JPS5883232A - Device for measuring characteristic of red blood cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a device which measures the characteristics of red blood cells such as the number, speed and ratios of passing red blood cells while a prescribed pressure difference is held applied upon a filter having pores of around 3mu diameter in the lower part by increasing the thickness of the side wall of a detector partly to deviate an internal space and a detecting hole, providing a pressure detecting element serving also as an electrode in the side wall on the thick wall side by projecting the bottom end thereof from the detector and further fitting an adapter fixed with said filter in the lower part to the bottom end of the detector. CONSTITUTION:A part of the side wall 5 of a detector 3 is formed thick by which an internal space and a detecting hole 4 is deviated. A pressure detecting element serving also as an electrode 6 is provided in the wall 5 by projecting the bottom end thereof from the detector 3, and an adapter 8 fixed with a filter 7 having pores of around 3mu diameter in the lower part is fitted to the bottom end of the detector 3 having the hole 4. A disc 9 consists of a hard material such as rubby or sapphire having the hole 4. The disc 9 is fixed to the bottom end of the detector 3 made of glass or a synthetic resin and the hole 4 is used as an electrical circuit. A porous membrane filter or the like which is subjected to a paraffin treatment except for the required number of pores is used for the filter 7. If pressure is applied in the space sandwiched by the hole 4 and the filter 7 through the inside of the detector 3 by operating a fluid controller 12, red blood cells pass through the filter 7 according to their deforming ability on account of a prescribed pressure difference, are detected by each piece with the detector 3 and are counted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the properties of red blood cells, particularly the ability of red blood cells to deform into various states when passing through capillaries, ie, deformability.

Among the various characteristics of red blood cells, red blood cells constantly circulate within blood vessels and have a diameter of approximately 8 μm, whereas red blood cells have a diameter of several μm.
Red blood cells pass freely through the small capillaries, but this is because red blood cells have deformability, and examining this deformability can be useful in diagnosing microcirculatory disorders. On the other hand, one of the methods for quantifying the deformability of red blood cells is
One method is to measure the pressure relief (suction pressure) required for the red blood cells to be sucked into a glass capillary of about 3 μm using a constant pH and osmotic pressure, or another method is to pass red blood cells through a porous filter of about 3 to 5 μm. However, the former method involves measuring a single red blood cell under a microscope, and the measurement result does not necessarily represent the average value for all red blood cells, and requires skill. It's practical and social.

Although the latter allows obtaining an average value for a large number of red blood cells, it is affected by errors due to the disintegration of red blood cells, the viscosity of the liquid in which the red blood cells are suspended, temperature, etc., and it cannot be concluded that the flow rate is necessarily a parameter related to deformability. There were drawbacks. In addition, both methods require half-opening for measurement, and the time required for measurement per sample is quite long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is a particle detection device that detects red blood cells based on the electrical difference between the red blood cells and the diluent by passing a blood diluent through a detection hole provided on the lower surface of the detector. By increasing the thickness of a part of the side wall of the detector, the inner space and detection hole are provided eccentrically, and a pressure detection element and electrode is provided within the thick inner wall so that its lower end protrudes from the detector. By fitting an adapter to the lower end of the detector having a detection hole to which a filter having a number of holes with a diameter of around 3μ is fixed at the bottom, the blood diluted liquid can be transferred to the filter, the pressure detection element/electrode, the detection hole, the interior of the detector, and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for measuring the characteristics of red blood cells that allows the red blood cells to pass through a fluid control device in order and determine the number, speed, ratio, etc. of red blood cells passing through a filter with a predetermined pressure difference applied.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the entire apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows the bottom of the detector, FIG. 3 shows the bottom of the adapter, and FIG. 4 shows the detection hole and filter area. 1 is a particle detection device, in which the blood diluent 2 is passed through a hole with a diameter of 100μ provided on the bottom surface of the detector 3.
It is configured to allow the red blood cells to pass through the front and rear detection holes 4 and detect the red blood cells based on the electrical difference between the red blood cells and the diluent. A portion of the side wall of the detector 3 is formed to be thick, and the internal space and the detection hole 4 are eccentric. A pressure sensing element/electrode 6 is provided within the thick inner wall 5 of the detector, with its lower end protruding from the detector. Furthermore, at the lower end of the detector having the detection holes 4, a swallowtail filter 8 is fitted, to which a filter 7 having a number of holes with a diameter of about 3 μm is fixed. This disc is made of a hard material such as ruby-sapphire and has nine detection holes 4. The disc 9 is fixed to the lower end of a detector 3 made of glass or synthetic resin, and the detection holes 4 serve as electrical circuits. 10 is an internal electrode, 11 is a sample container, 12 is a fluid control device, 13 is a detection circuit, and 14 is a counting circuit.

The filter 7 is a porous membrane filter or the like that has been treated with paraffin to remove the necessary number of pores, and is fixed to an adapter 8 for fixing the filter. The adapter 8 has a cylindrical container shape with the filter 7 fixed to the bottom,
The inner diameter is large enough to fit into the lower end of the detector 3. The fluid control device 12 also includes a manometer, a pump, etc., and turns the pump on and off using the manometer contacts.
It is configured to generate a predetermined suction force. Detection circuit 13R detects red blood cells and simultaneously detects pressure.

Therefore, the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the filter is detected by the pressure detection element/electrode 6, and converted into a pressure control signal by the detection circuit 13. The pump of the multi-fluid control device 12 is controlled by this control signal, and the filter 7 is controlled regardless of the internal pressure of the detector 3.
and the detection hole 4 at a certain pressure, for example, 200W.
Hold at Hg. Therefore, in the device of the present invention,
A predetermined pressure difference can be applied across the filter regardless of the number of meshes in the filter 7, but if the opening area is too large, the predetermined pressure difference cannot be obtained. On the other hand, the outer cylinder of the pressure detection element/electrode 6 is made of a metal such as a stainless steel pipe and protrudes from the tip of the detector 3, thereby serving as the external electrode.

In the device configured as described above, the fluid control device 1
When the sensor 2 is activated and a predetermined pressure is applied to the space between the detection hole 4 and the filter 7 through the inside of the detector 3, the blood diluent 2 in the sample container 11 is sucked through the filter 7. Since the filter 7 is made of a material having a large number of gap diameters of about 3 μm, red blood cells having a diameter of about 8 μm are deformed in order to pass through the gaps, and red blood cells that do not have deformability cannot pass through the filter 7. The red blood cells that have passed through the filter are sequentially drawn into the detector through the detection hole 4. At this time, each red blood cell is detected and counted based on the difference in electrical impedance between the red blood cell and the diluent. It passes through the filter 7 according to the deformability with a predetermined pressure difference, and is detected and counted one by one by the detector 3, so the parameter of the number of blood cells detected within a predetermined time or a predetermined volume of liquid is aspirated. The parameters of the time required for deformation and the number of red blood cells are each useful as they relate to the deformability of red blood cells. Furthermore, both the seven-filter adapter 8 can be removed from the tip of the detector 3, and it is suitable to use a soft synthetic resin molded product that fits on the tip of the detector 3. Further, the filter can be disposable along with the adapter, and it is also possible to wash it by backflowing distilled water and reuse it. By removing the filter along with the adapter from the tip, conventional blood cell counting is also possible.
The percentage of red blood cells passing through the filter can also be easily determined.

As explained above, according to the apparatus of the present invention, the deformability of red blood cells can be determined easily and accurately, and by making the internal space of the detector and the position of the detection hole eccentric,
Because there is a space for embedding the pressure sensing element/electrode and it also serves as both the pressure sensing element and external electrode, space can be used effectively and the pressure sensing element/electrode can be placed in the optimal position. be effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a cross-sectional pig showing one embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a detection hole and a filter portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] l In a particle detection device that detects red blood cells based on the electrical difference between the red blood cells and the diluent by passing a blood diluent through a detection hole provided on the bottom surface of the detector, a part of the side wall of the detector is made thicker. By doing so, the inner space and the detection hole are provided eccentrically, a pressure detection element/electrode is provided in the thick inner wall so that its lower end protrudes from the detector, and a lower part is provided at the lower end of the detector having the detection hole. 1. A device for measuring the characteristics of red blood cells, characterized in that an adapter having a filter fixed thereto having many pores with a diameter of about 3 μm is fitted into the adapter.