JPH0684365U - Reaction vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Accurately set the amount of buffer solution contained to eliminate measurement errors. [Structure] A suction port 15 is formed at a desired liquid level. Of the liquid injected inside, the surplus portion is sucked through the suction port 15.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a reaction container used to detect the amount of a specific component contained in a sample such as blood or urine.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, in a reaction container, a fixed amount of buffer solution was injected with a plunger pump, etc. and stirred with a built-in stirrer, and the sample was injected with a nozzle to detect the content of a specific component in the sample with a sensor. There is. Then, when this detection is completed, the buffer solution is forcibly discharged by a pump or the like, and thereafter, in the same manner, the injection of the buffer solution, the injection of the sample, the detection of the content of the specific component, and the buffer solution are performed. The discharge is done continuously.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the reaction vessel, although the buffer solution is forcibly discharged by a pump or the like, this buffer solution remains on the inner wall or the gap between the inner wall and the stirrer due to the influence of surface tension (1.9 cc). About 200 μl with respect to the buffer, that is, about 10% remains). Therefore, even if the injection amount of the buffer solution is constant, the previous residual amount is added and the desired amount is exceeded. In addition, since the residual amount varies from measurement to measurement, the amount of liquid in the reaction vessel varies, resulting in different dilution ratios of the sample, resulting in the problem that the content of the specific component in the sample cannot be accurately detected. . The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reaction container capable of eliminating a measurement error by accurately storing a buffer solution in a fixed amount.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a reaction container in which a buffer solution and a sample are injected to detect the content of a specific component in the sample, and a suction port is formed at a desired liquid surface height to form a surplus. It is designed to suck the liquid. Further, it is preferable that a measurement passage having a small cross-sectional area is formed above and the suction port is opened in the measurement passage.

[0005]

【Example】

 Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an analyte measuring device used to detect the glucose content in an analyte (blood). This sample measuring device generally comprises a reaction container 1, a buffer solution injecting / discharging mechanism 2 for injecting and discharging a buffer solution in the reaction container 1, and a sample injecting mechanism 3 for injecting a sample into the reaction container 1. Consists of.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reaction container 1 includes a lower container 4 and an upper container 5. The lower container 4 is provided with a concave portion 6 having a conical bottom surface, and a communication passage 7 extending downward is formed in the central portion of the bottom surface. As shown in FIG. 5, a buffer liquid inlet 8 and a buffer liquid outlet 9 are formed in the communication passage 7 in directions orthogonal to each other.

A conical concave portion 10 that covers the concave portion 6 is formed on the bottom surface of the upper container 5, and a sensor mounting hole 11 (see FIG. 3) is formed in the conical concave portion 10 from the top surface. The source sensor 12 (see FIG. 4) is inserted. This glucose sensor 12 has a structure in which a GOD (glucose oxidase) -immobilized membrane and a hydrogen peroxide electrode are combined, and by using GOD as a catalyst, β-D-glucose in the sample is oxidized and D- While changing to gluconic acid, hydrogen peroxide is generated, and the generated hydrogen peroxide is converted into an electric signal at the hydrogen peroxide electrode, and the glucose content is obtained from this electric signal.

An upper concave portion 13 is formed on the upper surface of the upper container 5. The upper recess 13 communicates with the conical recess 10 by a measuring passage 14. The cross-sectional area of the measurement passage 14 is smaller than that of the recess 6 of the lower container 4, and the suction port 15 is opened there. As shown in FIG. 1, the suction port 15 is connected to a drain tank 18 whose pressure is reduced by an air pump 17 via a control valve 16. The inner diameter of the suction port 15 is such that the buffer solution does not flow in unless the control valve 16 is opened to forcibly suction. The upper recess 13 is provided with a nozzle 13a for causing the buffer solution, which is excessively supplied to the reaction container 1 due to a malfunction or the like, to flow out to the overflow tank 19. The liquid in the overflow tank 19 is sucked by the cleaning liquid drain pump 21 through the in-line filter 20 and the check valve 22, and then discharged into the drain container 23 through the check valve 22.

The upper and lower containers 4 and 5 are positioned by a pin 24 and overlapped with each other while an O-ring 25 prevents liquid leakage. At this time, the stirrer 26 is rotatably housed inside. The stirrer 26 has a conical shape along the concave portion 6, and a permanent magnet 26a is embedded so as to be orthogonal to the central axis thereof. Further, a cross-shaped groove 26b is formed on the conical surface, and a rotary shaft 26c to be inserted into the communication passage 7 of the recess 6 is provided at the central portion so as to project.

A permanent magnet 28 rotated by a motor 27 is provided below the reaction vessel 1. The permanent magnet 28 has a substantially U-shape and both ends thereof are an N pole and an S pole. When the permanent magnet 28 is rotated by driving the motor 27, the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 28 rotates the stirrer 26 to stir the buffer solution.

The buffer solution injecting / discharging mechanism 2 is composed of a buffer solution injecting line 29 and a buffer solution discharging line 30. The buffer solution injection line 29 connects the buffer solution container 31 to the injection port 8 of the reaction container 1, and a buffer solution pump 32, a buffer solution delivery valve 33, and an incubation coil 34 are provided between them. The buffer solution feeding valve 33 communicates either the buffer solution container 31 and the buffer solution pump 32 or the buffer solution pump 32 and the reaction container 1. As the buffer pump 32, for example, a plunger pump can be used, and a fixed amount of buffer can be sucked and discharged. The above-mentioned incubation coil 34 is for heating the passing buffer solution to a predetermined temperature (37 ° C. in the present embodiment) (the respective valves and pumps to be described later have the same structure, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted). Available).

On the other hand, the buffer solution discharge line 30 connects the exhaust port 9 of the reaction container to the drain container 23, and an in-line filter 35, a buffer solution drain pump 36, and a buffer solution delivery valve 37 are provided between them. There is. The buffer drain pump 36 is driven in conjunction with the buffer pump 32.

The sample injection mechanism 3 includes a nozzle 38 movably provided by a drive mechanism (not shown), a sampling pump 39, a cleaning liquid valve 40, a cleaning liquid pump 41, and a cleaning liquid tank 42. The sample injecting mechanism 3 is configured such that the cleaning liquid pump 41 is driven to suck and discharge the sample, while the sampling pump 39 is driven to supply the cleaning liquid to the nozzle 38 to clean the nozzle 38. The cleaning solution pump 41 is driven in conjunction with the cleaning solution drain pump 21.

The sample measuring device includes a sample supply table 43 in which a plurality of test tubes respectively accommodating different samples are arranged side by side in addition to the respective constituent members, a cleaning tank 44 used for cleaning the nozzle 38, and a pair. Standard solution tanks 45 are provided respectively.

A standard solution container 48 is connected to each of the standard solution tanks 45 via a pump 46 and a check valve 47. Each standard solution container 48 contains a first standard solution and a second standard solution containing a predetermined amount of glucose. Then, the first standard solution and the second standard solution in each standard solution container 48 are supplied to each standard solution tank 45 by driving the pump 46.

The cleaning tank 44 is used to discharge the cleaning liquid from the nozzle 38 to clean the sample adhered to the inner surface of the nozzle 38 or the outer surface of the tip of the nozzle 38.

In the sample measuring device having the above-mentioned configuration, the glucose content of each sample is measured as follows. First, before measuring the glucose content, the above-mentioned first and second standard solutions are respectively injected into a buffer solution to determine the relationship between the sensor output of the glucose sensor 12 and the glucose content, that is, a calibration curve.

Next, the glucose content in each sample is measured. That is, the buffer solution pump 32 is driven to suck the buffer solution therein, the buffer solution delivery valve 33 is switched, and then the buffer solution pump 32 is driven again, whereby the suctioned buffer solution is incubated in the incubation coil 34. It is heated to 37 ° C. and charged into the reaction container 1.

In this case, the amount of the buffer solution to be injected is constant, but since the buffer solution remains in the reaction container 1 as described in the conventional example, the amount of the buffer solution after the injection is the same. There are variations. The liquid level of the buffer solution is located in the measurement passage 14 having a reduced cross-sectional area as shown in FIG. 6 (a), which is a large difference as compared with the case of being located in the recess 6 shown in FIG. Appears. Therefore, by opening the control valve 16, the excess buffer solution is discharged into the drain 18 whose pressure is reduced by the air pump 17 through the suction port 15. As a result, the amount of the buffer solution in the reaction container 1 is accurately adjusted to the desired amount.

Subsequently, the motor 27 is driven to rotate the permanent magnet 28 to stir the buffer solution with the stirrer 26. Then, the sample is injected into the reaction container 1 by moving the nozzle 38 and driving the sampling pump 39. In this case, since the buffer solution is adjusted to a constant amount as described above, the dilution rate does not vary. Therefore, the glucose sensor 12 can detect the glucose content from the sensor output based on the calibration curve with high accuracy.

Thereafter, the buffer drain pump 36 is driven to suck the liquid in the reaction container 1 into the buffer drain pump 36 via the in-line filter 35. At the same time, the buffer solution pump 32 is driven and the buffer solution is sucked into the inside thereof. As a result, when the buffer solution pumps 32 and 36 are driven again, the buffer solution sucked into the pump 32 is injected into the reaction container 1 and the liquid sucked into the pump 36 is discharged to the drain container 23. To be done.

Thereafter, similarly, the control valve 16 is opened so that the amount of the buffer solution injected into the reaction container 1 is always constant, the excess buffer solution is discharged from the suction port 15, and the next sample is injected. Then, the glucose content is measured by the glucose sensor 12, and then the glucose content is discharged through the discharge port 9.

However, the nozzle 38 needs to be washed before sucking the next sample. In this cleaning, the nozzle 38 is positioned in the cleaning tank 44, and the cleaning liquid pump 41 once sucks the cleaning liquid. Then, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the sampling pump 39 by switching the cleaning valve 40 and driving the cleaning liquid pump 41 again. After that, the sampling pump 39 is driven to discharge the cleaning liquid into the cleaning tank 44, thereby removing the sample attached to the nozzle 38. The cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank 44 is discharged into the drain container 23 via the overflow tank 19.

Although the reaction container 1 was used for measuring the glucose content in blood in the above-mentioned examples, it may be used for measuring other components, and other body fluids such as urine may be used. It can also be used as a sample. Further, a method of electrically detecting hydrogen peroxide generated like the glucose sensor 12 was applied to the reaction container 1 as a measuring means, but in addition to this, a method of detecting the transparency of the buffer solution, etc. It is possible to apply one freely selected according to the type of sample, buffer solution. Further, although the buffer solution is injected into the reaction container 1, a reaction solution which directly reacts with the sample may be injected.

[0025]

[Effect of device]

 As is clear from the above description, according to the reaction container of the present invention, since the suction port is provided at the predetermined liquid level, the buffer solution to be contained becomes an accurate fixed amount, and the reaction of the sample is prevented. It is possible to always perform under constant conditions, and the measurement error is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a sample measuring device according to the present embodiment.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the reaction container of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the reaction container in a direction orthogonal to FIG.

5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the container body according to this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reaction container, 14 ... Measuring passage, 15 ... Suction port, 16
... control valve, 17 ... air pump, 18 ... drain tank.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. In a reaction container in which a buffer solution and a sample are injected to detect the content of a specific component in the sample, a suction port is formed at a desired liquid level to suck excess liquid. A reaction container characterized in that 2. The reaction container according to claim 1, wherein a measurement passage having a small cross-sectional area is formed above and the suction port is opened in the measurement passage.