JPH02150750A - Measuring part for biochemical analysis - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for a heater and to reduce cost as well as to facilitate production by using conductive plastic to form the supporting part which supports an object to be inspected and forming the support itself of a heating element. CONSTITUTION:The measuring part is formed of a light irradiating means which irradiates the surfaces 1A to be measured, i.e. the rear surface of the object 1 to be inspected with light 5 and an optical sensor 6 which is held in a block 3 and detects the reflected light 5A reflected from the surface 1A. The supporting part 2 and the block 3 consist of the conductive plastic. The supporting part 2 has terminal parts 2A, 2B and a power source 7 is impressed thereto. The supporting part 2 is heated when current flows in the supporting part 2. The temp. thereof is detected by a temp. sensor 8. The sensor 8 is embedded in the supporting part 2 and turns on and off the power source by the signal from a temp. control means 7A in correspondence to the detected temp., thereby maintaining the temp. of the supporting part 2 at the set temp. of the means 7A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention irradiates light onto a surface to be measured of an object to be inspected containing a liquid to be inspected, and uses an optical sensor to detect the reflected light from the surface to be measured. The present invention relates to a measuring section for chemical analysis that receives light and measures the reflection density of a surface to be measured, and particularly relates to a measuring section for chemical analysis that can perform incubation as well as photometry.

(Prior Art) Qualitative or quantitative analysis of specific chemical components in a test liquid is a commonly performed operation in various industrial fields. In particular, quantitative analysis of chemical components or formed components in biological body fluids such as blood and urine is extremely important in the field of clinical biochemistry.

In recent years, dry type chemical analysis slides have been developed that can quantitatively analyze specific chemical components or formed components contained in a test liquid by simply applying small droplets of the test liquid ( Special Publication No. 53-21677, Japanese Patent Publication No. 55
-164358, etc.) has been put into practical use. Using these chemical analysis slides allows for easier and faster analysis of test liquids than conventional wet analysis methods.
Its use is particularly preferred in medical institutions, laboratories, etc. where it is necessary to analyze a large number of test liquids.

A biochemical analyzer that uses such a chemical analysis slide to analyze chemical components in a test liquid is used to place a measured amount of the test liquid on the chemical analysis slide, and then place it in an incubator. The temperature is maintained (incubated) for a predetermined period of time to cause a color reaction (pigment formation reaction), and then the measurement includes wavelengths preselected by a combination of the components in the test liquid and the reagents contained in the reagent layer of the chemical analysis slide. This chemical analysis slide is irradiated with a specific irradiation light to measure its reflected optical density, thereby performing quantitative analysis of the chemical components and the like. Furthermore, an apparatus has been proposed in which a long tape-shaped test film containing a reagent is housed in place of the slide described above, and the test film is sequentially pulled out to perform spotting, incubation, and measurement in order (for example, in the US patent Specification 3,526,480
).

The above-mentioned apparatus includes at least an incubator that maintains a constant temperature of the object to be inspected, a surface to be measured of the object to be inspected after incubation is irradiated with light, and an optical sensor receives the reflected light from the surface to be measured. It is necessary to include a photometry section that measures the density of the surface to be measured based on the output of this optical sensor. Furthermore, a measuring section has been proposed in which the incubator and the photometric section are integrated by attaching a support section that is maintained at a predetermined temperature and supports the object to be inspected on top of the photometric section (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 82-21
7140 etc.). In such a measuring section, the object to be inspected is placed on the support section for a certain period of time to maintain a constant temperature, and then the object to be inspected is irradiated with light from below at the holding position to perform concentration measurement. Further, in the measurement section, the support section is made of a metal such as aluminum having high thermal conductivity, and is heated by a heater embedded inside to maintain a constant temperature of the object to be inspected.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, the above-mentioned support made of metal needs to have a built-in heater in order to maintain it at a predetermined temperature, which is disadvantageous in that the manufacturing cost increases due to the heater. There is. Furthermore, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 82-217140 discloses a measuring section that also serves as a light source for emitting light for photometry as a heater, but in that case, the light source is placed at a position suitable for heating the object to be inspected. This limits the degree of freedom in designing the measuring section. In addition, the support part needs to have a leading path for allowing light to enter the supported object to be inspected and for emitting reflected light from the object to be inspected toward the optical sensor. It is necessary to apply anti-reflection treatment such as . For this reason, if the support part is made of metal, the problem arises that molding the support part is troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a measuring section for biochemical analysis having a support section that is easy to process and inexpensive to manufacture.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The measurement section for biochemical analysis of the present invention includes the above-mentioned support section, a light irradiation means for irradiating light onto the #l constant surface of the object to be inspected supported by the support section, and an optical sensor that detects reflected light from the surface to be measured, and the supporting part is connected to a power source and is made of conductive plastic and has a temperature sensor inside, and the temperature of the supporting part is determined based on the output of the temperature sensor. A current is caused to flow from a power source into the support body so that the current is approximately constant.

Note that the conductive plastic herein refers to a plastic having a resistance value that allows it to generate heat to a desired temperature suitable for incubation (for example, about 37° C.) by passing an electric current through it. Further, the light irradiation means and the optical sensor may be integrated with the support part by being incorporated into a block, and in that case, the block may also be made of conductive plastic. In that case, since the optical sensor is covered with conductive plastic, the electrical noise from the outside can be shielded by the conductive plastic and prevented from being transmitted to the optical sensor.

(Function) As mentioned above, if the support part that supports the object to be inspected is made of conductive plastic, the support part itself becomes a heating element by passing an electric current through it, so there is no need to provide a heater. Manufacturing costs can be reduced. Further, since such a support can be produced by integral molding, the surface can be easily subjected to anti-reflection treatment, and its manufacture becomes easy.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The figure is a schematic diagram of a measuring section for biochemical analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This measurement section is held in a support section 2 on which an object to be inspected 1 such as a chemical analysis slide or a long test film is placed, and a block section 3 that is integrally attached to this support section. It is equipped with a light irradiation means 4 for irradiating light 5 onto the surface to be measured IA, which is the lower surface of the body 1, and a light sensor 6, which is also held within the block 3 and detects the reflected light 5A reflected by the surface to be measured IA. There is. Both the support part 2 and the block part 3 are made of conductive plastic containing carbon or the like, and terminal parts 2A and 2B are provided at both ends of the support part 2 to connect to a power source 7, respectively. The support part 2 is heated by passing an electric current through the support part 2. Further, a temperature sensor 8 is embedded in the support part 2, and based on the detected temperature value of this temperature sensor,
When the temperature of the support part 2 exceeds a predetermined temperature (for example, 37 degrees Celsius), the flow of current from the power source 7 to the support part is stopped by a signal from the temperature control means 7A, and when the temperature of the support part 2 falls below a predetermined temperature, the support stops. Control is performed to cause current to flow through section 2 again. Therefore, the support portion 2 is maintained at the temperature set by the temperature control means 7A.

A predetermined amount of test liquid such as urine or blood is dropped onto the test object 1 placed on the support section 2 by a spotting means (not shown), and the test object 1 is placed on the support section 2 at a predetermined temperature as described above. The temperature is maintained on part 2 for a certain period of time (for example, about 6 minutes).

Note that since the purpose of heating the support portion 2 is to maintain the temperature of the object 1 to be inspected as described above, it is desirable that the temperature sensor 8 is disposed as close to the object 1 to be inspected as possible. The object 1 to be inspected, which has been kept at a constant temperature for a certain period of time in this manner, is irradiated with light 5 from the light irradiation means 4, and the reflection density of the surface to be measured IA is measured.

The light irradiation means 4 is provided on an exit end 4A of an optical fiber connected to a light source 9 disposed outside the measuring section, and converts the light emitted from the exit end 4A into parallel light. It consists of a lens 4B and a lens 4C, which is provided in the optical path of the light 5 and focuses the incident light to a desired beam diameter on the surface to be measured IA. Further, a half mirror 11 is provided on the optical path of the light 5 emitted from the light irradiation means 4, so that a certain proportion of the light is reflected and the remaining light is transmitted. The light 5B reflected by the half mirror 11 is detected by the optical sensor 12 held by the block 3, thereby monitoring the amount of light 5 emitted from the light irradiation means 4. Light irradiation means 4
The light 5 emitted from the sensor and transmitted through the half mirror 11 is incident on the surface to be measured IA, and the reflected light 5A reflected by the surface to be measured IA is incident on the optical sensor 6. Note that the lens 6 provided in front of the optical sensor 6 is a lens that focuses the reflected light 5A in order to make the reflected light 5A enter the optical sensor 6 efficiently. Furthermore, the wall surface 2a in the guide path of the support section 2 is subjected to a surface treatment such as texturing to prevent reflection of light. Therefore, the entire support part can be easily formed by injection molding or the like.

The amount of reflected light 2A detected by the optical sensor 6 is:
After being compared with the output of the optical sensor 12 for monitoring, it is processed as indicating the concentration of a predetermined component in the object to be inspected. It is displayed on a display device (not shown) or the like. In addition,
In this embodiment, both optical sensors 6.12 are held by a block 3 made of conductive plastic, so this block serves as an electrical shield and both sensors are subject to external electrical noise. Highly accurate light detection can be performed without any interference. In addition, the light-receiving sensitivity of the above-mentioned optical sensor may fluctuate when the environmental temperature changes significantly, but as in this embodiment, the optical sensor is integrally attached to the support part 2 whose temperature is controlled to a constant temperature. If the block 3 is held by the attached block 3, heat is transferred from the support part 2 to the block 3, making it difficult for large temperature changes to occur, so the light receiving sensitivity of the optical sensor 6.12 is kept stable. It will be done.

In this way, according to the D1 fixed part of this embodiment, it is possible to generate heat by simply passing a current through the supporting part of the object to be inspected, which eliminates the need for a special heater and reduces the manufacturing cost of the entire measuring part. In addition, the support part can now be easily molded by injection molding, etc.
In particular, anti-reflection processing on the inner wall surface of the support portion can be easily performed during molding.

In the above embodiment, the optical sensor and the light irradiation means are also held by a block made of conductive plastic, but this block may be made of other materials. Further, the light irradiation means and the optical sensor may be supported separately by a member other than the block. In that case, it is desirable to cover the optical sensor with a conductive material such as metal to prevent it from being affected by electrical noise.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the all fixed part for biochemical analysis of the present invention, the support part that supports and incubates the test object is made of conductive plastic. It is possible to easily manufacture the part and reduce the manufacturing cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a schematic diagram of a measuring section for biochemical analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Object to be inspected2...Support part 2a...Wall surface 4...Light irradiation means 5A...Reflected light 7...Power source 9...Light source 1 person...Measurement target Surfaces 2A, 2B...Terminal section 3...Block 5...Light 6...Light sensor 8...Temperature sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] A support part that supports a test object having a test liquid, a light irradiation means that irradiates light onto a measured surface of the test object supported by the support part, and detects reflected light reflected from the test surface. The supporting part is connected to a power source and is made of conductive plastic and has a temperature sensor inside. A measuring section for biochemical analysis in which a current is passed through the support.