JPH07333189A - Error factor detecting method of automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the error factor of analytical data being output from an automatic analyzer, when an unknown sample is analyzed by the automatic analyzer, by pseudo-analyzing a known sample by the automatic analyzer, and by comparing the pseudo-analyzed data with the analytical data of the unknown sample. CONSTITUTION:A standard solution in which the ion concentration is previously known is used as a sample, and this standard solution is introduced into a flow cell 11 in the same procedure as the concentration measurement of a sample for obtaining measurement data. By comparing the measurement data obtained with the measurement data of unknown data, the factor of the measurement error is estimated. A CPU 23 instructs proper data correction, abnormal mark setting, or the like to a data processing unit 20 on the basis of the result of the cause estimation and the mutual comparison. The CPU carries out the analysis of the respective samples inside sample vessels with high accuracy, and when occasion demands, it carries out such a control as to instruct the temporary stop of various syringes, pumps, agitators, or the like and also to instruct the redoing of analysis, so that highly efficient sample analysis can be carried out without a waste of analysis.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for detecting an error factor of analytical data output from an automatic analyzer when an unknown sample is analyzed by the automatic analyzer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As means for automatically analyzing an electrolyte solution,
An electrolyte solution automatic analyzer is known in which an electrolyte solution as a sample is introduced into a measurement cell and the components of the electrolyte solution are automatically analyzed from the potential difference between an ion selective electrode and a reference electrode provided in the measurement cell.

Since such an automatic analyzer obtains the analytical data of the sample through various steps, it is not easy to estimate the cause when the analytical data has an error. As a method of estimating the error factor of the analysis data output from such an automatic analyzer, conventionally, a method of notifying the cause of the defect by using the self-diagnosis function of the device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 60).
No. 164244) or a method of estimating the presence of bubbles in the flow path by measuring the impedance between the electrodes (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-61246)
No. 173150) has been proposed.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned method is effective only for a specific cause, and is not suitable for estimating the error factor of analytical data obtained through various steps. In addition, there is a method of analyzing the test sample continuously in the analyzer as a test function of analysis accuracy, and a method of automatically calculating and displaying statistical values such as standard deviation, which can be used to solve problems of poor analysis accuracy. However, since many factors were involved in the data analysis as described above, it took skill to solve the problem. For this reason, when faced with problems in analysis accuracy, the operator of the device often spends a lot of time trying to find the cause by exchanging and maintaining suspicious parts by trial and error. Is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to detect an error factor of analysis data output from an automatic analyzer when an unknown sample is analyzed by the automatic analyzer. It is intended to provide a method of detecting an error factor of an automatic analyzer which can be performed.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention, when analyzing an unknown sample with an automatic analyzer, pseudo-analyzes a known sample with the automatic analyzer, It is characterized in that an error factor included in the analysis data of the unknown sample is detected by comparing with the analysis data of the unknown sample.

[0007]

In the above method, by comparing the analysis data of the known sample and the analysis data of the unknown sample output from the automatic analyzer, the error factor contained in the analysis data of the unknown sample can be estimated.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A schematic configuration of an electrolyte automatic analyzer using an ion selective electrode is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a sample container, 2 is a sample collecting nozzle for collecting a predetermined amount of a sample containing an unknown electrolyte solution contained in the sample container 1, and the sample collecting nozzle 2 collects the sample from the sample container 1. After the sample is dispensed into the diluting container 4, the diluting liquid container 5, the diluting liquid suction device 6, the diluting liquid feeding pipe 7, and the diluting liquid injection nozzle 8 are provided.
It is designed to be diluted to a predetermined concentration by a diluting liquid (which does not contain an electrolyte to be measured) that is dispensed into the diluting container 4 via the above.

Further, 9 is a suction nozzle for sucking the sample dispensed in the dilution container 4, and the sample sucked from the dilution container 4 by the suction nozzle 9 flows through a suction hose 10 and a flow cell 11 and is sucked. It is designed to flow into the pump 12.

The flow cell 11 is for measuring the ion concentration of the sample flowing into the suction pump 12. Inside the flow cell 11, ion selection for measuring the ion concentration of one or more kinds of electrolytes is performed. An electrode 13 and a reference electrode 14 are provided. Electrodes 13 and 1
The output obtained in 4 is sent to the data processing unit 20, digitized, and then displayed on the screen of the CRT 21 as a display unit and recorded on a predetermined paper by the printer 22.

The suction pump 12 is turned on / off.
By turning off, the sample can be made to stand still in the flow cell 11 or moved. The sample or the like after the measurement is collected from the flow cell 11 to the drainage storage unit 24 by the suction pump 12.

Further, 15 is a standard solution container, 16 is a standard solution suction device for sucking a standard solution containing a known amount of electrolyte contained in the standard solution container 15, and the standard solution container 15 is used by the standard solution container 15. The standard solution sucked from is passed through the standard solution feed pipe 17 and the standard solution injection nozzle 18 and is dispensed into the dilution container 4.

Further, 19 is a stirrer, for example, a stirrer having a propeller at the tip thereof as shown in FIG. 1 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed to mix the liquids.
The CPU 23 determines an abnormality based on the numerical value obtained by the data processing unit 20 and controls the entire device.

Reference numeral 25 denotes an injection pump for injecting the sample contained in the sample container 1 into the dilution container 4. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the measurement procedure when measuring the ion concentration of the sample contained in the sample container 1. As shown in FIG.
When measuring the ion concentration of the sample contained in the sample container 1, first, the sample contained in the sample container 1 is sampled by the sample collection nozzle 2, and the collected sample is dispensed into the dilution container 4. Next, after diluting the sample dispensed in the diluting container 4 with a diluting liquid and stirring with a stirrer (not shown), the diluted sample is passed through the suction nozzle 9 and the suction hose 10 to the flow cell 1
1, and the ion concentration of the sample is measured from the potential difference between the ion selection electrode 13 and the reference electrode 14. Next, the standard solution is dispensed into the dilution container 4, then introduced into the flow cell 11, and the potential of the standard solution is measured. From the measured potential difference, the concentration is calculated according to equation 1. Then, the measurement data as shown in Table 1 is printed out by repeating the above steps 10 times.

[0015]

[Table 1] The ion concentration of the sample is calculated by the following equation.

[0016]

[Equation 1]

The above is the procedure for measuring the ion concentration of the unknown sample contained in the sample container 1 (hereinafter referred to as analysis A). In one embodiment of the present invention, the unknown concentration contained in the sample container 1 is unknown. When measuring the ion concentration of the sample
Through pseudo analyzes B to D shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a method for finding a measurement error caused by the sampling nozzle 2. As shown in FIG. 3, in the pseudo analysis B, the standard solution contained in the standard solution container 15 is first analyzed. Dispense into the dilution container 4. Next, the dilution container 4
The standard solution dispensed into is diluted with a diluting solution and further stirred with a stirrer (not shown). It is measured from the potential difference between the ion selection electrode 13 and the reference electrode 14. Next, the standard solution is dispensed into the dilution container 4, then introduced into the flow cell 11, and the potential of the standard solution is measured. From the measured potential difference, the concentration is calculated according to equation 1. Then, the measurement data as shown in Table 2 is printed out by repeating the above steps 10 times. The measurement data shown in Table 2 may be doubled and the measurement data shown in Table 3 may be printed out.

In the pseudo-analysis B shown in FIG. 3, since the error of the sampling amount, which is usually the largest error factor, is not included in the analysis result, the measurement data shown in Table 1 and Table 2 are shown. By comparing with the measurement data, the measurement error caused by the sampling nozzle 2 can be found.

In the pseudo-analysis B, a standard solution dispensing error is added, but it is usually much smaller than the error in the sampling amount and can be ignored. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method for finding a measurement error caused by the diluent injection nozzle 8. As shown in FIG. 4, in this pseudo analysis C, the standard solution contained in the standard solution container 15 is used as the dilution container 4 And then the standard liquid dispensed in the dilution container 4 is sucked into the suction nozzle 9 and the suction hose 10.
And then introduced into the flow cell 11, and the ion concentration of the standard solution is measured from the potential difference between the ion selection electrode 13 and the reference electrode 14. Next, the standard solution is dispensed into the dilution container 4, then introduced into the flow cell 11, and the potential of the standard solution is measured. From the measured potential difference, the concentration is calculated according to equation 1. Then, by repeating the above steps 10 times, the measurement data as shown in Table 4 is displayed on the screen and printed out.

In the pseudo-analysis C shown in FIG. 4, since the sample dilution step and the stirring step are omitted, the measurement data shown in Table 3 and the measurement data shown in Table 4 are compared. The presence or absence of a measurement error caused by the diluent injection nozzle 8 or a stirring error caused by the stirrer 19 can be determined and found. The determination result thus obtained is displayed on the CRT 21 and is printed out by the printer 22.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method for finding a measurement error due to the flow cell 11. As shown in FIG. 5, in this pseudo analysis D, the standard solution contained in the standard solution container 15 is diluted with the dilution container 4 Then, the standard liquid dispensed in the diluting container 4 is introduced into the flow cell 11 via the suction nozzle 9 and the suction hose 10. The ion concentration of the standard solution is measured from the potential difference between the ion selection electrode 13 and the reference electrode 14. Furthermore, the potential measurement is repeated once again. By repeating the above-described double measurement 10 times without discharging the standard solution from the flow cell 11, the measurement data as shown in Table 5 is printed out.

In the pseudo-analysis D shown in FIG. 5, since the ion concentration of the standard solution introduced into the flow cell 11 is repeatedly measured 10 times, the measurement data shown in Table 4 and the measurement data shown in Table 5 are obtained. By comparing with, the measurement error due to the suction process to the flow cell 11 can be found. When the data obtained in the pseudo analysis D is bad, the electrical system and external noise are considered to be the measurement error factors.

The results of analysis A to analysis D described above may be displayed (or recorded) independently of each other, or may be displayed (or recorded) collectively in a list. In addition, since the reference value of the coefficient of variation (Cv value) in the pseudo analyzes B to D is displayed together with the result, the operator estimates the location of the cause of poor analysis accuracy depending on which pseudo analysis the reference value was exceeded. Is possible.

For example, when the analysis accuracy is poor and the pseudo analysis B exceeds the reference value, but the pseudo analysis C is within the reference value, it is estimated that there is a problem mainly in the diluting liquid dispensing accuracy. it can. This is because the difference between the pseudo-analysis B and the pseudo-analysis C is mainly whether or not the diluting liquid is dispensed, and the cause can be easily separated.

Further, as shown in Table 6, the device may judge whether or not the reference value is exceeded, and only the judgment result may be output. Further, the measurement results of the pseudo analyzes B to D may be compared with each other, and the results may be shown in a list as shown in Table 7, and the action to be taken next may be displayed (or recorded) at the same time. .

[0027]

[Table 2]

The CPU 23 instructs each of the samples in the sample container by instructing the data processing section 20 to perform appropriate data correction and abnormal mark setting based on the results of the above-described estimation of causes and mutual comparison. By performing highly accurate analysis, and in some cases, performing controls such as temporary suspension of various syringes, pumps, stirrers, etc., and instruction to restart analysis,
Highly efficient sample analysis without waste of analysis may be performed.

In this way, when a problem in dispensing accuracy occurs, a pseudo analysis that does not include a specific error factor is performed, so that the location of the cause can be easily estimated. Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, a statistical value of an analysis result, for example, a standard deviation is calculated and compared with an expected value of a normal device, and as a result, various messages can be issued to solve an operator problem. Therefore, prompt problem solving can be expected even if the operator's skill and skill are low.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an unknown sample is analyzed by an automatic analyzer, an automatic analyzer capable of detecting an error factor of analysis data output from the automatic analyzer. An error factor detection method can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic electrolyte analyzer using an ion selective electrode.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a measurement procedure when measuring the ion concentration of a sample.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an error factor detection method of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a flowchart showing a method for finding a measurement error caused by a sampling nozzle.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an error factor detection method of the automatic analyzer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and is a flowchart showing a method for finding a measurement error caused by the diluent injection nozzle.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an error factor detection method of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a flowchart showing a method for finding a measurement error caused by a flow cell.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sample container 2 ... Sampling nozzle 4 ... Diluting container 5 ... Diluting liquid suction device 8 ... Diluting liquid injection nozzle 9 ... Suction nozzle 11 ... Flow cell 12 ... Suction pump 13 ... Ion selection electrode 14 ... Reference electrode 15 ... Standard container 16 … Standard solution suction device 18… Standard solution injection nozzle

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. When analyzing an unknown sample with an automatic analyzer, a known sample is pseudo-analyzed with the automatic analyzer, and the pseudo-analysis data is compared with the analysis data of the unknown sample to analyze the unknown sample. A method for detecting an error factor in an automatic analyzer, comprising detecting an error factor included in 2. The method of detecting an error factor in an automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of analysis data obtained by performing the pseudo analysis a plurality of times are used. 3. The method of detecting an error factor in an automatic analyzer according to claim 2, wherein either the known sample dilution step or the introduction step is omitted and the analysis is repeated.