JPH0312553A - Method for spotting liquid to be inspected - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency of spotting operation by arranging bodies to be inspected which are longer in necessary item measurement time closer to an inspected liquid suction position and spotting the bodies to be inspected with the liquid to be inspected in order from the bodies to be inspected closer to the suction position. CONSTITUTION:Plural long-sized test films 3 are stored in a biochemical analytic device 1. The films 3 are arranged in order of positions closer to the inspected liquid suction position P according to the time required from spotting to item measurement. A suctional spotting means 5 spots one film 3 with a small amount of the liquid to be inspected which is sucked at a position P and a moving means 9 moves the film repeatedly to spot the film 3 with the liquid to be inspected in order. At this time, the means 5 performs the spotting from a film 3 closer to the position P to a film 3 which is farther from the point P without fail whichever film 3 is used. Those operations are controlled by a computer. Consequently, the time when the means stands by after all items are measured is eliminated or becomes extremely short.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention involves sequentially spotting a test liquid onto test objects such as chemical analysis slides and test films that are prepared side by side in a biochemical analyzer or the like. It is about the method.

(Prior Art) Qualitative or quantitative analysis of specific chemical components in a test liquid is widely practiced in various 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 liquid to be tested by simply applying small droplets of the liquid to be tested. No.-21877, JP-A-55-1643
No. 56, etc.) has been put into practical use. These chemical analysis slides can be used to analyze sample liquids more easily and quickly than traditional wet analysis methods, so these chemical analysis slides are suitable for medical institutions that need to analyze a large number of test liquids,
It is becoming particularly suitable for use in research institutes and the like.

In order to quantitatively analyze the chemical components in a test liquid using such a chemical analysis slide, the test liquid is placed on the chemical analysis slide in a measured amount, and then placed in an incubator (
Maintain constant temperature (incubation) for a specified period of time in a constant temperature machine
A color reaction (pigment formation reaction) is then carried out, and then measurement irradiation light containing a wavelength pre-selected by the combination of the components in the test liquid and the reagents contained in the reagent layer of the chemical analysis slide is applied to this chemical analysis. The slide is illuminated and its reflected optical density is measured.

In this case, in the above-mentioned medical institutions, laboratories, etc., it is generally necessary to analyze a large number of test liquids, and therefore it is desirable to be able to perform this analysis automatically and continuously. Therefore, various proposals have been made regarding chemical analyzers that can automatically and continuously analyze test liquids using the chemical analysis slides described above (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 77748/1983). In addition, in order to automatically and continuously analyze the test liquid, a long tape-shaped test film containing a reagent is stored in place of the slide described above, and this test film is pulled out one after another to analyze the test liquid. Apparatus for spotting, incubating, and measuring have also been proposed (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3.5).
No. 28,480). In this way, a device that uses a long tape-shaped test film can reduce running costs compared to a device that uses chemical analysis slides.
Furthermore, the simple mechanism allows measurements of a large number of liquids to be tested to be carried out in succession.

By the way, biochemical analyzers that use test objects such as chemical analysis slides and test films as mentioned above often accommodate multiple types of test objects so that several types of items can be tested. It is configured to select and use those objects to be inspected according to the inspection item.

In a biochemical analyzer with such a configuration, in order to improve the efficiency of spotting the test liquid, multiple test objects are lined up and held in a row, and the test liquid is aspirated at a predetermined test liquid suction position. A method is adopted in which the suction spotting means is moved in the direction in which the test objects are lined up, and the test liquid sucked into the test liquid is divided into small portions and sequentially spotted on a plurality of test objects. There are many things.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention aims to provide a test liquid spotting method that can further improve the efficiency of the test liquid spotting operation in the test liquid spotting method as described above. This is the purpose.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The test liquid spotting method of the present invention, in the test liquid spotting method as described above, applies the method of spotting a plurality of test objects from test liquid spotting to item 11. This method is characterized in that the longer the time required, the closer the position to the suction position of the liquid to be inspected is arranged, and the liquid to be examined is sequentially applied to the body to be examined starting from the one closest to the suction position.

The above-mentioned required time differs mainly depending on the time required for the color reaction, for example, in the case of the above-mentioned chemical analysis slides and test films.

(Function) If a plurality of objects to be inspected are arranged as described above and the liquid to be tested is applied in the order described above, each object to be inspected will be The elapsed time after spotting in is longer for the object to be inspected for which the above-mentioned required time is long.

If this is the case, the time points at which item measurements are taken will fall within a relatively small variation among a plurality of test objects.

When moving the suction spotting means as described above and spotting a small amount of the test liquid onto each test object, even if item measurements are completed early on some test objects, the item measurements will be delayed. As long as there is even one object to be inspected that has not been completed, the suction spotting means cannot start the next spotting cycle. If there is a waiting time for the suction spotting means in this way, the efficiency of the analysis work will naturally decrease.

On the other hand, as in the above-mentioned method of the present invention, if the time points of item measurement on a plurality of objects to be inspected are within a short time variation, there is no waiting time for the suction spotting means, or becomes extremely short.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a biochemical analyzer that implements the method of the present invention. This biochemical analyzer 1 has a transparent lid 2.
The lid 2 is opened and the test liquid described below, a long tape-shaped test film 3, etc. are inserted into the device 1.
It is designed to be stored inside and taken out again. This device 1 includes a sample disk section 102 that accommodates sample cups 101 containing test liquids such as serum and urine, arranged on the circumference, and disposed inside this sample disk section 102. Centrifugal separation cup 10 containing whole blood, etc.
A test liquid storage device 100 is provided, which has a centrifugal separator 104 that holds 3 and performs centrifugation, and the test liquid stored here is taken out by a suction spotting means 5 to be described later, It is spotted on the shaku test film 3. The long test film 3 contains a reagent that exhibits a color reaction with only the specific chemical component or formed component to be measured in the test liquid, and is made of multiple types depending on the measurement item. A long test film 3 is prepared. The unused portion of the long test film 3 is wound in a film supply cassette 18, and the portion used for the above measurement is wound up in a film winding cassette 19. Also, these cassettes 18.
A hole 18b is provided in the center of each hole 18b, which engages with the rotating shaft of a motor for pulling out the long test film 3 from the film supply cassette 18 and winding it there after the long test film 3 has been accommodated in the device 1. , 19b are provided. Long test film 3 is cassette 18.19
It is housed inside the device 1 in a state where it is housed inside. The film supply cassette 18 and the film winding cassette 19 are
They are separated as shown in FIG. Further, so that measurements of a plurality of items can be performed simultaneously using this device 1, the test film storage means 6 is configured to be able to store unused portions of a plurality of long test films 3 in parallel.

The suction spotting means 5 has a suction spotting nozzle 7 at its tip, is moved along the rail 8 by a moving means 9 placed on the rail 8, and sucks the test liquid from the test liquid storage device 100. , onto the long test film 3 pulled out from the test film storage means 6 as will be described later.

The moving means 9 is also configured to move the suction spotting means 5 in the vertical direction, and when the suction spotting means 5 is moved along the rail 8 by the moving means 9, the suction spotting means 5 is moved vertically. 5 is in an elevated position, and is lowered during suction and spotting of the liquid to be inspected, and cleaning to be described later.

A nozzle cleaning section 10 is arranged between the test film storage means 6 and the test liquid storage device 100 in close proximity to both. After the suction spotting nozzle 7 spots the test liquid on the test film 3, it is cleaned in the cleaning section 10 and is reused for the next spotting.

The test film 3 on which the test liquid has been spotted is incubated in an incubator as described later,
The optical density of the hindlimb film 3 is measured by photometric means.

Control of the overall operation of the device 1, processing of measurement data, etc. are performed by a circuit section 11 and a computer 12 connected to this circuit section 11.
This is done by The operation/display section 13 provided on the front side of the circuit section 1j is equipped with a power switch for the device 1, an ammeter for monitoring the current consumption in the device 1, and the like. The computer 12 includes a keyboard 14 for giving instructions to the device 1, a CRT display 15 for displaying auxiliary information for instructions, measurement results, etc., a printer IG for printing out M1 results, and a computer for giving various instructions to the device 1. A floppy disk drive device 17 that drives a floppy disk for storing commands, measurement data, etc.
It is composed of etc.

Next, the outline of the test liquid storage device 100 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2 showing the planar shape of the peripheral portion of the test liquid storage device 100. The test film storage means 6 is configured such that the spotting positions 22 of all the test films pulled out from therein are arranged in a straight line, and furthermore, the nozzle cleaning section IO1 and the test liquid storage device 100 are located on this straight line. Three test liquid suction positions 1p indicated by diagonal lines inside are arranged.

The test liquid storage device 100 has a sample disk section 102 that holds sample cups 101 containing the test liquid side by side on two concentric circumferences.

This sample disk section 102 is rotated by a drive system (not shown) in the direction of arrow A by a predetermined angle, and the sample cup 101 is successively positioned at the suction position P. In addition, in the test liquid storage device 100, the sample disk section 10
The centrifugal separation section 1 (14) disposed inside the centrifugal separation section 1 (14) is capable of holding, for example, four centrifugal separation cups 103 on a circumference concentric with the two circumferences, and rotates at high speed. The centrifugation section 104 centrifuges the body fluid (for example, whole blood) in the centrifugation cup 103.Furthermore, after the centrifugation is completed, the centrifugation section 104 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the same way as the sample disk section 102 to separate the liquid to be tested. The centrifugal separation cups 103 are sequentially positioned at the suction position P. That is, when whole blood is centrifuged, plasma or serum floats to the top and blood clots sink to the bottom, but according to this storage device 100, the test liquid A certain plasma or serum can be taken out by the suction spotting means 5 without having to separate it from the blood clot and transfer it to another container.

The suction spotting means 5 is moved along the rail 8 by a moving means 9 mounted on the rail 8, sucks the test liquid from the suction position P, and deposits it on the spotting position 22 on the long test film. do.

FIG. 3 shows a main part of a cross section taken along the line xx' in FIG. 2, and the analysis of the test liquid will be explained below with reference to FIG. The long test film 3 is stored in a film supply cassette 18 and a film winding cassette 19.
The device is loaded into the device while the device is still housed in the device. The film supply cassette 18 is housed in a cold storage 50 whose interior is temperature-controlled at, for example, 4°C. On the other hand, the film winding cassette 19
is accommodated in the winding chamber 51. If the unused portion of the long test film 3 is stored in the film supply cassette 18 in this manner, the unused long test film 3 can be stored in the cold storage 50 without being touched. The cold storage 50 is surrounded by a cold storage wall 50a using a heat insulating material.

A cooling/dehumidifying device 58 for keeping the inside of the cold storage 50 at a predetermined low temperature and low humidity is attached to one side of the cold storage wall 50a, and a fan 60 circulates the air inside the cold storage 50.

When the film supply cassette 18 and the film winding cassette 19 are housed in the cold storage 50 and the winding chamber 51, respectively, as described above, the reel 19 of the film winding cassette 19
A rotating shaft of a winding motor 53A provided in the winding chamber 51 engages with the hole 19b of a. And this motor 53
By the rotation of A, the long test film 3 is pulled out from the film supply cassette 18 via the outlet 50b of the cold storage 50 and wound into the film winding cassette 19. On the other hand, the rotation shaft of the motor 53B for rewinding the film 3 is engaged with the hole Llib provided in the center of the reel 18a of the film supply cassette 18.

Film supply cassette 18 and film winding cassette 19
An incubator 55 is arranged in the exposed part of the long test film 3 in between, and is arranged to hold the film 3 therein and allow the film 3 to pass through the incubator 55. A photometry section 57 is arranged to measure optical density due to a color reaction with a liquid.

The long test film 3 is intermittently fed to the left in the figure by the rotation of the motor 53A. When the film 3 is sent, it is placed on the incubator 55! ! 55a rises in the direction of arrow B. When the long test film 3 stops, the upper lid 55a descends in the direction of arrow C to suppress and fix the film 3. Next, the shutter 54 that was blocking the nozzle insertion hole 55b of the upper lid 55a moves to the right in the figure, and then the nozzle 7 descends and the liquid to be tested passes through the nozzle insertion hole 55a and onto the long test film 3. is spotted. Furthermore, the shutter 54 moves to the left to open the nozzle insertion hole 55b.
The inside of the incubator is kept at a predetermined temperature (for example,
Keep at 7℃). The part of the film on which the test liquid has been applied and developed (the part shown with diagonal lines in FIG. 3) is kept in the incubator 55 for a predetermined period of time (for example, 4 minutes).
Maintained at constant temperature. After or during the incubation, the photometric section 57 measures the optical density of the portion of the long test film 3 where the spotting has been performed. This concentration measurement is performed by emitting light from the light irradiation means 57a.
This is carried out by irradiating the film 3 with light containing a preselected wavelength and detecting the reflected light from the film 3 with the photodetector 57b.

When the spotting, incubation, and measurement of one liquid to be tested are completed in this way, the next liquid to be tested can be spotted. Immediately before spotting for the next analysis, the long test film 3 is transported so that the part of the film to be used for the next analysis comes to the spotting position 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, this biochemical analyzer 1 accommodates, for example, 20 long test films 3. These long test films 3 are arranged from right to left in FIG. 2 in descending order of time required from spotting to item measurement. In other words, the second
In the figure, the long test film 3A at the right end closest to the suction position P takes the longest time, and the long test film 3B at the left end takes the shortest time.

The suction spotting means 5 does not spot a small amount of the test liquid sucked at the suction position P onto one long test film 3 when measuring multiple items using a plurality of long test films 3. By repeating the moving operation using the moving means 9, the liquid to be inspected is sequentially applied onto the long test films 3. At this time, the suction spot tube means 5 always applies spots from the long test film closest to the suction position P to the film farther away, no matter which long test film 3 is used. The operation of the suction spotting means 5 is controlled by, for example, the computer 12 or the like.

By arranging the 20 long test films 3 in the order described above and operating the suction spotting means 5 as described above, the suction spotting means 5 will be able to cover all items due to the extension as described above. The time required to wait for the measurement to end is either not present at all, or is extremely short.

In addition to the test object whose optical density is measured after a color reaction, as in the case of the long test film 3, it is also possible to measure the ionic activity of an electrolyte, for example, as shown in JP-A No. 62-217154. An object to be inspected may be used. In this case, the object to be tested whose ionic activity is to be measured is placed side by side with a plurality of long test films 3, and the liquid to be tested is sequentially spotted in small quantities onto them using one suction spotting means 5. is possible. In this case, it is desirable to arrange the object to be tested whose ion activity is to be measured at a position closer to the suction position P than any of the long test films 3.

It is necessary to spot the test liquid and the reference liquid within as short a time difference as possible, and for this purpose, the movement time of the suction spotting means 5 (time from test liquid spotting - washing - reference liquid suction → reference liquid spotting) ) because we want to make it as short as possible.

In addition, if multiple test objects are used, each of which requires almost the same amount of time as described above, but is shorter than that of any other test object, the frequency of use among those test objects It is preferable that the higher the value, the closer the suction device P is placed.

If this is done, when various items are measured at random, the probability of use of the object closer to the suction position P will be higher among the objects to be examined. If so, the overall moving distance of the suction spotting means 5, that is, the moving time will be shortened, and the efficiency of spotting work will be improved.

Further, in the embodiment described in E, the suction spotting means 5 is moved linearly, but the spotting nozzle part of the suction spotting means is made to rotate in a horizontal plane, and a plurality of spots are moved along the locus of movement. A test liquid container, a plurality of test objects, a centrifugation section, a washing section, etc. may be arranged, and the method of the present invention is applicable even in such cases.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in detail above, in the test liquid spotting method of the present invention, the test liquid is suctioned onto multiple test objects as the time required from test liquid spotting to item measurement is longer. Since the liquid to be tested is placed close to the suction position and the test liquid is applied sequentially to the test object starting from the one closest to the suction position, it is difficult to wait for the suction and spotting means (therefore, this method Accordingly, the efficiency of the test liquid spotting work is surely improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a biochemical analyzer for carrying out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of essential parts of the biochemical analyzer, and FIG. 3 is a line xx' in FIG. 2. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Biochemical analyzer 3... Long test film 5... Suction spotting means 7... Suction spotting nozzle 9... Moving means 100... Test liquid storage device 101...・Sample cup 102...Sample disk part 103...Cup for centrifugation

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Holding a plurality of objects to be inspected in a line, and moving a suction spotting means that has sucked the liquid to be inspected at a predetermined inspection liquid suction position in the direction in which the objects to be inspected are lined up,
In a test liquid spotting method in which the test liquid sucked into the means is divided into small portions and sequentially applied to a plurality of test objects, the plurality of test objects are A liquid to be tested is arranged such that the longer time it takes to measure an item, the closer it is to the suction position, and the liquid to be tested is sequentially applied to the test object starting from the one closest to the suction position. Dotting method.