JPH06258327A - Measuring system using rotary reactor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a photometric system, of a rotary reactor, wherein photometry can be effected with high reproducibility. CONSTITUTION:In the measuring system of a rotary reactor, a plurality of reaction cells 4 are arranged on the circumference at the outer circumference of a turntable 1, a light source 5 and a spectral detector 6 are arranged so as to sandwich the reaction cells 4, and the quantity of light of the reaction cells is measured. In the measuring system, an encoder 3 is coupled to the turntable 1, signals of the spectral detector 6 are taken into whenever a definite displacement of the turntable 1 is detected by the encoder 3 they are integrated, and a measured value is output. Thereby, even when the speed of the turntable 1 is irregular, photometry can be effected with high reproducibility.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotation for arranging a plurality of reaction cells on the outer circumference of a turntable, and arranging a light source and a spectroscopic detector with the reaction cells sandwiched therebetween to measure the light quantity of the reaction cells. Reactor measurement method

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Used in fields such as clinical, chemical, and pharmaceutical,
In a biochemical automatic analyzer for analyzing a liquid sample such as serum or urine, a sample for introducing a sample and a reagent into a reaction cell, a reagent introducing step, a reaction step for stirring and reacting the introduced sample and a reagent, and a reaction The analysis of the specimen sample is completed by executing the measurement step of measuring the reaction solution, and the discharging and cleaning step of discharging and washing the measured reaction solution.
Therefore, in order to continuously perform such an analysis, it is common to arrange a large number of reaction cells at equal intervals on the same circumference of the rotating body and to provide a reaction system for intermittently moving the rotating body. Target.

For example, 30 to 40 reaction cells are installed on the circumference of a rotary reactor, and the reaction cells are washed and the cell blank is measured while rotating in one step for 12 seconds. Then, after that, a fixed amount (about 1 μl to 10 μl) of a sample (specimen) such as serum or urine is weighed from the cup transport section through a sample pipette and led to a sampling valve, from which the first reagent and the sample are separated into a reaction cell. Note. Further, the second reagent is also dispensed, the reaction is carried out with stirring for a certain period of time, and, for example, colorimetric measurement is performed by the detection unit, and the process is returned to washing and one cycle is completed. The colorimetric measurement data of the detection unit is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the analysis unit during this time, and then processed by the data processing unit to be stored in the memory and displayed on the CRT or the printer. Is output from.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example of a photometric system of a rotary reactor. In the rotary reactor, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a turntable 1 is connected to a rotation driving motor 2, and a plurality of reaction cells 4 are arranged at equal intervals on the outer circumference of the turntable 1. . Further, a photometric window 8 and a photometric start slit 9 are provided corresponding to the fixed position of the reaction cell 4. Further, at a certain position on the circumference of the turntable 1, a spectroscopic detector 6 and a light source 5 for photometry,
A measurement start timing sensor 7 is arranged. In the conventional photometric method of the rotary reactor, when the turntable 1 rotates and the photometric start slit 7 passes the photometric start timing sensor 7, photometry is performed after a lapse of a fixed delay time t. Therefore, by continuously rotating the turntable, the measured values for the reaction cells are obtained one after another.

[0005]

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a light amount monitor signal and a measured value, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between rotation of a turntable and a monitor signal, and FIG. 8 is a measuring method and measurement. It is a figure for explaining the difference with a value.

Focusing on one reaction cell, if the turntable 1 rotates and the photometric start slit 7 passes through the photometric start timing sensor 7 and the light quantity of the spectroscopic detector 6 is monitored for a fixed time, for example, A signal as shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. During this time, the reaction cell passes between the light source 5 and the spectroscopic detector 6 as shown in FIG. 7, and has a rising portion where the photometric window 8 enters the detection region and a falling portion where the photometric window 8 exits the detection region. Therefore, when the A / D conversion is performed t time after the signal of the photometry start timing sensor 7 is turned on, the light quantity at the point A near the center of the measurement area of the photometry window 8 is obtained as shown in FIG. . With the conventional photometric method,
Since the measured light quantity at point A is used as the measured value of the reaction cell, there is no reproducibility and there is a problem in measurement accuracy. The reason is as follows.

When the turntable 1 is rotated by a certain minute angle and stopped, and the amount of light when the stop is measured is measured and plotted, as shown in FIG. 8A, the rising portion and the falling portion are separated. Draw a smooth curve with the bottom of the pot inverted. However, when the light amount is measured at a constant time interval while rotating the turntable 1 and the waveform thereof is monitored, it becomes as shown in FIG. This is because the turntable 1 has uneven rotation.
Therefore, as described above, there is no reproducibility in the light amount A that is measured with a constant delay time t from the photometry start timing simply using the signal of the photometry start timing sensor.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a photometric system of a rotary reactor capable of photometry with high reproducibility.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the present invention, a plurality of reaction cells are arranged on the circumference of the outer circumference of a turntable, and a light source and a spectroscopic detector are arranged so as to sandwich the reaction cell, and the light quantity of the reaction cell is arranged. A measurement method of a rotary reactor for measuring
An encoder is connected to the turntable, and each time the encoder detects a constant displacement of the turntable, the signal from the spectroscopic detector is captured, integrated, and the measured value is output.

[0010]

In the rotary reactor measuring method of the present invention, the encoder is connected to the turntable, and every time the encoder detects a constant displacement of the turntable, the signal of the spectroscopic detector is captured and integrated to output the measured value. Therefore, even if the turntable has uneven speed, photometry with high reproducibility is possible.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of a measuring method for a rotary reactor according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of a signal processing system. In the figure, 1 is a turntable, 2 is a motor, 3 is an encoder, 4 is a reaction cell, 5 is a light source, and 6
Is a spectrum detector, 7 is a photometry start timing sensor, 8 is a photometry window, 9 is a photometry start slit, 11 is an A / D converter,
Reference numeral 12 represents an integration calculation unit.

In FIG. 1, the turntable 1 has a reaction cell 4 arranged on the outer periphery thereof, a photometric window 8 provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and a photometric start slit 9 provided at a position corresponding to each photometric window 8. It is a thing. At the measurement position, the light source 5 and the spectroscopic detector 6 are provided so as to face the inner side and the outer side of the reaction cell 4 and the photometric window 8, and the photometric start timing sensor 7 is provided so as to interpose the photometric start slit 9. Is provided. The encoder 3 is the turntable 1
It is attached to the rotation shaft of No. 2 to detect the displacement of the turntable 1 when it is rotated, and controls the A / D conversion timing of the spectroscopic detector 6. The photometric start timing sensor 7 detects the photometric start slit 9 to generate a photometric start timing signal.

With the above structure, when the turntable 1 rotates and the photometry start timing sensor 7 detects the photometry start slit 9, spectral detection is performed each time the encoder 3 detects a constant displacement according to the photometry start timing signal. The signal of the instrument 6 is A / D converted and the measured values are integrated.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the signal processing system.
The D converter 11 takes in the signal of the encoder 3 and the signal of the photometry start timing sensor 7, and when the photometry start timing signal is turned on, the signal of the spectroscopic detector 6 is A / D converted in synchronization with the pulse signal of the encoder 3. The integration calculation unit 12 performs integration processing and outputs it as a measurement value.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the output signal of the encoder, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the signal obtained from the spectroscopic detector.

The output signal of the encoder mounted on the rotary shaft of the turntable 1 is not a pulse train having a constant time interval as shown in FIG. 3, but a pulse train having a random interval. This indicates that the rotation of the turntable 1 has uneven speed and is not constant. Therefore, when the light quantity is measured according to the time from the photometry start timing with the horizontal axis as the time axis using the output signal of the encoder, the curve of the A / D conversion data as shown in FIG. 4A is obtained. However, if this is corrected to a constant displacement of the turntable 1 corresponding to the output signal of the encoder, and the horizontal axis is the displacement (A / D conversion data No.) to express the light quantity, as shown in FIG. A curve of the / D conversion data is obtained.

Therefore, when A / D conversion is performed in accordance with an encoder pulse as shown in FIG. 3 without using a fixed time interval as the A / D conversion cycle, the encoder pulse represents the displacement of the turntable. Therefore, A / D conversion is always performed at a constant turntable displacement point, and data in which the speed unevenness of the turntable is corrected can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, the photometry start timing sensor is used, but it is also possible to use encoder pulses at intervals of a plurality of pulses as the start timing without using this sensor. Further, when a signal having a level proportional to the speed is supplied from the encoder as the speed signal, the voltage / frequency converter may be used to generate the A / D conversion timing pulse.

[0018]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a plurality of A / D-converted values are integrated to obtain a measured value. Therefore, the same effect as when the measurement time is lengthened is obtained. It can be increased and the reproducibility can be improved. Moreover, since A / D conversion is performed in synchronization with the encoder pulse, even if there is unevenness in the rotation speed of the turntable, it is possible to obtain data with the corrected contents, and further improve reproducibility. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one example of a measurement method for a rotary reactor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a signal processing system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an output signal of an encoder.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a signal obtained from a spectroscopic detector.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example of a photometric method of a rotary reactor.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a light amount monitor signal and a measured value.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between rotation of a turntable and a monitor signal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a difference between a measurement method and a measurement value.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Turntable, 2 ... Motor, 3 ... Encoder, 4
... Reaction cell, 5 ... Light source, 6 ... Spectral detector, 7 ... Photometry start timing sensor, 8 ... Photometry window, 9 ... Photometry start slit, 11 ... A / D converter, 12 ... Accumulation calculation unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Minoru Inagi, 3-12 Musashino, Akishima-shi, Tokyo Nippon Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotary reactor measuring method in which a plurality of reaction cells are arranged on the outer circumference of a turntable, and a light source and a spectroscopic detector are arranged with the reaction cells sandwiched therebetween to measure the light amount of the reaction cells. So, connect the encoder to the turntable,
A measurement method for a rotary reactor characterized in that the signal of the spectroscopic detector is taken in and integrated every time when a constant displacement of the turntable is detected by the encoder and the measured value is output.