JP6731311B2 - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a reaction cell and an automatic analyzer using the same.

Most of the clinical tests for analyzing proteins, sugars, lipids, enzymes, hormones, inorganic ions, disease markers, etc. contained in biological samples such as blood and urine are executed by automatic analyzers. As an automatic analyzer, for example, one that measures the absorbance of a reaction solution obtained by mixing a biological sample and a reagent in a reaction cell to determine the presence or absence of a predetermined substance and measure the concentration thereof is known.

In recent years, the number of measurement items in clinical tests has increased dramatically as medical diagnostic techniques have improved. Generally, in clinical tests, the amount of sample to be distributed to each measurement item is limited, so that with the increase in the number of measurement items, automatic analyzers are required to analyze a small amount of sample with high sensitivity. There is.

Since a reaction cell containing a reaction solution is required to have dimensional stability and mechanical strength, it is generally formed of a hydrophobic resin from the viewpoint of suppressing an increase in water absorption rate and shrinkage rate during molding. Since bubbles are likely to adhere to the surface of the reaction cell formed of a hydrophobic resin when the biological sample or reagent is supplied, the measurement light irradiated toward the reaction cell is scattered by the bubbles and the detection sensitivity is lowered. Sometimes. In particular, when a small reaction cell is used for reducing the amount of the sample, the measurement light is likely to hit the bubbles, which causes a problem of a decrease in detection sensitivity due to light scattering.

In addition, when the reaction cell is repeatedly used in a clinical test, residues such as proteins and lipids contained in biological samples, such as polymer compounds and latex contained in reagents accumulate in the reaction cell, and the inner wall of the cell is contaminated. It may affect the detection result.

Therefore, in order to analyze a very small amount of sample with high accuracy, it is required to reduce the adhesion of air bubbles or contaminants to the surface of the reaction cell, which is a factor that lowers the detection sensitivity.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a reaction cell in which the adhesion of bubbles to the inner wall is reduced by treating the surface with ozone to make it hydrophilic. Patent Document 2 discloses a reaction container in which an inner wall surface is coated with a hydrophilic substance or a hydrophobic substance to form a hydrophilic region, thereby preventing liquid from creeping up and preventing bubbles from adhering. Has been done. In addition, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique of supplying antifouling liquid to a reaction cell in a specific analysis item and forming an antifouling film on the inner wall surface of the reaction cell to reduce adhesion of contaminants. There is.

JP, 2005-77263, A JP, 2015-225054, A JP, 2016-50796, A

In the technique of Patent Document 1, since the ozone treatment is performed on the surface of the reaction cell after molding, the manufacturing cost increases. Further, since ozone treatment of a small reaction cell is difficult, in the technique of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that a region where the hydrophilic treatment is insufficient remains in a part of the reaction cell. Further, when the ozone treatment is performed, the surface of the reaction cell is likely to be charged, and contaminants contained in the biological sample or the reagent are likely to be attached.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, since the surface of the base material of the reaction vessel is coated with a hydrophilic substance or a hydrophobic substance, peeling of the coating film occurs due to long-term use, and the function of the coating film is continuously maintained. Sometimes you can't get it.

In Patent Document 3, the temporary antifouling film is applied only to a specific analysis item, and is peeled off after the analysis. Therefore, when a biological sample or a reagent is supplied to the reaction cell after the antifouling film is peeled off, contaminants contained in the biological sample or the reagent may adhere to the surface of the reaction cell. Particularly when a small amount of sample is analyzed, even a small amount of contaminant attached to the surface of the reaction cell affects the detection result and causes a measurement error.

An object of the present invention is to provide a reaction cell capable of reducing the adherence of bubbles and the adherence of contaminants, and an automatic analyzer using the same.

A preferred embodiment of the reaction cell according to the present invention is a reaction cell for containing a mixture of a sample and a reagent and performing an optical measurement of the mixture, wherein the reaction cell is a polyolefin resin. And a second polymeric material having at least one oxygen-containing functional group selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl group, an ether group, a carbonyl group, a carboxyl group, and an ester group. It is characterized by being

As a preferred embodiment of the automatic analyzer according to the present invention, a reaction cell holding mechanism for holding a plurality of reaction cells containing a mixture of a sample and a reagent, and a mixture of the sample and the reagent contained in the reaction cell In an automatic analyzer equipped with an optical measuring unit for optically measuring the state, the reaction cell holding mechanism, as the reaction cell, a first polymer material that is a polyolefin resin, a hydroxyl group, an ether group, It is characterized by holding a reaction cell formed by a mixture with a second polymer material having at least one oxygen-containing functional group selected from the group consisting of a carbonyl group, a carboxyl group, and an ester group.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a reaction cell capable of reducing the adhesion of bubbles and the adhesion of contaminants and an automatic analyzer using the reaction cell.

It is the schematic of the automatic analyzer 100 which concerns on an Example. 3 is an external perspective view of a reaction cell 10 installed on the reaction disk 3. FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the reaction cell 10 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the automatic analyzer 100. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the automatic analyzer 100.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic analyzer 100 according to an embodiment. The automatic analyzer 100 includes a reaction disk 3 serving as a reaction cell holding mechanism, a sample disk mechanism 4, and reagent disk mechanisms 5A and 5B.

The reaction disk 3 holds about 120 reaction cells 10 in which a biological sample (hereinafter, referred to as a sample) and a reagent are mixed and arranged on the circumference. A constant temperature bath 9 is connected to the reaction disk 3, and the whole reaction disc 3 is configured to be kept at a predetermined temperature by the constant temperature bath 9. The sample is a liquid to be inspected that is reacted with a reagent in the reaction cell 10, and may be a stock solution of a collected sample such as serum or urine, which is a solution obtained by subjecting this stock solution to a processing such as dilution or pretreatment. Good.

The sample disk mechanism 4 is provided with a large number of sample cells 25 for containing a sample. Note that FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which a disk-shaped sample disk mechanism 4 is provided as a sample storage unit. However, the sample storage portion does not necessarily have to be a disc shape, and for example, a rack shape or a holder shape may be used.

The sample supply dispensing mechanism 2 is arranged near the sample disk mechanism 4. The sample supply dispensing mechanism 2 is configured by connecting a sample nozzle 27 to the tip of an arm. The sample pipette 15 is connected to the sample nozzle 27. The sample nozzle 27 operates the sample pipetter 15 to separate the sample contained in the sample cell 25 and inject it into a predetermined reaction cell 10.

A large number of reagent containers 6 for storing reagents are arranged in the reagent disk mechanism 5A. A reagent pipetting mechanism 7 as a reagent dispensing mechanism is arranged near the reagent disk mechanism 5A. The reagent pipetting mechanism 7 is configured by connecting a reagent nozzle 28 to the tip of an arm. The reagent pipette 17 is connected to the reagent nozzle 28. The reagent nozzle 28 operates the reagent pipetter 17 to separate the reagent contained in the reagent container 6 and inject it into a predetermined reaction cell 10.

A reagent disk mechanism 5B having the same structure and function as the reagent disk mechanism 5A is provided adjacent to the reagent disk mechanism 5A.

A stirring mechanism 8 is installed near the reaction disk 3. The sample and the reagent supplied to the reaction cell 10 are stirred by the stirring rod 29 provided in the stirring mechanism 8.

A spectrophotometer 30 and a light source 26 are arranged as an optical measuring unit in the vicinity of the reaction disk 3. The spectrophotometer 30 and the light source 26 are installed such that the reaction disk 3 is rotatably arranged between them. The light emitted from the light source 26 is irradiated toward the reaction cell 10, and the absorbance of the light after passing through the mixed solution in the reaction cell 10 is measured by the spectrophotometer 30.

A reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11 is installed near the reaction disk 3. A cleaning agent supply unit 13 and a cleaning water pump 16 are connected to the reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11. A cleaning agent is stored in the cleaning agent supply unit 13, and this cleaning agent is supplied to the reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11 together with the cleaning water by the cleaning water pump 16. The reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11 supplies the cleaning agent supplied from the cleaning agent supply unit 13 to the reaction cell 10 to clean the inside of the reaction cell 10. The cleaning agent after cleaning the reaction cell 10 is sucked by the suction nozzle 12 provided in the reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11 and discharged from the reaction cell 10.

The interface 23 includes a sample pipettor 15, a washing water pump 16, a reagent pipetter 17, a Log converter and an A/D converter 18, a computer 19, a printer 20, a display 21, a hard disk as a storage device 22, and an operation panel 24. Are connected. The sample pipettor 15, the washing water pump 16, and the reagent pipetter 17 are connected to a computer 19 as a control unit via an interface 23, and the computer 19 controls their operations. The reaction disk 3, the sample disk mechanism 4, the reagent disk mechanisms 5A and 5B, and the constant temperature bath 9 are also connected to the computer 19 via the interface 23, and the computer 19 controls the respective operations.

FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of the reaction cell 10 installed on the reaction disk 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the reaction cell 10 has a photometric surface 101 and a non-photometric surface 102. The measurement light emitted from the light source 26 (see FIG. 1) enters the photometric surface 101 in the direction of arrow 103 in FIG.

In the automatic analyzer 100, a sample and a reagent are mixed in the reaction cell 10 to cause a chemical and/or immunological reaction, and the progress of the reaction and the state of the mixed solution at a predetermined time point are Optically measure. Specifically, for example, the coloring state due to the dye and the agglomeration state of the latex reagent are evaluated by the changes of the light having a plurality of specific wavelengths incident from the photometric surface 101. Therefore, the reaction cell 10 is preferably one that can obtain a high light transmittance in the visible light region, particularly in the wavelength region of 340 to 800 nm.

The reaction cell 10 is composed of a mixture of a first polymer material which is a polyolefin resin and a second polymer material having an oxygen-containing functional group. FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the reaction cell 10 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the reaction cell 10 is configured such that the first polymer material 201 and the second polymer material 202 are mixed at the molecular level.

The first polymer material 201 is not particularly limited as long as it is a polyolefin resin composed of carbon and hydrogen. As the polyolefin resin, specifically, for example, a polyethylene resin, a polypropylene resin, a polymethylpentene resin, or the like, may be a polymer of a chain unsaturated hydrocarbon, or a polycycloolefin resin, It may be a mixture of these resins.

The polyolefin resin has excellent light transmittance. Therefore, by using a polyolefin resin as the first polymer material 201, it becomes easy to obtain the light transmittance required for optical measurement in the reaction cell 10. Further, by using the polyolefin-based resin as the first polymer material, low water absorption and high mechanical strength can be obtained in the reaction cell 10.

In the reaction cell 10, it is preferable to use a polycycloolefin resin as the first polymer material 201 from the viewpoint of obtaining high light transmittance and high dimensional stability and mechanical strength.

The polycycloolefin resin has a main chain and a side chain composed of a carbon-carbon bond and a carbon-hydrogen bond, respectively, and further has a cyclic saturated hydrocarbon in a part of the main chain. By having such a molecular structure, the polycycloolefin resin has low water absorption and low moisture permeability, and can easily obtain a low refractive index and a low molding shrinkage. Therefore, when the polycycloolefin resin is used as the first polymer material 201, high dimensional stability, mechanical strength, and high light transmittance can be obtained in the reaction cell 10.

As the polycycloolefin resin, those having a 4- to 8-membered alicyclic structure are preferable. By using a polycycloolefin resin having a 4- or more-membered alicyclic structure, it is possible to obtain sufficient mechanical strength and dimensional stability in the reaction cell 10. Moreover, by using a polycycloolefin resin having an alicyclic structure having 8 or less membered rings, it is possible to obtain appropriate moldability during the production of the reaction cell 10. Among these, a polycycloolefin resin having high light transmittance and excellent mechanical strength and dimensional stability is preferable. Specific examples include hydrogenated products of ring-opening polymers of norbornene. Further, the polycycloolefin resin may be a copolymer (cycloolefin copolymer) of any of the above alicyclic structures and another monomer.

As the polycycloolefin resin, those having an average molecular weight of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands can be used.

The second polymer material 202 includes a hydroxyl group (-OH), an ether group (C-O-C), a carbonyl group (C=O), a carboxyl group (COOH), and an ester group (O=C-OR). Those having at least one oxygen-containing functional group selected from the group consisting of can be used.

As the second polymer material 202, specifically, for example, at least one selected from the group consisting of methacrylic resin, polyethylene glycol, polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is used. be able to.

As the second polymer material 202, for example, a copolymer of a monomer having an oxygen-containing group such as polyethylene glycol and another monomer may be used. The other monomer is preferably a monomer of the first polymer material such as cycloolefin or a monomer having a chemical structure similar to that of the first polymer material. As the second polymer material 202, for example, a polymer having a structure in which an oxygen-containing group is bonded to a side chain of a monomer of the first polymer material, such as cycloolefin, may be used. A copolymer of this monomer structure and another monomer may be used as the second polymer material 202. By including a monomer of the first polymer material or a monomer having a chemical structure similar to that of the first polymer material as the monomer component of the second polymer material 202, mixing with the first polymer material is facilitated and moldability is improved. improves.

The molecular weight of the second polymer material is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of easy mixing with the first polymer material, one having a molecular weight similar to that of the first polymer material is used. It is preferable to use.

In order to suppress the adhesion of bubbles on the resin surface, it is desirable that the surface has high hydrophilicity. By using the above-mentioned second polymer material 202 mixed with the first polymer material 201, the hydrophilicity of the surface of the reaction cell 10 is enhanced by the oxygen-containing groups of the second polymer material 202. You can Therefore, it is possible to reduce the adhesion of bubbles to the inner wall of the cell when the sample or the reagent is supplied into the reaction cell 10.

Further, by mixing the second polymer material 202 described above, it is possible to obtain a surface state in which the adhesion of contaminants is suppressed while the adhesion of bubbles to the surface of the reaction cell 10 is reduced. For example, in the case of a conventional reaction cell in which the surface of the reaction cell 10 is treated with ozone to improve the hydrophilicity, the chargeability of the surface is likely to incline positively or negatively, so that the inner wall of the reaction cell is contaminated with contaminants. It becomes easy to adhere. The reaction cell 10 of the example has improved hydrophilicity without increasing the chargeability of the surface. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the reaction cell 10 in which the adhesion of bubbles is reduced and the adhesion of contaminants is suppressed.

Further, by mixing the second polymer material 202 with the first polymer material 201, the surface potential may be neutralized as compared with the case where the first polymer material 201 is used alone. Therefore, as compared with a reaction cell in which the first polymer material 201 is formed alone, it is possible to obtain the reaction cell 10 in which adhesion of contaminants to the inner wall surface is suppressed.

The reaction cell 10 can be obtained by mixing the above-mentioned first polymer material 201 and second polymer material 202, and then molding the mixture into a predetermined size and shape. From the viewpoint of productivity, it is preferable to manufacture by injection molding, extrusion molding, blow molding, or melt molding such as vacuum molding.

The reaction cell 10 preferably has an oxygen/carbon atom number ratio calculated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of 0.01 or more. When the oxygen/carbon atom number ratio calculated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is 0.01 or more, the contact angle on the surface of the reaction cell 10 decreases to the extent that desired hydrophilicity is obtained, Further, it is possible to obtain a sufficient effect in suppressing the adhesion of contaminants.

From the viewpoint of obtaining a sufficient light transmittance for performing optical measurement in the reaction cell 10, the content of the second polymer material 201 in the reaction cell 10 is preferably 15% by weight or less.

In the automatic analyzer 100, the light transmittance of the reaction cell 10 is preferably 80% or more, more preferably 90% or more, from the viewpoint of enabling highly accurate optical measurement.

From the viewpoint of suppressing adhesion of bubbles to the surface of the reaction cell 10, the water contact angle of the reaction cell 10 is preferably less than 97.0 degrees, more preferably 90 degrees or less, and 75 degrees or less. Is more preferable.

FIG. 4 shows an operation flow of the automatic analyzer 100. The operation panel 24 receives the analysis request information input by the operator before starting the operation flow. The analysis request information input from the operation panel 24 is stored in the memory in the computer 19, and the operation of the automatic analyzer is started.

First, in step S<b>701, the computer 19 uses the analysis cell information as the reaction cell 10 and includes a reaction cell (first reaction material) including a mixture of the first polymer material and the second polymer material described above. Cell (hereinafter referred to as a dedicated cell) is determined. Here, the reaction cell (second reaction cell) that does not correspond to the above-mentioned dedicated cell is hereinafter referred to as a normal cell. As a result of the determination in step S701, when it is determined that the dedicated cell is required for the analysis work, the dedicated cell is selected as the reaction cell 10, and the process proceeds to step S702. On the other hand, when it is determined that it is not necessary to use the dedicated cell, the normal reaction cell is selected as the reaction cell 10, and the process proceeds to step S703. The analysis request information is, for example, the type of sample to be analyzed and the type of reagent used. For example, when it is determined from the analysis request information that the sample to be analyzed contains a substance that easily adheres to the surface of the reaction cell, it is determined to use the dedicated cell.

In the following description, the flow on the left side of FIG. 4 (step S702, step S704, step S706, step S708, step S710, step S712, step S714, step S716, step S718) is a step when a dedicated cell is used. The flow on the right side of FIG. 4 (step S703, step S705, step S707, step S709, step S711, step S713, step S715, step S717, step S719) is a step when using a normal reaction cell. ..

Next, in steps S702 and S703, the cleaning agent supply unit 13 and the cleaning water pump 16 supply the cleaning agent and water to the reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11, and the reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11 causes the dedicated cells on the reaction disk 3 to be supplied. Alternatively, a cleaning agent and water are supplied into a normal reaction cell to clean the inside. The cleaning agent and water supplied into the dedicated cell or the normal reaction cell are sucked and discharged by the suction nozzle 12, respectively.

Next, in steps S704 and S705, blank water is injected into a dedicated cell or a normal reaction cell on the reaction disk 3 by a blank water injection mechanism (not shown in FIG. 3). Then, the reaction disk 3 is rotated in this state, and the absorbance is measured by the spectrophotometer 30 every time the dedicated cell or the ordinary reaction cell passes between the spectrophotometer 30 and the light source 26. The absorbance measured in steps S704 and S705 is stored in the memory of the computer 19 as a blank value. The blank value is also called the baseline value.

Next, in steps S706 and S707, blank water injected into the dedicated cell or the normal reaction cell is sucked by a blank water suction nozzle (not shown in FIG. 3).

Next, in step S708 and step S709, the sample pipetter 15 is operated, the sample accommodated in the sample cell 25 is fractionated by the sample nozzle 27, and the sample is injected into a dedicated cell or a normal reaction cell.

Next, in steps S710 and S711, the reagent pipetter 17 is actuated to separate the reagent in the reagent container 6 by the reagent nozzle 28 and inject it into a dedicated cell or a normal reaction cell.

Next, in steps S712 and S713, the stirring mechanism 8 stirs the sample and the reagent supplied to the dedicated cell or the normal reaction cell.

Next, in steps S714 and S715, the dedicated cell or the ordinary reaction cell containing the mixture of the sample and the reagent is moved to a position between the spectrophotometer 30 and the light source 26 to perform optical measurement.

Next, in steps S716 and S717, the suction nozzle 12 sucks the reaction liquid mixed and reacted in the dedicated cell or the normal reaction cell.

Next, in steps S718 and S719, the reaction cell cleaning mechanism 11 supplies the cleaning agent supplied from the cleaning agent supply unit 13 to the dedicated cell or the ordinary reaction cell, and the inside of the dedicated cell or the ordinary reaction cell is supplied. To wash. The cleaning agent in the dedicated cell or the normal reaction cell is discharged from the dedicated cell or the normal reaction cell after the cleaning process is completed, and the operation flow is ended.

In the operation flow shown in FIG. 4, the case has been described in which whether or not the dedicated cell should be used as the reaction cell 10 can be determined from the analysis request information before the start of the optical measurement. In FIG. 5, an operation flow when it is unclear whether or not a dedicated cell should be used as the reaction cell 10 before the start of optical measurement will be described. The operation flow shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 showing the outline of the automatic analyzer 100, as in FIG.

First, the operation panel 24 receives an input of analysis request information from the operator before starting the operation flow. The analysis request information input from the operation panel 24 is stored in the memory in the computer 19, and the operation of the automatic analyzer 100 is started.

First, in step S801, an optical measurement is performed by the spectrophotometer 30 and the light source 26 by the same operation as described in the operation flow of FIG. 4 (see step S715 of FIG. 4) using a normal reaction cell. The optical measurement in step S801 is performed in a state where the mixture of the sample and the reagent is contained in a normal reaction cell, as in step S715. That is, from the start of the flow to the step S801, the same work as the steps S703, S705, S707, S709, S711, and S713 shown in FIG. 4 is performed, but the flow chart shown in FIG. Then, the description is omitted.

Next, in step S802, the computer 19 determines, based on the information stored in the storage device 22, whether or not the measured value obtained in step S801 is within the normal range. The information stored in the storage device 22 includes, for example, a numerical range of normal measurement values obtained by performing optical measurement in advance on a sample to be measured. As a result, when it is determined that the measured value is within the normal range (YES), the operation flow ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the measured value is not within the normal range (NO), the optical measurement of this sample is performed again using the dedicated reaction cell (step S803).

The operation flow for selecting the dedicated cell is not limited to that based on the information stored in advance in the storage device 22. For example, if the measured values of the second and subsequent times fluctuate significantly compared to the measured values of the first time measured using a normal reaction cell, it is determined that air bubbles have adhered to the inner wall of the reaction cell. It is also possible to perform the subsequent measurement using a dedicated cell.

According to the examples described above, the reaction cell is formed of a mixture of the first polymer material and the second polymer material, thereby maintaining high mechanical strength and low water absorption and high light absorption. It is possible to reduce the adhesion of air bubbles and the adhesion of contaminants when a sample or reagent is injected while maintaining the permeability. Therefore, a small amount of sample can be analyzed with high accuracy by using the reaction cell of the example in the automatic analyzer.

Further, in the automatic analyzer, for example, by using the reaction cell according to the analysis item such that the reaction cell of the embodiment is used in the case of the analysis item to which the pollutant is likely to adhere, the automatic analysis device can be continuously operated. It is possible to prolong the operating time and prolong the replacement life of the reaction cell.

In addition, the reaction cells of the examples have improved hydrophilicity without additional surface treatment. Therefore, the production cost of the reaction cell of the example can be reduced as compared with the conventional reaction cell hydrophilized by ozone treatment.

In addition, the reaction cell of the example forms the second polymer material having an oxygen-containing group as a mixture with the first polymer material. For this reason, the reaction cell of the example can continuously obtain the effect of preventing bubbles from adhering and the effect of preventing contaminant from adhering, unlike the conventional reaction cell which is hydrophilized by forming the coating film.

(Example 1)
A reaction cell 10 was manufactured using a polycycloolefin resin as the first polymer material and a methacrylic resin as the second polymer material. The methacrylic resin has an ester group as an oxygen-containing functional group. As the polycycloolefin resin, a resin having a molecular weight of about 20,000 was used.

First, pellets of the first polymer material and the second polymer material were mixed at the mixing ratio shown in Table 1 and dry blended. The obtained mixture is put into the material supply unit of the injection molding machine, injection-molded under the following molding conditions, and a plate-shaped resin molded body (80 mm×80 mm, thickness 0.8 mm, hereinafter referred to as a resin plate) ) Got. The resin plate thus obtained was evaluated for light transmittance and hydrophilicity by the methods described below. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

The mixing ratios shown in Table 1 are shown as values of the content of methacrylic resin in the entire mixture of polycycloolefin resin and methacrylic resin. Further, in Example 1, a flat plate-shaped molded body imitating a part of the reaction cell 10 was manufactured, but by changing the mold used, the reaction cell 10 having the shape shown in FIG. 2 can be manufactured. Is possible.

[Molding condition]
Molding temperature (front): 230-290°C
Mold temperature: 50-100°C
Injection pressure; 179-194 MPa
Injection time; 0.39-0.51s

[Light transmission evaluation]
As the total light transmittance of the resin plate, a spectrophotometer U-4100 manufactured by Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation was used to measure the average transmittance at a wavelength of 340 nm to 800 nm. Table 1 shows the values obtained by normalizing each total light transmittance with reference to the light transmittance of the resin plate of the polycycloolefin resin simple substance used as the first polymer material.

[Hydrophilicity evaluation]
In order to evaluate the hydrophilicity of the resin plate surface, the static contact angle of water was measured using a contact angle meter (DM-500) manufactured by Kyowa Interface Science. Specifically, 0.5 μL of pure water was dropped on the resin plate, and the static contact angle 1 second after the dropping was measured by the θ/2 method.

[Evaluation results]
As shown in Table 1, it was confirmed that by mixing the methacrylic resin as the second polymer material, the contact angle was decreased while maintaining a relatively high total light transmittance. That is, it was confirmed that the surface hydrophilicity that contributes to the suppression of bubble adhesion is improved while maintaining a relatively high light transmittance.

According to the method of Example 1, it is possible to improve the surface hydrophilicity without performing the surface treatment such as the oxygen plasma treatment, the ozone treatment, the corona discharge treatment, which has been conventionally performed after the molding of the reaction cell. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.

(Example 2)
A reaction cell 10 was manufactured using polycycloolefin resin as the first polymer material and polyethylene glycol as the second polymer material. The polyethylene glycol has an ether group as an oxygen-containing functional group. The same polycycloolefin resin as in Example 1 was used.

The first polymer material and the second polymer material described above are melt-kneaded using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder (φ25 mm, L/D=41) and a gravimetric weighing single-screw feeder, and mixed pellets Was produced. The mixed pellets were prepared by mixing polyethylene glycol with polycycloolefin resin pellets so that the content of polyethylene glycol was 1% by weight. The obtained mixed pellets were put into a material supply section of an injection molding machine and injection-molded under the following molding conditions to obtain a resin plate (80 mm×80 mm, thickness 0.8 mm).

The resin plate thus obtained was evaluated for light transmittance and hydrophilicity in the same manner as in Example 1. Further, with respect to the obtained resin plate, the contaminant adhesion evaluation was performed by the method described below. The evaluation results are shown in Table 2.

[Molding condition]
Molding temperature (front); 290°C
Mold temperature: 60~70℃
Injection pressure; 196 MPa
Injection time; 0.50s

[Adhesion evaluation of pollutants]
An immersion test using a fluorescently labeled protein (FITC-BSA) was performed as an evaluation of the adhesion of contaminants on the resin molded product. First, the resin plate was dipped in water and then dipped in phosphate buffered saline for 10 minutes. After further immersing this resin plate in water, its surface was observed by a fluorescence microscope. The fluorescence intensity obtained at this time was taken as the baseline fluorescence intensity.

Then, the resin plate was immersed in phosphate buffered saline in which FITC-BSA was dissolved for 10 minutes, and the surface of the resin plate after further immersion in water was observed with a fluorescence microscope to measure the fluorescence intensity. .. The difference between the obtained measured value of fluorescence intensity and the fluorescence intensity of the baseline was calculated as the contamination adhesion degree, and the adhesion property of the protein was evaluated.

[Evaluation results]
As shown in Table 2, by mixing polyethylene glycol as the second polymer material, the contact angle is lowered while maintaining the total light transmittance substantially equal to that of the polycycloolefin resin alone. Was confirmed. That is, it was confirmed that the surface hydrophilicity that contributes to the suppression of bubble adhesion is improved while maintaining a relatively high light transmittance. Further, from the pollutant adhesion evaluation, it was confirmed that the resin plate in which polyethylene glycol was mixed with the polycycloolefin resin had a lower degree of pollution adhesion than the case of using the polycycloolefin resin alone.

(Example 3)
A reaction cell 10 was manufactured using a polycycloolefin resin as the first polymer material and a polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene (average molecular weight about 45,000) as the second polymer material. The polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene has an ether group as an oxygen-containing functional group. The same polycycloolefin resin as in Example 1 was used.

The first polymer material and the second polymer material described above are melt-kneaded using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder (φ25 mm, L/D=41) and a gravimetric weighing single-screw feeder, and mixed pellets Was produced. The mixed pellets were prepared by mixing polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene with polycycloolefin resin pellets so that the content of the polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene was 3% by weight.

The obtained mixed pellets were put into a material supply section of an injection molding machine and injection-molded under the following molding conditions to obtain a resin plate (80 mm×80 mm, thickness 0.8 mm). Specifically, the above-mentioned mixed pellets were individually charged into an injection molding machine to prepare a resin plate having a polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene content of 3% by weight. Further, the above mixed pellets and polycycloolefin resin pellets are mixed and injected into an injection molding machine at a ratio of 1:2 to produce a resin plate having a content of polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene of 1% by weight. did.

With respect to the obtained resin plate, evaluation of light transmission, evaluation of hydrophilicity, and evaluation of adhesion of contaminants were performed in the same manner as in Example 2. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3.

In addition, the mixing ratio shown in Table 3 is shown as a value of the content of the polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene in the entire mixture of the polycycloolefin resin and the polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene.

[Molding condition]
Molding temperature (front); 290°C
Mold temperature: 60~70℃
Injection pressure; 177-199 MPa
Injection time; 0.47-0.51s

[Evaluation results]
As shown in Table 3, by mixing the polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene as the second polymer material, the contact angle is lowered while maintaining the same total light transmittance as that of the polycycloolefin resin alone. It was confirmed that That is, it was confirmed that the surface hydrophilicity that contributes to the suppression of bubble adhesion is improved while maintaining the light transmittance.

In addition, from the adhesion evaluation of contaminants, it was confirmed that the resin plate in which polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene was mixed with polycycloolefin resin had a lower degree of pollution adhesion than the case of using polycycloolefin resin alone. Was done.

As shown in Table 3, it can be confirmed that when the polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene is used as the second polymer material, a high effect of suppressing the attachment of contaminants can be obtained. On the other hand, it can be confirmed that the total light transmittance is slightly lower than that of the resin plate containing only the polycycloolefin resin. However, for example, in the case of a resin plate containing 3% by weight of polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene, the light intensity of the measurement light emitted from the light source 26 should be (1/0.86)=1.16 times. Then, it becomes possible to obtain substantially the same transmitted light as in the case of using a resin plate of polycycloolefin resin alone.

The polycycloolefin resin was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) using surface element concentrations (carbon, oxygen, nitrogen) as reference values, and as a result, carbon was 99.5 atomic% and oxygen was 0.5 atomic %. And the oxygen/carbon atom number ratio=(0.5/99.5)=0.005.

On the other hand, as a result of analyzing the surface element concentration (carbon, oxygen, nitrogen) by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for a resin plate containing 3% by weight of polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene, carbon was 97.8 atoms. %, oxygen was 2.0 atomic %, nitrogen was 0.2 atomic %, and the oxygen/carbon atomic ratio was (0.5/99.5)=0.02.

2... Sample supply dispensing mechanism, 3... Reaction disc, 4... Sample disc mechanism, 5A, 5B... Reagent disc mechanism, 6... Reagent container, 7... Reagent pipetting mechanism, 8... Stirring mechanism, 9... Constant temperature bath, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Reaction cell, 11... Reaction cell washing|cleaning mechanism, 12... Suction nozzle, 13... Cleaning agent supply part, 15... Sample pipettor, 16... Washing water pump, 17... Reagent pipettor, 18... Log converter and A/ D converter, 19... Computer, 20... Printer, 21... Display, 22... Storage device, 23... Interface, 24... Operation panel, 25... Sample cell, 26... Light source, 27... Sample nozzle, 28... Reagent nozzle, 29... Stirring bar, 30... Spectrophotometer, 100... Automatic analyzer, 101... Photometric surface, 102... Non-photometric surface, 103... Arrow, 201... First polymeric material, 202... Second polymeric material

Claims (7)

A reaction cell holding mechanism that holds a plurality of reaction cells that contain a mixture of a sample and a reagent, and an optical measurement unit that optically measures the state of the mixture of the sample and the reagent contained in the reaction cell. In the automatic analyzer,
The automatic analyzer dispenses the sample to the and dispensing the sample dispensing mechanism into the reaction cell held in the reaction cell holding mechanism, said reaction cells which are holding the reagent into the reaction cell holding mechanism A reagent dispensing mechanism and a control unit that controls the sample dispensing mechanism and the reagent dispensing mechanism,
The reaction cell holding mechanism, as the reaction cell, a first polymer material which is a polyolefin resin, and at least one oxygen selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl group, an ether group, a carbonyl group, a carboxyl group, and an ester group. Holding a first reaction cell formed by a mixture with a second polymeric material having a functional group, and a second reaction cell other than the first reaction cell ,
The control unit is
Before starting the optical measurement, based on the type of the sample or the reagent or the measurement result of the optical measurement unit, determine whether or not the use of the first reaction cell is necessary,
When it is determined that the use of the first reaction cell is necessary, the sample dispensing mechanism and the reagent dispensing mechanism are controlled so as to dispense the sample and the reagent into the first reaction cell. ,
When it is determined that the use of the first reaction cell is not necessary, the sample dispensing mechanism and the reagent dispensing mechanism are controlled so as to dispense the sample and the reagent into the second reaction cell. An automatic analyzer characterized by: A reaction cell holding mechanism that holds a plurality of reaction cells that contain a mixture of a sample and a reagent, and an optical measurement unit that optically measures the state of the mixture of the sample and the reagent contained in the reaction cell. In the automatic analyzer,
The automatic analyzer dispenses the sample to the and dispensing the sample dispensing mechanism into the reaction cell held in the reaction cell holding mechanism, said reaction cells which are holding the reagent into the reaction cell holding mechanism A reagent dispensing mechanism and a control unit that controls the sample dispensing mechanism and the reagent dispensing mechanism,
The reaction cell holding mechanism, as the reaction cell, a first polymer material which is a polyolefin resin, and at least one oxygen selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl group, an ether group, a carbonyl group, a carboxyl group, and an ester group. Holding a first reaction cell formed by a mixture with a second polymeric material having a functional group, and a second reaction cell other than the first reaction cell ,
The control unit is
At the time of starting the optical measurement, so as to dispense the sample and the reagent to the second reaction cell, controlling the sample dispensing mechanism and the reagent dispensing mechanism,
Determine whether the measurement result of the optical measurement unit is within the normal range,
When it is determined that the measurement result is within the normal range, the optical measurement is terminated,
When it is determined that the measurement result of the optical measurement unit is not within the normal range, the sample dispensing mechanism and the reagent dispensing mechanism are dispensed so that the sample and the reagent are dispensed into the first reaction cell. An automatic analyzer characterized by controlling. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the first polymer material is a polycycloolefin resin. The second polymer material is at least one selected from the group consisting of methacrylic resin, polyethylene glycol, polyalkylene oxide-modified polypropylene, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and polyvinyl alcohol. Automatic analyzer. 3. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the first reaction cell has an oxygen/carbon atomic ratio of 0.01 or more measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The light transmittance of the said 1st reaction cell is 90% or more, The automatic analyzer of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The water contact angle of the first reaction cell is 90 degrees or less, and the automatic analyzer according to claim 1 or 2.

Images