JPH0672847B2 - Chemical analyzer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a chemical analysis slide having a reagent layer, in which a substance to be measured is allowed to act at a constant temperature for a predetermined period of time, and then the degree of color change (the degree of pigment formation) is measured. The present invention relates to a chemical analyzer that optically measures and quantitatively analyzes a substance to be measured.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, quantitative analysis of a specific chemical component in a liquid sample has been widely performed in various industrial fields. Particularly, quantitative analysis of chemical components or formed components in product body fluids such as blood and urine is extremely important in the biochemical field and clinical field.

By the way, in recent years, a dry type chemical analysis slide has been developed which can quantitatively analyze a specific chemical component or a formed component contained in the sample solution by simply supplying a small amount of the sample solution. Practical use (Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-2167)
No. 7, JP-A-55-164356 shows an example of this chemical analysis slide). By using this chemical analysis slide, the sample liquid can be analyzed more easily and more rapidly than the conventional wet analysis method. Therefore, the slide can be used in medical institutions, laboratories, etc. that need to analyze a large number of samples. It is particularly preferably used.

In order to analyze the chemical components in the sample solution using the above-mentioned chemical analysis slide, attach a predetermined amount of the measured sample solution to the chemical analysis slide, and then set this in the incubator (incubator) in a predetermined manner. The sample is kept at a constant temperature (incubation) for a period of time to cause a color reaction (dye formation reaction), and then a measuring light containing a wavelength preselected according to the combination of the substance to be measured and the reagent contained in the reagent layer of the chemical analysis slide is applied. The slide is illuminated and its reflection optical density is measured. As a result, the substance to be measured such as the chemical component is quantitatively analyzed.

Various types of chemical analyzers for quantitatively analyzing a substance to be measured as described above have been conventionally proposed, but generally, an incubator having a slide storage chamber for maintaining the above-mentioned constant temperature is provided. Then, the temperature inside the incubator is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the temperature adjusting means including, for example, a heater, a temperature sensor, and a heater operation control circuit. When such an incubator is provided, a reading opening is usually provided in the slide storage chamber,
A read head for irradiating the reagent layer of the chemical analysis slide with measuring light to measure the reflection optical density thereof is formed so as to face the reagent layer of the slide in the storage chamber through the opening.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the chemical analyzer equipped with the incubator as described above, since air easily moves through the reading opening formed in the slide storage chamber, it is possible to maintain a constant temperature. At that time, the temperature in the slide storage chamber is likely to fluctuate. In this case, the temperature of the chemical analysis slide naturally fluctuates, and the predetermined constant temperature holding condition cannot be satisfied, so that the accuracy of the quantitative analysis deteriorates.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a chemical analysis device capable of accurately maintaining the temperature in the slide storage chamber of the incubator at a predetermined temperature.

(Means for Solving Problems) A chemical analyzer according to the present invention is a chemical analyzer provided with an incubator having a slide storage chamber provided with a reading opening as described above, and a read head. In the temperature control chamber, and a heater and a temperature sensor attached to the incubator, the first temperature control means for maintaining the temperature in the storage chamber at a predetermined temperature, and the heater and the temperature disposed in the temperature control chamber. A second device including a sensor for maintaining the temperature in the temperature control chamber at the predetermined temperature
It is characterized in that a temperature adjusting means is provided.

(Operation) In the above configuration, since the temperature inside the temperature control chamber is maintained at the predetermined temperature by the second temperature control means, a large temperature difference does not occur inside and outside the slide storage chamber. Therefore, even if the air moves through the reading opening of the slide storage chamber, the temperature inside the storage chamber does not change at all or is small, and the temperature change is small. It can be quickly eliminated by the temperature control means. In this way, by so-called double temperature adjustment, the chemical analysis slide in the slide storage chamber can be maintained at a predetermined temperature with extremely high accuracy.

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

FIG. 2 shows a chemical analysis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the main part of the apparatus without the case, and FIG. 4 is a II-shown in FIG. It is a front view showing a state where the present apparatus is viewed along the line II. As shown in the figure, this chemical analysis device has a cartridge loading unit 11 and a spotting device 30 on a case 10, and an incubator inside.
20 and a slide insertion / ejection means 40 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus includes a display unit 14 for displaying measurement data during measurement, operation keys 15 for operating this display, and a magnetic disk insertion unit 13 for recording. Although provided, FIGS. 3 and 4
These are omitted in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cartridge 2 loaded in the loading section 11 stores a plurality of unused chemical analysis slides 1 in a stacked manner. As shown in FIG. 5, this chemical analysis slide 1 has a dry multilayer film 1b in which a support, a reagent layer and a development layer are laminated in this order in a frame 1a having a circular hole for dropping a liquid sample. A predetermined amount of a sample (substance to be measured) such as urine and blood is dropped on the film 1b, and a constant temperature is maintained (incubation) to cause a color reaction. This chemical analysis slide 1 has a push-out lever 12 from the lowest one in the cartridge 2 one by one from the fog measuring unit 16
It is designed to be pushed out (see Fig. 3). The fog measuring unit 16 measures the reflection density (fog density) of the film 1b of the slide 1 before the substance to be measured is spotted, and determines the quality of the slide 1 according to the result.
Further, it is provided to correct the density measurement value of the slide 1 after the color reaction according to the fog density. Specifically, the fogging measuring unit 16 is composed of a frame body 16a having a measurement opening 16b at the bottom and a pressing member 16d biased downward by a spring 16c in the frame body 16a. A storage chamber 1 in which the slide 1 is stored between the upper surface of the bottom of the and the pressing member 16d.
6e is formed. A barcode reading means 18 for reading a barcode (not shown) attached to the slide 1 is provided on the slide insertion side of the storage chamber 16e. A reference white board 17W and a reference blackboard 17B for measuring the reference density for obtaining the reflection density of the slide 1 are arranged on the right side of the fog measuring section 16.

An incubator 20 is located on the further right side of the incubator 20. Inside the incubator 20, a plurality of storage chambers for storing and holding the slides 1 arranged in a line on the same plane as the chemical analysis slides 1 in the fog measuring unit 16 are arranged. 21, 21 ... 21 are formed. The incubator 20 is housed in the temperature control room 70. A tray 29 for receiving the used slide discharged from the storage chamber 21 is arranged in front of the temperature control chamber 70. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, below the incubator 20, there is arranged a reading head 50 facing the lower surface thereof and movable in the lateral direction (direction of arrow C). The reading head 50 is combined with a rail 51 fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate of the temperature control chamber 70, and is moved in the above direction by the driving force of a driving means (not shown) such as a linear motor. The rail 51 extends to below the fog measuring unit 16. Therefore, the reading head 50 can be moved to the fog measuring unit 16 so as to face the chemical analysis slide 1 in the measuring unit 16.

As shown in detail in FIG. 1 showing the cross-sectional shape along the line VV in FIG. 3, the incubator 20 is provided with a plurality of first heaters 71 along the respective storage chambers 21. Further, inside the incubator 20, a storage chamber 21
A first temperature sensor 72 is attached at a position close to. The temperature detection signal S1 output from the first temperature sensor 72 is input to the first control circuit 73, and the first control circuit 73 responds to the deviation between the measured temperature indicated by the temperature detection signal S1 and the predetermined set temperature T. Output the temperature control signal S2. The temperature control signal S2 is inputted to the heater operating circuit 74 supplies a heating current I ₁ to the heater 71, the heater operating circuit 74 is ON-OFF the heating current I ₁ on the basis of the temperature control signal S2 Or by changing the value, the temperature of the storage chamber 21 is maintained at the set temperature T. On the other hand, a plurality of second heaters 75 for heating the air in the room and a second temperature sensor 76 for detecting the temperature in the room are also provided in the temperature control room 70. Similarly to the above, the temperature detection signal S3 output from the second temperature sensor 76 is input to the second control circuit 77, and the temperature control signal S4 corresponding to this detection signal S3 is sent to the heater operating circuit 78 to generate the heating current.
The temperature of the air in the temperature control chamber 70 is maintained at the predetermined temperature T by controlling I ₂ . The temperature control chamber 70 is fixed on the bottom surface of the case 10 via a heat insulating material 80, while the incubator 20 is also held in the temperature control chamber 70 via a heat insulating material 81.

Chemical analysis slide 1 stored in incubator 20
Is the reading opening 21a formed on the lower surface of the storage chamber 21 for the color reaction of the sample and the reagent dropped on the film 1b.
Via a read head 50 for optical measurement. And at this time, the incubator 20 is urine,
In order to cause a color reaction of a sample such as blood, it is necessary to keep each chemical analysis slide 1 at a temperature (37 ° C.) substantially the same as the body temperature.

On the other hand, behind the incubator 20, there is arranged a slide insertion / ejection means 40 facing the entrance opening 21b of the storage chamber 20 and movable in the lateral direction (arrow A direction). The slide inserting / discharging means 40 is combined with a rail 49 fixed in the temperature control chamber 70, and is moved in the above direction by the driving force of a driving means (not shown) such as a linear motor. Not only 20 but also a position (position indicated by X in FIG. 3) facing the fog measuring unit 16 can be moved. Therefore, the chemical analysis slide 1 extruded from the fog measuring unit 16 by the extrusion lever 12
Can be received by the insertion / ejection means 40 moved to the X position. The slide insertion / ejection means 40 is movable in the temperature control chamber 70 in the direction of arrow A.

A spotting device 30 is arranged behind the slide inserting / discharging means 40. This spotting device 30 is laterally (arrow A) on the base 31.
36) and sample holders 34 that hold sample cups 36, 36, ... 36 and chips 35, 35 ,. The pipette 32 of the spotting device 30 is a base
It can be moved up and down (direction of arrow D) and forward and backward (direction of arrow B) with respect to 31, and the tip 35 is attached to the tip 35 and the substance to be measured in the sample cup 36 is attached to the tip 35. Inhalation in a prescribed amount
At 19, the substance to be measured is dropped and supplied onto the film 1b of the slide 1 on the inserting / ejecting means 40. In this case, the tip is replaced for each sample cup to prevent the substance to be measured in the sample cup 36 from mixing.

The chemical analysis slide 1 to which the substance to be measured is dripped and supplied in this manner is inserted into the predetermined storage chamber 21 by the slide insertion / ejection means 40 described above. Hereinafter, the slide holding structure of the slide insertion / ejection means 40 and the incubator 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The slide insertion / ejection means 40 includes a support block 41a that moves laterally (direction of arrow A) on the rail 49, and the support block 4a.
It consists of a support plate 41 placed on top of 1a. The support plate 41 includes a holding portion 45 for receiving the chemical analysis slide 1, step portions 43, 43 formed at both ends of the holding portion 45, and a pair of wedge-shaped insertion portions formed at the tips of the step portions. 43a, 43a,
It has a slide discharge protrusion 42 formed at the tip of the holding portion 45. When the slide inserting / discharging means 40 moves laterally on the rail 49 and reaches the Y position in FIG.
The film 1b of the chemical analysis slide 1 held by the
The substance to be measured is dropped and supplied onto the film 1b from the pipette 32 of the spotting device 30 through the opening 19a facing the opening 19a. Then, the film insertion / ejection means 40 moves again on the rail 49 and stops at the position where the chemical analysis slide 1 faces the storage chamber 21 in which the slide is to be stored and held. Support plate 41
Is movable back and forth (in the direction of arrow E) on the support block 41a, and the chemical analysis slide 1 held by the support plate 41 by this movement is stored in the storage chamber 21 of the incubator 20 (27).
It is inserted in (28).

The incubator 20 includes a supporting member 24 having a reading opening 21a for supporting the inserted chemical analysis slide 1, a pressing member 22 facing the supporting member 24 and movable up and down, and the pressing member 22 downward. Biasing spring 23 and pressing member
A main body member 25 that movably supports 22 and a stopper leaf spring 26 attached to the inlet opening 21a portion of the storage chamber 21. In the following, the chemical analysis slide 1 that has already been read is stored and held in the storage chamber 21, and the slide is inserted.
The operation of the means 40 and the incubator 20 when replacing with the new chemical analysis slide 1 on the discharging means 40 will be described. The chemical analysis slide 1 in the storage chamber 21 is a spring.
It is held between the support member 24 and the pressing member 22 by the urging force of 23. When the support plate 41 moves forward (to the left in FIG. 1), the wedge-shaped insertion portion 43a first moves the two members 22 and 2 together.
4 and the pressing member 22 is pushed upward to release the chemical analysis slide 1 from being held. Then, the slide discharge protrusion 42 contacts the rear end of the chemical analysis slide 1 in the storage chamber 21, pushes the slide 1 forward, and finally slides the slide 1 through the opening 70c of the temperature control chamber 70 into the tray 29. To discharge. At this time, the new chemical analysis slide 1 held by the holding portion 45 of the support plate 41 is located at a predetermined position in the storage chamber 21, and here, the new chemical analysis slide 1 is formed at the rear end of the holding portion 45 of the support plate 41. Leaf spring for stopper in pair of recesses (not shown)
26 goes in. Then, when the support plate 41 is pulled back rearward, the stopper leaf spring 26 comes into contact with the rear end surface of the chemical analysis slide 1 and blocks its movement, so that the support plate 41
Only the slide returns, and the slide 1 is held between the support member 24 and the pressing member 22 in the storage chamber 21.

Next, the operation of the chemical analyzer configured as described above will be described step by step. First, the lowest slide 1 of the chemical analysis slides 1 stored in the cartridge 2 loaded in the cartridge loading unit 11 in an overlapping manner is pushed out by the push-out lever 12, and is stored in the storage chamber 16e of the fog measurement unit 16. . At this time, the barcode of the chemical analysis slide 1 is read by the barcode reading means 18. Then, the reading head 50 is moved to a position facing the measurement opening 16b of the fog measuring unit 16, and fog measurement of the slide 1 before the substance to be measured is spotted is performed. During this movement, the reading head 50 faces the reference white board 17W and the reference blackboard 17B and measures their reflection densities respectively. This measurement result is used as a reference concentration for obtaining the reflection concentration of the chemical analysis slide 1.

When the fog measurement is performed, the chemical analysis slide 1 is pushed out of the fog measurement section 16 by the pushing lever 12,
Slide insertion / ejection means moving to the X position in FIG.
It is transferred onto the holding unit 45 of 40.

Then, the slide insertion / ejection means 40 moves to the right on the rail 49 and faces the pipette 32 of the spotting device 30 (third position).
Move to (Y position in the figure). Here, the substance to be measured in the sample cup 36 is inserted by the pipette 32 as described above.
Film of chemical analysis slide 1 held by ejecting means 40
It is dripped on 1b.

After that, the slide insertion / ejection means 40 moves laterally (in the direction of arrow A) on the rail 49 and stops at a position facing the predetermined storage chamber 21 of the incubator 20. Next, the chemical analysis slide 1 is inserted into the storage chamber 21 as described above. Since the inside of the storage chamber 21 of the incubator 20 is maintained at the predetermined temperature T by the first heater 71, the first temperature sensor 72, the first control circuit 73, and the heater operating circuit 74 as described above, it is stored here. The chemical analysis slide 1 is kept at a constant temperature (incubation) at the temperature T. After the isothermal holding, the chemical analysis slide 1 is irradiated with measurement light from the reading head 50 that has moved to the lower part of the storage chamber 21 through the reading opening 21a, and the amount of reflected light is measured. Thereby, the reflection optical density of the film 1b of the slide 1 is measured, and the substance to be measured dropped on the film 1b is quantitatively analyzed. When this measurement is completed, the chemical analysis slide 1
Receiving tray 29 from storage chamber 21 by slide insertion / ejecting means 40
Is discharged inside. Hereinafter, by repeating the above-mentioned operation, chemical analysis using many chemical analysis slides can be automatically and continuously performed.

Here, a reading opening is provided in the storage chamber 21 of the incubator 20.
21a is provided, so the storage room passes through this opening 21a.
21 It is easy for the outside air to flow in. When there is such movement of air, the temperature inside the storage chamber 21 is
Although it is controlled by the temperature adjusting means including the first temperature sensor 72, the first control circuit 73, and the heater operating circuit 74, it is likely to change temporarily. However, in this device, the entire incubator 20 is housed in the temperature control chamber 70, and the air temperature in the temperature control chamber 70 is controlled to the predetermined temperature T. Is almost absent. Therefore, even if the air moves as described above, there is little or no temperature fluctuation in the storage chamber 21, and this temperature fluctuation can be promptly resolved.
That is, the temperature of the chemical analysis slide 1 in the storage chamber 21 is maintained at the predetermined temperature T with high accuracy.

Further, in the present embodiment, the incubator 20 has the heat insulating material 81.
Since the temperature control chamber 70 is held in the incubator 20 and the temperature control chamber 70 via the heat insulating material 80, the heat escapes from the incubator 20 and the holding part of the temperature control chamber 70 to the outside. It's getting harder. Therefore, it is effectively prevented that the temperature of the storage chamber 21 near the holding portion becomes lower than that of the other storage chambers 21.

In the above embodiment, the slide insertion / ejection means 40
However, the temperature control chamber 70 may be made small enough to accommodate only the incubator 20. In that case, slide insertion / discharge means in the temperature control chamber 70
It suffices to provide a small opening through which the tip of 40 can pass. However, if the slide insertion / ejection means 40 is also stored in the temperature control chamber 70 as in the above embodiment, the storage chamber
Since the chemical analysis slide 1 is preheated before being sent into the inside 21, it is preferable that the temperature variation in the storage chamber 21 is further unlikely to occur. This is true not only for the storage chamber 21 into which the slide 1 is fed, but also for the storage chamber 21 adjacent thereto. In other words, the temperature of the slide 1 that is kept at a constant temperature in a certain storage chamber 21 is prevented from lowering due to the low temperature slide 1 being newly inserted into the adjacent storage chamber. In addition, the temperature control room 70 is normally heat insulating material 80 as described above.
It is difficult to accurately align the incubator 20 disposed inside the temperature control chamber 70 and the slide insertion / ejection means 40 disposed outside the temperature control chamber 70 because they are supported via However, if the slide insertion / ejection means 40 is housed in the temperature control chamber 70 together with the incubator 20, the slide insertion can be reliably performed without causing such a problem.

Further, in the above embodiment, the chemical analysis slides 1 are arranged in a line in the incubator 20 and the read head 50 is moved to measure the reflection optical density of the slide 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Of a chemical analysis device having a reading section having the structure described above, that is, a chemical analysis apparatus in which a turret of the formula sequentially feeds the chemical analysis slides to a fixed reading section, or an incubator having only one storage chamber instead of the chemical analysis slide. The same can be applied to a chemical analysis device or the like in which the sheets are fed one by one. Also, the first temperature sensor 72 and the second temperature sensor
It is also possible to provide a plurality of 76 at appropriate positions and determine the average value of the output from each sensor and determine the temperature of the storage chamber 21 and the temperature in the temperature control chamber 70, respectively.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the substance to be measured is automatically spotted by the spotting device 30 in the spotting part 19, but the substance to be measured may be spotted manually by using a micropipette or the like. Good.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the chemical analysis apparatus of the present invention, the temperature fluctuation in the incubator can be suppressed to a very small degree, so that the chemical analysis slide accommodated in the incubator can be stably and predeterminedly provided. It becomes possible to maintain a constant temperature, which greatly improves the accuracy of quantitative analysis.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the main part of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the apparatus according to the above embodiment, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a chemical analysis slide used for chemical analysis using the apparatus of the present invention. 1 …… Chemical analysis slide, 19 …… Spotting part 20 …… Incubator, 21 …… Storage room 21a …… Reading opening, 30 …… Spotting device 40 …… Slide insertion / ejection means 50 …… Reading head, 70 ... Temperature control room 71 ... First heater, 72 ... First temperature sensor 73 ... First control circuit, 74, 78 ... Heater operating circuit 75 ... Second heater, 76 ... Second temperature sensor 77 …… Second control circuit, 80,81 …… Heat insulation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An incubator having a storage chamber for storing a chemical analysis slide on which a substance to be measured is dripped and supplied on a reagent layer and holding the chemical analysis slide at a constant temperature, and a reading opening formed in the storage chamber. A chemical analysis device comprising: a read head that faces the reagent layer of the chemical analysis slide housed in the housing chamber through the chamber, and irradiates the reagent layer with measurement light to measure the reflection optical density thereof. A first temperature adjusting unit that stores the incubator in a temperature control chamber, includes a heater and a temperature sensor attached to the incubator, and maintains the temperature of the storage chamber at a predetermined temperature; and arranges the temperature control chamber in the temperature control chamber. And a second temperature control means for maintaining the temperature of the room at the predetermined temperature. 2. The temperature control chamber is held in the chemical analysis apparatus main body via a heat insulating material, while the incubator is held in the temperature control chamber via a heat insulating material. The chemical analyzer according to claim 1. 3. The chemical analysis device according to claim 1, wherein a slide transport system for feeding the chemical analysis slide into the storage chamber is stored in the temperature control chamber. .