JPS6162867A - Analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean up a suction nozzle of a sample liquid easily and accurately in an analyzer for measuring the concentration of components in a sample liquid, by setting the average suction of a cleaning liquid to be sucked with an suction pump more than the average feed thereof to be fed with a feed pump. CONSTITUTION:A suction nozzle 1 of a sample liquid moves to the position as shown by the dotted line passing through a notch 2a provided in a cylindrical container in the direction of the arrow when measuring a sample. Then, the sample liquid is sucked from the suction nozzle 1 with a suction pump 4 to pass through a measuring electrode 5 and then, a measurement 6, a computation 7 and a display 8 are performed. Bubble detection bodies 14 and 15 are arranged in a passage for the sample liquid and a cleaning liquid while the average suction of the cleaning liquid to be sucked with the suction pump 4 is set more than the average feed thereof to be fed with a feed pump 13 to wash down the sample liquid attached to the inner and outer surfaces of the suction nozzle 1 finished with the measurement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an analytical device for measuring the concentration of components in a sample liquid.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In recent years, with the development of various technologies for biochemical testing of blood and urine, various analytical devices have been developed. By making full use of these various analytical devices, it has become possible to appropriately understand pathological conditions.

However, in order to reduce the influence of each measurement liquid and increase measurement accuracy, conventional analyzers use pumps equipped with high-torque motors that can draw in liquids at high speed, and use pumps with calibration standard solutions and cleaning solutions. In order to inhale Gfik liquid, a flow passage with a switching valve is installed, or a liquid inlet nozzle is made to perform complicated movements in order to inhale Gfik liquid. The analyzer has disadvantages such as complicated parts, large size, and complicated mechanisms that cause breakdowns and difficult maintenance.

Therefore, there is currently a demand for a small, highly accurate analyzer that does not take up much space when installed in a limited facility, and that can be easily maintained and inspected. However, in such miniaturized devices, it is not easy to clean the sample liquid suction nozzle, and if the cleaning is incomplete, not only will the reliability of the measured values be significantly reduced, but also the There were many problems such as pollution.

[Purpose of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact and highly accurate analyzer having a mechanism that allows easy and reliable cleaning of a sample liquid suction nozzle.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides: a suction pump that sucks a sample liquid or a cleaning liquid through a suction nozzle; a liquid sending pump that sends the cleaning liquid to the suction nozzle; a measuring means that measures the sample liquid; and a flow of the sample liquid and the cleaning liquid. and a bubble detector disposed in a path, wherein the average suction amount of the cleaning liquid sucked by the suction pump is greater than or equal to the average amount of cleaning liquid sent by the pre-delivery liquid pump. It is a device.

FIG. 1(a) is a schematic sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the analyzer according to the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a perspective view of the cleaning section.
It was shown to.

The tip of the sample liquid suction nozzle (1) is usually housed and protected in a cylindrical container (2) as shown in the figure.

When measuring a sample, since the supply nozzle has a movable mechanism (1a) in the analyzer of this example, it passes through the notch (2a) provided in the cylindrical container in the direction indicated by the arrow and the dotted line Move to the position shown. Next, the sample liquid is sucked from the suction nozzle (1) by the suction pump G4) and passes through the measurement electrode 5), which is the measurement means in this analyzer, so that the signal emitted from the measurement electrode is transmitted to the measurement calculation processing section. It is measured by the measurement section (6) that constitutes the. Next, after the arithmetic processing is performed by the arithmetic unit (7), the display unit (8)
) displays the measurement results. Further, the suction nozzle that has finished suctioning returns to its normal position and is housed in the cylindrical container (2) again.

The sample liquid is measured and displayed in this way, but after the measurement, the sample liquid is deposited on both the inside and outside of the suction nozzle, and cleaning to wash it away is performed as follows. . That is, the cleaning liquid sent by the liquid sending pump (13) through the cleaning liquid sending pipe (11) is injected from the lower end of the cylindrical container (2) and overflows from the upper end. Here, the size of the notch is sufficient to allow the tip of the sample suction nozzle to pass through, and the size of the notch is determined by the inner diameter of the cylindrical container, the outer diameter and length of the sample suction nozzle, and the cleaning liquid flowing in. By adjusting the flow rate, etc., it is possible to cause the cleaning liquid to sufficiently overflow not only from the notch but also from the upper end of the cylindrical container. In this way, the outer surface of the suction nozzle tip is especially cleaned. Then, the waste liquid used for cleaning flows to the liquid receiving part (3) and further flows to the cleaning waste liquid discharge pipe (12).
) to the waste container.

On the other hand, during this cleaning, the suction pump (4) suctions the cleaning liquid injected from the liquid pump to mainly clean the inner surface of the suction nozzle and the channel through which the sample liquid has passed. At this time, the average suction amount of the suction pump must be equal to or higher than the average delivery amount of the liquid feeding pump. If the average suction amount of the suction pump is larger than the average delivery amount of the liquid pump, air mixed with the cleaning liquid will be sucked in through the sample liquid suction nozzle and will flow through the flow path of the measurement system such as the measurement electrode. Cleaning and liquid replacement can be performed quickly by flushing away the liquid adhering to the measuring electrode and the inner wall of the flow path piping with the bubbles.

Therefore, it is possible to minimize the influence of the sample liquid etc. by cleaning for a short time, so that the cleaning time and cleaning liquid can be saved, and high-speed analysis can be realized at a lower cost.

Furthermore, even when the average person inhaling and the average amount of liquid delivered are the same, air can be inhaled by the pulsation of the suction pump and the liquid sending pump.

In addition, even in devices where the amount of liquid delivered is greater than the amount of suction during continuous operation,
The object of the present invention can be achieved by not operating the liquid pump continuously, but by repeatedly stopping and operating it for short periods of time, and by operating the pump so that the average amount of liquid fed is equal to or less than the average suction amount.

On the other hand, since the analyzer according to the present invention has an air bubble detector at least in the flow path between the measurement electrode and the sample liquid suction nozzle, there is no possibility that bubbles such as air may be accidentally mixed in during sample suction. Even if air bubbles are mixed in, it can be detected, so it is possible to prevent a decrease in measurement accuracy due to the presence of air bubbles. Furthermore, by interlocking the bubble detector and the suction pump, it is possible to further reduce the required amount of sample liquid. Before inhaling the sample liquid, a predetermined amount of air is first inhaled through the suction nozzle force 1, then the sample liquid is inhaled from the corresponding spear of the sensing part of the measuring magnetic pole, and then a predetermined amount of air is sucked in again as a dao. inhale.

As a result, the front and rear portions of the sample F+ liquid are sandwiched between air. After detecting the air in front of these sample liquids, the operation of the sample liquid suction pump is controlled so that the sample liquid remains at a position where the sensitive part is sufficiently filled before the air in the rear part is blown out. Then, the sample liquid is measured using the measurement electrode.

In this way, the sample liquid that was previously wasted before and after the sample liquid corresponding to the sensitive area is replaced with air, making it possible to reduce the amount of the sample liquid from the required t f. This is very effective even when the amount of sample liquid is extremely small, such as when blood is collected from an infant.

This bubble detector can be placed just in front of the measurement electrode if the flow rate or flow velocity of the sample liquid flowing through the flow path is known, but bubble detection can also be done at the rear of the measurement electrode in addition to the front. It is preferable to arrange the body so that it works in conjunction with the air bubble detector at the front, as this allows for more precise control.

Signals from these bubble detectors are also processed by the aforementioned measurement calculation processor and used to control the operation of the pump.

Note that as the bubble detector, a conductivity electrode, an optical sensor, etc. can be used, but any other device that can detect bubbles can also be used.

Furthermore, in the analyzer according to the present invention shown here, by using the cylindrical container as described above, the cylindrical container can be filled to the top with liquid while the suction nozzle is housed in the normal state after measurement and cleaning. This is preferable for preservation and stability of the measurement electrode, since all flow paths in the measurement system through which the sample liquid flows can be filled with liquid. Furthermore, if this liquid is used as the standard calibration liquid which also serves as the cleaning liquid, there is no need for a mechanism for switching between the cleaning solution and the standard calibration liquid, and it is preferable to directly operate the apparatus.

Furthermore, if the suction nozzle is stored with liquid filled to the top of the cylindrical container, the liquid level of the standard calibration liquid, etc. that filled the cylindrical container must be lowered to the tip of the suction nozzle during measurement. Simply move the suction nozzle and suck in the sample liquid, etc. Alternatively, after operating the liquid feeding pump and overflowing the cleaning liquid at a predetermined port, the liquid feeding pump is reversed to lower the liquid level to the nozzle tip), after overflowing a predetermined amount of cleaning liquid, the liquid feeding pump Even if the liquid level is lowered to the nozzle tip by stopping the suction pump and suctioning the cleaning liquid into the measurement system flow path, the cleaning liquid remains on the outside of the nozzle tip, resulting in contamination of the sample liquid, etc. This is preferable because it can improve the reliability of measured values.The measuring electrode used as a measuring means of this analyzer is a conductivity electrode; p[-T, Na'', +, N
Ion selective electrode such as H4+, Cu", Cj-; 0.
, CO, NH, and the like; enzyme electrodes and microbial electrodes sensitive to glycose, uric acid, urea, pyruvic acid, lactic acid, and the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the analyzer of the present invention has a simple structure as described above, it is small, the inner and outer surfaces of the tip of the sample liquid suction nozzle can be easily cleaned, and highly reliable measurements can be performed.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An analysis device having the structure shown in FIG. A combination was used.

In addition, small peristaltic pumps were used as the sample liquid suction pump and the cleaning liquid delivery pump, and the suction amount and liquid delivery amount were controlled by controlling the rotation speed. Furthermore, a cleaning solution that also served as a standard calibration solution was used as the cleaning solution. Then, a flowing conductivity electrode is installed as a bubble detector in the flow path before and after the measurement electrode, and during measurement or calibration, the front conductivity electrode detects a signal due to the passage of bubbles, and then Before detecting air bubbles,
The flow rates of the liquid feeding pump and the suction pump were adjusted to detect the air bubbles using the conductivity electrode provided at the rear of the sample. That is, during measurement, the measurement sensitive part of the measurement electrode was filled with liquid to prevent the presence of air bubbles.

The operation of the analyzer will be explained below in order.

fl Before measurement The suction nozzle is housed in a cylindrical container.

The liquid level of the cleaning liquid that also serves as the standard calibration liquid in the cylindrical container has descended to the tip of the suction nozzle.

(11) The measurement suction nozzle is moved by the movable mechanism to the sample liquid suction position through the notch of the cylindrical container.

Next, inhale the sample solution. In this example, blood was used as the sample liquid. The amount of inhalation per time is approximately 200μ
! It is.

After suction is completed, the suction nozzle is stored in the cylindrical container again. On the other hand, the inhaled sample liquid has sufficiently reached the installed ion-selective electrode and is measured there, and its value (11) is temporarily stored in the calculation section.

(fil) The inner and outer surfaces of the suction nozzle that has been cleaned and stored are contaminated by adhesion of blood, which is a sample liquid.

Therefore, first, the cleaning e, which also serves as a standard calibration liquid, is injected from the lower end of the cylindrical container to sufficiently overflow from the upper end of the cylindrical container, thereby cleaning especially the outer surface of the suction nozzle. The used cleaning liquid flows into the liquid receiving section and is further disposed of into a waste liquid container.

After this washing continues for 0.5 to 2 seconds, the suction pump is activated to suck out the washing liquid while injecting the washing liquid in the same manner. In this way, any sample remaining on the inner surface of the suction nozzle or the measuring system is washed away. At this time, as mentioned above,
Since the pump is controlled so that the amount of liquid sent by the liquid delivery pump is smaller than the amount of suction pumped, the overflow of the liquid stops, the liquid level falls, and finally air enters the flow path. Inhalation makes cleaning easier and faster.

1ψ Calibration (,12) In measurements using the ion 1 internal selectivity 'It electrode used, the measured values of the sample solution and the measured values of the standard calibration solution are compared and calculated to determine the placement of ions contained in the sample. . Therefore, the pump is controlled so that no air bubbles are generated after cleaning the wood (in the case of flit), and when the air bubbles generated by the sharp sickle pass through the radial conductivity electrode which is the air bubble detector on the rear side. Then, the pump is stopped and the measurement for calibration is performed with the cleaning solution that also serves as the standard calibration solution filling the sensitive part of the ion electrode.

The measured value of the sample stored at the time of measurement in display (11) and (
By comparison and calculation with the measured value of the standard calibration solution measured during the calibration of φ, the ion degree S of the sample is determined and displayed.

After this, when measurements were to be continued, the liquid level of the cleaning liquid, which was filled to the top of the cylindrical container, was lowered using the tip of the suction nozzle to maintain the state before the measurement of fil.

In this way, the series of operations required for one measurement was completed, and the time required for this was approximately 40 seconds. or,
When a predetermined period of time or more elapses until the next measurement (for example, overnight), the cylindrical container is filled to the top with cleaning liquid to protect the suction nozzle and the like. In that case, when re-measuring, first rotate the liquid pump to overflow a predetermined amount of liquid in the tube container, then turn it in the opposite direction to lower the liquid level to state (1). Measurements were made.

On the other hand, in addition to the methods described above, to protect the measurement electrodes, etc., it is necessary to forcefully clean them at regular intervals, constantly filling the flow path of the measurement system with cleaning liquid, and preventing the flow of water from the tip of the suction nozzle. It may also be designed to prevent drying due to evaporation or the like.

Alternatively, in addition to the above series of operations, it is also possible to perform one cleaning before measuring the sample and perform calibration measurements as necessary.
Of course, it is also possible to measure the sample after that.

In this way, 50 consecutive measurements were performed using blood as a sample using the analyzer according to the present invention, and after each measurement, sufficient cleaning and calibration were performed to eliminate any influence from previous measurements. Furthermore, contamination between samples could be extremely reduced. The Cv values at this time were each 1 or less for Na+, Ni+, and C7-.

Furthermore, we conducted 300 consecutive analyzes and measurements, and were able to achieve the same accuracy as above.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a schematic diagram showing an analytical device according to the present invention. FIG. 1(b) is a perspective view showing a liquid receiving part of the analytical device according to the present invention. ... Suction nozzle, 1a... Movable mechanism, 2... Cylindrical container, 2a... Notch, 3... Liquid receiver, 4...
... Suction pump, 5... Measuring electrode, 6... Measuring section,
7... Calculation unit, 8... Display unit, 9... Cleaning liquid container, 10... Waste liquid container, 11... Cleaning liquid feeding pipe, 12
. . . Washing waste liquid discharge pipe, 13 . . . Liquid feed pump, 14.
15...Bubble detector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A suction pump that sucks a sample liquid or a cleaning liquid through a suction nozzle, a liquid sending pump that sends a cleaning liquid to the suction nozzle, a measuring means for measuring the sample liquid, and a measuring means for measuring the sample liquid and the cleaning liquid. and a bubble detector disposed in a flowing flow path, wherein an average suction amount of the cleaning liquid sucked by the suction pump is greater than or equal to an average suction amount of the cleaning liquid sent by the liquid feeding pump. Analysis equipment.