JPS6314899B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an analytical light projection device.

Recently, a method using a chemical analysis element has been developed as a method for chemically analyzing a liquid sample. In this method, a chemical analysis element (hereinafter simply referred to as an "analytical element") consisting of an analytical membrane made of a membrane-like porous material impregnated with a specific reagent is held on a plate-like mount. Adding a liquid sample, such as a human body fluid, dropwise and placing it in a thermostatic reaction chamber to allow the liquid sample to react with a reagent, and examining the presence or absence of the reaction, the progress of the reaction, or the result of the reaction. By this, it is possible to know whether or not a specific component is contained in the liquid sample, or the content thereof. And this method is
It is very convenient in that a liquid sample can be treated practically as a solid object, offering the possibility of rapid analytical processing.

On the other hand, various methods can be used to investigate changes caused by the reaction between a liquid sample and a reagent in an analytical element. A means for optically detecting the degree of damage is very advantageous in that it requires a short amount of time and can perform highly accurate detection.

However, when using such an optical detection means, light in a specific wavelength range corresponding to the color of the analytical element is projected onto the analytical element, and the intensity of the reflected light or transmitted light is measured. However, the types of analytical elements actually used are quite large depending on the analysis item, and therefore the colors of all types of analytical elements must be adjusted to the optimum color. It is difficult to measure the current state and often requires complicated work.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and makes it possible to detect the color state of an analytical element quickly and with high accuracy, and as a result, the analysis by the analytical element can be carried out with high efficiency and high reliability. An object of the present invention is to provide a light projection device for analysis that can perform analysis using the following methods. The features of the present invention include a light source that projects light onto a chemical analysis element for a liquid sample located in a measurement area, a group of optical filters, and an identification display provided on the chemical analysis element that corresponds to the chemical analysis element. The present invention further comprises an optical filter selection mechanism that selects an optical filter from the group of optical filters and positions it on the optical path of the light from the light source.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of an analytical element, and a mount 1 having a plate shape as a whole is constituted by a base 1A made of, for example, a plate-shaped resin and a cover 1B that is fitted integrally with the base 1A. 1 base 1
An analytical membrane 2 impregnated with a chemical analysis reagent is held between A and the cover 1B, and both sides of the central part of the analytical membrane 2 are connected to the through holes formed in the base 1A and the cover 1B. 3 and 4 are exposed.

In the present invention, in the analytical element E having such a configuration, for example, as shown in FIG. form. The identification display section 5 in the illustrated example includes five code elements a to
Each code element a to e is formed as a light-transmitting part or a light-shielding part, and the identification display code of the analytical element E is determined by the permutation and combination thereof.
In the example shown in the figure, code element a is used as a light shielding part,
This is represented by a black circle, but if the mount 1 itself is made of a light-shielding material, no special processing is required to create a light-shielding portion. The code elements b to e are transparent parts, and are formed by punching holes, for example, but if the mount 1 is transparent, there may be no need for special processing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the measurement stand 10 forming the analysis element measurement area, the identification display part 5 of the analysis element E placed on the measurement stand 10 is located at a location corresponding to each code element. A light emitting diode group 11 is provided, and a light receiving element group 12 is provided so as to face the light emitting diode group 11 via the analysis element E.
1 and the light receiving element group 12, the analytical element identification mechanism 1
3.

On the other hand, a group of optical filters is provided in connection with the optical path P from the light source bulb L, which is composed of a halogen lamp or the like, and projects measurement light onto the analysis film of the analysis element E on the measurement table 10. In the illustrated example, along the outer periphery of a rotary plate 21 rotated by a motor 20, light in a wavelength range suitable for measuring each analytical element is shown, corresponding to the type of analytical sample to be measured. Optical filters (hereinafter simply referred to as "filters") F and F that transmit light are arranged in parallel, and the identification display section 23 of each filter F is formed with the same configuration as the identification display section 5 in the analytical element E, for example. By the rotation of the rotary plate 21, the filters F and F are sequentially positioned on the optical path P of the light source bulb L to pass through, and are opposed to each other through the rotational movement path of the identification display section 23. Thus, a light emitting diode group 24 and a light receiving element group 25 are provided to constitute a filter identification mechanism 26.

Then, the analytical element identification signal S1 from the analytical element identification mechanism 13 and the filter identification signal S2 from the filter identification mechanism 26 are processed by the arithmetic control mechanism 27 consisting of a microcomputer, and the filter identification signal S2 is converted into the analytical element identification signal S1. The motor 20 is controlled by the arithmetic control mechanism so that the motor 20 is driven to rotate the rotary plate 21 until the corresponding value is reached, and when the corresponding value is reached, the motor 20 is stopped and the rotary plate 21 is stopped. 27. 30 is analytical element E
This is a light receiver that measures the light intensity of reflected light.

In the above configuration, when a certain analytical element is placed on the measuring table 10 for measurement, the analysis is performed according to the content of the code on the identification display section 5, which indicates the type of the analytical element. Element identification signal S
1 is issued from the analysis element identification mechanism 13 and applied to the arithmetic control mechanism 27. On the other hand, at this time, a filter identification signal S2 indicating the type of filter F of the rotary plate 21 located on the optical path P of the light from the light source bulb L is emitted from the filter identification mechanism 26 and is applied to the arithmetic control mechanism 27. . In this arithmetic control mechanism 27, the filter identification signal S2 is compared with the analytical element identification signal S1, and if they do not correspond, the motor 20 is driven to rotate the rotary plate 21, and the filter identification signal S2 is
When the filter corresponds to the analytical element identification signal S1, that is, when the type of filter corresponding to the analytical element on the measuring table 10 is positioned on the optical path P, the signal from the calculation control mechanism 27 is activated. The drive of the motor 20 is then stopped.

As described above, according to the device of the present invention, the type of analytical element involved in the measurement is identified and the corresponding filter is automatically selected and inserted on the optical path P. By using a material that transmits light of the wavelength most suitable for color density measurement, the light of the optimum wavelength is projected onto the analytical element, and therefore the color of the analytical film in the analytical element can be determined with very high precision and reliably. can accurately measure the state of Moreover, in the above example, the filter selection mechanism composed of the motor 20, the rotary plate 21, etc. operates automatically, so that the desired filter can be quickly selected without the need for complicated efforts. Therefore, measurements can be carried out efficiently.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various changes can be made to the present invention.
For example, the specific configuration of the identification display section of the analytical element and filter can use various types of code display known in the past, and each identification signal can be obtained using a corresponding reader. can. The filter selection mechanism is not limited to one that uses the rotary plate 21, but may be any mechanism that can select a specific filter from a group of multiple filters and position it on the optical path P.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the light receiving element group 12 and the light emitting diode group 24 are removed compared to the example of FIG. 3, and each end is replaced with a light emitting diode. Five systems of optical fibers 40 are arranged so as to face the group 11, and their other ends are arranged in the radial direction of the rotary plate 21, and a light receiving element group 25 is provided so as to face them. makes one of the five code elements translucent according to the type, and in the identification display section 23 of the corresponding filter F of the rotary plate 21, a translucent section is provided at the same position of the optical fiber 40. , and further includes an arithmetic control mechanism 27 and a light receiving element group 25.
It has a function of driving the motor 20 only when no light reception signal is emitted from any of the components.

In such a configuration, light enters only one specific system of optical fibers 40 depending on the type of analytical element placed on the measuring table 10, and the filter F corresponding to the analytical element is placed on the optical path P. Only when the optical fiber 40 is located, the light from the optical fiber 40 is detected by the corresponding light receiving element through the light-transmitting part of the identification display part 23 of the filter, and the drive of the motor 20 is stopped by the arithmetic control mechanism 27. In this way, the corresponding filter is selected. and,
The combination of light emitting diode group and light receiving element group is 1
The advantage is that a simple arithmetic and control circuit 27 can be used.

In addition, when reading the code of the identification display part optically as in the illustrated example, a part of the light from the measurement light source can be used as a light source for reading the code.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to measure the color state of an analytical element with high precision using light in a wavelength range suitable for the type of analytical element, and also to measure the color state of an analytical element with high accuracy. Since switching can be performed accurately and quickly, analysis using the analytical element can be performed with high efficiency and high reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of an example of an analytical element;
The figure is a plan view of an example of an analytical element applied to the device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the device of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment. 1...Mount, 1A...Base, 1B...Cover, 2...Analysis membrane, 3, 4...Through hole, 5...
Identification display unit, 10... Measuring table, 11, 24... Light emitting diode group, 12, 25... Light receiving element group, 1
3... Analysis element identification mechanism, 20... Motor, 21
... Rotating plate, 23 ... Identification display section, 26 ... Filter identification mechanism, 27 ... Arithmetic control mechanism, 30 ...
...Photoreceiver, 40...Optical fiber, E...Analysis element, F...Filter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A light source that projects light onto a liquid sample chemical analysis element located in a measurement area, and a group of optical filters;
an optical filter selection mechanism that selects an optical filter corresponding to the chemical analysis element from the optical filter group according to an identification mark provided on the chemical analysis element and positions it on the optical path of the light from the light source. An analytical light projection device characterized by comprising: