correction table showing the relationship between the reagent aspiration position determined by the reagent aspiration position determination unit and the rotation correction angle determined in advance for the reagent aspiration position. A mechanism control unit that identifies a rotation correction angle and controls rotation of the probe unit and rotation of the rotation drive unit according to the identified rotation correction angle;
The automatic analyzer characterized by comprising.   The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising a container type recognition unit that recognizes the container type of each of the reagent containers via an information storage medium provided in each of the reagent containers.   3. The automatic analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the information storage medium is a bar code, an IC chip, or an RFID.   The automatic analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the container type recognition unit further includes a storage unit that stores data of a correspondence table of a plurality of container types and a plurality of reagent suction positions.   The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays a list of the reagent suction positions with respect to the holder.   6. The automatic analyzer according to claim 5, wherein the displayed reagent suction position is corrected according to an operator input. A reagent disc having a plurality of holders for installing a plurality of reagent containers;
A rotation drive unit for rotating the reagent disk;
A probe part for aspirating a reagent from a reagent container installed in the plurality of holders;
A probe moving section that rotates and moves the probe section up and down;
A reading unit for reading an information storage medium provided in each of the reagent containers;
A reagent suction position determination unit that determines a reagent suction position for each holder based on the position of the reagent suction port read from the information storage medium;
Corresponding to the determined reagent aspiration position using a rotation correction table showing the relationship between the reagent aspiration position determined by the reagent aspiration position determination unit and the rotation correction angle determined in advance for the reagent aspiration position. A mechanism control unit that identifies a rotation correction angle and controls rotation of the probe unit and rotation of the rotation drive unit according to the identified rotation correction angle;
The automatic analyzer characterized by comprising.

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