JPH1090276A - Specimen examination automating system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To feed racks to plural automatic analysis devices to measure the same item in order to make the processing even. SOLUTION: The processing times of automatic analysis devices 21, 22, and 23 are forecasted by the specimen in rack buffers and the testing item, by the carring-in and carriny-out rack informations of rack buffers 11, 12, and 13, and the destination of a an offspring specimen rack 17 to make the processing even is instructed. And when an urgent measuring specimen is included in the offspring specimen rack 17, or when the processing time takes a time more than a prescribed value, no rack is fed to the rack buffers 11, 12, and 13, but a carrying-out instruction is given to a default line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sample test automation system for supplying sample racks to a plurality of automatic analyzers for measuring the same item.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in clinical tests, it has become essential to automate sample tests including pre-processing and post-processing of samples.

First, with the aging of the population and the promotion of advanced medical care, the number of specimen tests has been increasing. In such a situation, a sample test automation system in which a plurality of automatic analyzers of the same model are connected in parallel in order to process many samples within a predetermined time has been invented.

However, in the conventional sample test automation system, only sample racks are supplied to each automatic analyzer based on the number of racks supplied as parameters, and the state of the automatic analyzers and the accumulation of racks in rack buffers are not limited. No consideration was given.

[0005]

In the prior art, the delay of the supply-side supply rack due to the interruption measurement of the retest sample or the urgent sample in the automatic analyzer, and the degree of accumulation of the rack in the rack buffer due to the difference in the number of measurement items. There is a problem that the consideration is not taken into consideration, and the uniform output to the automatic analyzer and the result output time for the urgent sample cannot be guaranteed.

The present invention is a sample test automation system for supplying a sample sample in a rack system. The rack is supplied to a plurality of automatic analyzers for measuring the same item by the number of samples stored in a rack buffer and the number of measurement items. In the case of a rack containing a sample to be measured immediately, the processing time is determined and supplied to the rack buffer of the automatic analyzer that is measured first.
If the processing time is longer than a predetermined time, the goal is to carry out the processing to a default line and enable the priority processing in a manual system.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a processing time is determined from a sample in the rack buffer and the number of items to be measured by a rack to be loaded into the rack buffer and a rack to be unloaded from the rack buffer. And the processing time of the urgent measurement sample can be managed.

In a sample test automation system for supplying a sample sample in a rack system, a group of racks holding general samples is erected on a parent sample input section, and when the system is started,
The racks on which the sample samples of the parent sample input section are erected are sent out one by one onto the transport line, and the rack / sample identification device provided on the transport line reads the parent rack number and the sample identification number. It is carried to the dispensing position.

On the other hand, a child sample rack on which an empty sample cup is erected is also conveyed from the child sample input unit, the child rack number is read by the rack / specimen discriminator, and is conveyed on the conveyance line to the dispensing position. The required quantum sample is dispensed from the parent sample according to the measurement items, and the parent sample rack number and the sample identification number in the parent sample rack are transmitted to the information processing system as a dispensing result.

The information processing system manages the samples in the rack buffer based on the child sample rack number carried into the rack buffer in front of each automatic analyzer and the child sample rack number carried out from the rack buffer, and controls the measurement items of each sample. The processing time is determined, and the destination of the child sample rack is designated so that the processing can be performed evenly, thereby enabling the uniform processing. Further, when the processing time of the urgent measurement sample exceeds a predetermined time, the processing time of the urgent measurement sample can be managed by instructing the destination of the child sample rack to be carried out by the default line.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted block diagram of a sample test automation system for supplying a sample in a rack system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The sample test automation system is managed by an information processing system 30 including an external input / output device 31.

The sample transport section includes automatic analyzers 21, 22, 23 for measuring the same item in order to process a large number of samples at high speed.
Are connected in parallel.

The parent sample rack 7 on which the general sample is installed is installed on the parent sample input unit 5. After dispensing, an empty sample cup is placed in advance on the child sample rack 8 for measurement by the automatic analyzers 21, 22, 23, and the child sample rack is erected on the child sample input unit 4, and then the parent sample input unit 5 is started. When the SW is turned on, it is transported by the transport lines 14 and 15, and the rack / sample identification device 3 reads the parent / child sample rack numbers and the sample identification numbers affixed to the general sample containers. Stop at the dispensing position.

The dispensing station 2 makes a dispensing inquiry to the information processing system 30, and the information processing system 30 issues a dispensing instruction for a required dispensing amount for the measurement item. The dispensing process is performed from the parent sample rack 16 on which the general sample is placed to the child sample rack 17, and the result is stored in the information processing system 30, and based on the information, the automatic analyzers 21, 22, 23 Perform control.

The parent sample racks 16 after dispensing are sequentially stored in the sample storage unit 6 on the transport line 15.

In the conventional method, the child sample rack 17 after dispensing is used.
Only supplies a predetermined number of racks to the buffer lines 11 to 13 in order, and the automatic analyzers 21, 22, 22
There was no consideration of the state of No. 23 or the processing time depending on the measurement items.

As a result, for example, when the rack buffer 11 becomes full and a child sample rack 17 to be supplied to the rack buffer 11 is generated, the subsequent child sample racks 17 are in a state where the rack buffers 12 and 13 are empty. However, it was stagnant on the transport line and the processing capacity was reduced.

In the present invention, the rack buffers 11, 12,
The information processing system 30 manages the child sample rack numbers for loading and unloading into and out of the rack 13, and determines the required measurement time of the samples in the rack buffers 11, 12, and 13 and all the samples in the buffer according to the measurement items. , The processing time of each automatic analyzer was estimated. Further, the destination of the child sample rack 17 after dispensing can be instructed from the information processing system 30, and the destination is instructed so as to be measured evenly by the processing time.

If the child sample rack 17 contains an urgent measurement sample, the processing time is reduced by the input / output terminal 3.
If it takes longer than the urgent sample processing time designated from No. 1, the destination is carried out to the default line 1 and the operator is notified by an alarm sound and a patrol light.

[0022]

The present invention is a sample test automation system in which the same items are connected in parallel by a plurality of automatic analyzers. The processing time is sequentially calculated, the racks are supplied efficiently and evenly, and the processing capacity is prevented from deteriorating due to rack stagnation. Is effective.

Further, the processing time of the urgent measurement sample is managed,
When it is expected that it will take more than the specified time, it can be carried out to the default line and processed in a manual system, which is effective for priority processing of the measurement sample immediately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a sample test automation system to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Default line, 2 ... Note station, 3 ... Rack / sample identification device, 4 ... Subject sample input unit, 5 ... Parent sample input unit, 6 ... Parent sample storage unit, 7 ... Parent sample rack, 8 ... Child Sample racks, 11, 12, 13 ...
Rack buffers, 14, 15: transport line, 16: parent sample rack, 17: child sample rack, 30: information processing system, 31: external input / output device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of automatic analyzers for measuring the same item, a rack buffer for alleviating rack transport to the automatic analyzer, a dispensing station for dispensing samples, and a transport for transporting the samples. In a sample test automation system including a sample transport system consisting of a line and a default line for taking out urgent samples and an information processing system for inputting and outputting various parameters, if the urgent sample is contained in the rack, Obtain the measurable time, and if the time is longer than the time previously input as a parameter, carry it out to the default line without supplying it to the rack buffer in front of the automatic analyzer, and give an alarm sound and patrol light to the operator. Notifies the removal of the rack containing the urgent sample and performs priority measurement by manual operation Specimen test automation system according to claim Rukoto.