JPS6035894Y2 - automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the device] This device sequentially sucks up the reaction sample liquid in a large number of reaction vessels in constant temperature water into a sample cell whose temperature is the same as that of the constant temperature water, and performs various analysis such as absorption spectroscopy. This invention relates to an automatic analyzer for measuring the concentration, particularly to improvements in its sample liquid suction device.

Generally referred to as a discrete type automatic analyzer, it is used in hospitals etc. to quantitatively analyze a large number of samples across a number of test items in a short period of time, quickly provide test results, and diagnose liver disease, myocardial infarction, etc. Analyzers used in a wide range of fields, such as clinical and biochemical analyzers that measure enzyme activity in the blood, which is essential for human health, and other pharmaceutical research, are comprised of various devices using conventional methods.

In other words, a sample supply device that divides each sample, such as serum, into 50 to 10 sample tubes, sucks up a certain amount of the test sample liquid from the sample tube, dilutes it with distilled water, and reacts. A quantitative sampling device for collecting into a container, c. A reagent dispensing device for dispensing a reagent of rnL order into the sample in the reaction container (c).
1 and 2) in FIG. It is comprised of a transfer means that is placed on a conveyor 5 and moved step by step in the direction of arrow a by rotating a drive device 6 according to a preset program.

The test sample liquid 4 is transferred to the reagent dispensing device 1 as shown in FIG.
, 2, and then stirred, and heated to a constant temperature by constant temperature water 8 supplied from constant temperature water tank 7 by circulation pump P.

The reaction sample liquid 4' that has undergone reaction treatment or is undergoing reaction is sucked up by the sample suction tube 10 by the operation of the sample suction control electromagnetic valve 9, and is transferred to the sample cell 12 of the spectrophotometer 11 for visible light and ultraviolet light. be introduced.

The measured absorbance is then processed by a data processing device and displayed on a printer.

In addition, in FIG. 1, an air bath (sealed box) 16 surrounding the sample suction tube 10 and related equipment 19, 20, 21 are shown.
, 22, and 23 are not present in the conventional device, but the conventional device only has a vertical movement mechanism 17, which will be described later.

After discarding the remaining liquid, the reaction container 3 is turned upside down and moved to the lower stage (
While moving in the direction of force a', it is washed and dried by tap water 13, distilled water 14, and hot air 15, and is returned to the original sample collection position by a drive device on the left side (not shown).

The above is a general explanation of the configuration and operation of a discrete automatic analyzer centered on a Cheno-conveyor type reaction processing device. There is no air bath 16 surrounding between 10a and 10b, and the sample suction tube 10 is normally directly exposed to room temperature for a distance of 40 to 50 cm.

In addition, in order to prevent mutual contamination by different samples in the sample cell 12, the sample suction tube 10 sucks room air before sucking up the sample, so that the inner wall of the tube absorbs the heat of evaporation (heat of vaporization) of the previous residual liquid. further cooled by

The reaction sample liquid 4' passing through the sample suction tube 10 cooled in this way is collected by the constant temperature water 8 in the reaction line.
Although the temperature was controlled to a predetermined temperature of 37°C ± 0.1°C (standard temperature for this type of analysis), the temperature dropped by 1 to 3°C from that temperature.

Now, if the temperature remains lowered by 1°C, the enzyme activity value (mu/
ml) (measure the enzyme reaction rate from the change in absorbance to determine the amount of enzyme present), it is minus 7 to 8%.
In addition, even in colorimetric analysis of samples where the reaction has been completed before absorption, if the temperature coefficient of absorbance is large depending on the type of sample, the measurement may be incorrect. Errors become a problem.

In order to eliminate these errors and obtain correct measurement values,
Reaction sample liquid 4 whose temperature has decreased in the sample suction tube 10
', a heater and a temperature sensor are provided in the sample cell 10, and the sample cell temperature controller 18 is used to maintain the same temperature as the constant temperature water at 37°C±.
An absolute condition is to measure after returning the temperature to 0.05°C.

For this reason, the waiting time for temperature rise of about 3 or more is a major obstacle to improving measurement efficiency in conventional automatic analyzers of this type.
In particular, the above-mentioned enzyme activity measurement is inefficient, measuring at most 4 enzymes per hour per cell, and there has been a strong demand for countermeasures against this problem.

This idea was made in view of the above-mentioned current situation,
In an automatic analyzer that performs absorption spectroscopic analysis by sucking up a sample whose temperature has been controlled by a constant temperature water bath through a sample suction tube (suction capillary) into a sample cell whose temperature is controlled to the same temperature as the constant temperature water, the above sample suction tube is used. The surrounding area is sealed and the air temperature inside is controlled to an appropriate temperature higher than the temperature of the constant temperature water.

With the above configuration, it is possible to eliminate the temperature drop during the introduction of the reaction sample liquid from the reaction container into the sample cell, and the above-mentioned wasteful waiting time for temperature rise in the sample cell section can be reduced to almost zero.

Hereinafter, embodiments of this invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a part of the configuration of a discrete automatic analyzer that is an embodiment of this invention.

In the figure, the sample suction tube 10 has an inner diameter of ITrr! n, made of Teflon tube with an outer diameter of 277a, and 10a
10b has a length of 40 to 50 crrL as described above, and the air bath 16 is about 20 to 3 cm long made of a transparent synthetic resin board (vinyl chloride board) located above the reaction line.
It goes without saying that the 0Crn cubic sealed box allows for the above-mentioned intermittent up and down movement of the sample suction tube 10.
A thermistor 19, a heater 20, and an in-bath stirring fan 21 are built in, and an air bath temperature controller 22 controls the heater 20 to an appropriate temperature t, which will be described later, based on the detected value of the thermistor 19.

23 is a small motor for driving the fan 21.

In addition, the amount of the reaction sample liquid 4' just before inhalation in this embodiment device is 10 to 50μ of serum, 200p of diluted distilled water, 1.2ml of the first reagent, 0.3mL of the second reagent, and the second reagent is injected. In some cases, the total amount is 1.4 to 1.7rrLL.

In addition, the standard feeding speed of the reaction container 3 is 1 per step (variable), and the time from sample collection to suction is 7 minutes, during which time 4 containers each are lined up 2Fy11 as shown in are being sent sequentially.

Note that the amount of sample in the sample suction tube 10 in this device is approximately 300 μl.

Next, the structure and other details regarding the sample cell of this example device will be supplemented.

The sample cell 12 is small, measuring 3rrrJn square and 15cm tall.
The sample storage capacity is approximately 130p, 1, and since the reflected light is used to transmit the light three times, the effective optical path length is 9rrrfIL.

Six of these 1212 sample cells were housed in copper blocks with good thermal conductivity (one control cell was housed in the center), and a heater and a platinum temperature-measuring resistance element were embedded in this copper block.

As mentioned above, since the sample cell 12 is small, 3
The temperature of the sample inside the cell can be adjusted with a high accuracy of 7°C±0.05°C using the temperature controller 18.

The reason why 12 sample cells 12 are provided is to simultaneously measure one test item.

Next, the relationship between the temperature in the air path and the sample temperature in the sample cell will be explained with reference to Figures 2-A and 2-B.

Figure 2-A shows the air bath internal temperature t (°C) (horizontal axis) and the internal cell sample temperature under the normal conditions for air suction (air purge) described above for the sample suction tube 10. The relationship diagram with the response time T (Sec) (vertical axis) to reach the predetermined value, and Figure 2-B are the above relationship diagrams under the condition of no air purge. show.

The air purge conditions in Figure 2-A are 0.4 kg/c7I of humid air at 28-30°C! The sample temperature in the sample suction tube 10 is higher than that of 3TO.

As can be seen from both figures, if air purge is not used, if the air bath temperature t is controlled to 38°C, then
00 μl of the sample is heated, and the sample temperature in the sample cell immediately reaches the target value of T,' = 36.9°C. However, when air purging is performed, the sample suction tube 10 is cooled by that much, so the air purge is Unless the bath temperature t is about 40'C, it will not be the same as above, 36.9°C.

In addition, the trend line at T1 = 36.9'C in Figure 2-A shows that the response time T is type 2 at an air bath temperature of 35°C, which indicates that the response time T is type 2 at 37°C at which measurement can be started using the conventional device. It proves that it took a lot of waiting time to reach +0.1°C (precisely ±0.05°C).

In other words, in the absence of an air bath, even if it is located above the hot water (37'C) in the reaction line, the temperature of the air that comes into contact with the sample suction tube 10 is below 35°C, and the response time is 30 seconds or more. It is natural that

As can be seen from the above experimental results, in the example device, the sample temperature in the flow cell was adjusted to the target value of 3T by controlling the temperature in the air bath at 398C ± 0.1°C.
The response time to C±0.1'C can be made as short as about 4 to 5 seconds (in practice, the waiting time is zero), and the measurement efficiency can be greatly improved.

In the case of the automatic analyzer according to the example, the measurement capacity per hour is 80 samples with 12 items per sample, that is, 960 samples per hour.
Specimen/hour.

Since this device is configured as described above, the sample cell can be used in an automatic analyzer that sucks up a reaction sample liquid that has been temperature-controlled to a predetermined temperature in a constant-temperature water bath into a sample cell that is temperature-controlled at the same temperature. The measurement waiting time required to accurately control the maximum temperature to a predetermined temperature can be reduced to almost zero. As a result, we were able to provide a highly efficient fully automatic analyzer that can perform the following tasks.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a part of the configuration of a discrete automatic analyzer equipped with an air bath, which is an embodiment of this invention, and Figures 2-A and B show an air bus of an embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the response time of the temperature in the bus and the sample temperature in the sample cell based on actually measured values.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A sample collecting means for collecting a predetermined amount of a test sample liquid from a sample tube into a reaction container, a reagent dispensing means for dispensing a reagent into the test sample liquid collected in the reaction container, and transporting the reaction container. a reaction vessel temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the reaction vessel to a predetermined temperature; and a sample introduction means for introducing the reaction sample liquid into the sample cell through the suction capillary during the reaction process or after the completion of the reaction in the reaction vessel. and a sample cell temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the sample cell to the same temperature as the above-mentioned temperature. 1. An automatic analyzer characterized in that the automatic analyzer is provided with a pronation temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the air within the sealed surface.