JPS63175749A - Transmitting light photometric instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To start measuring plural samples one after another by an easy operation and to strictly control the reaction time of each sample at the same time by dispensing a reagent solution repeatedly by a pipetter according to optional timing of an operator. CONSTITUTION:A mixture (sample liquid to be inspected) of a sample and a reaction reagent is put in plural sample cuvettes 1, which are radiated with light beams from respective light sources 2. Photodetectors 3 detect the quantities of transmitted light from the cuvettes 1, and those quantities of transmitted light are switched in order by a multiplexer 5, processed by an amplifier 6 and an A/D converter 7, and inputted to a computer 8. Further, the point of time when the sample and reaction reagent are mixed is detected by a switch 4 and one of plural timers 10 which are not in operation begins to count a reaction time by the computer 8 associatively with the detection of the point of time of the mixing. Then an indicating element 18 in a counting state is turned on associatively with the timer to take measurements in order by the simple operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a transmitted light measuring device that has high measurement efficiency and can be manufactured at low cost.

"Prior art and its problems" Measurement of transmitted light is widely applied to quantitative analysis of various substrates, enzymes, etc. in biological samples using color reaction of chemical substances. In recent years, it has also been used to measure turbidity, and its application is expanding to quantify immune-related substances such as antigens and antibodies. In measuring these reactions, it is essential to strictly control the elapsed time from the time of mixing the reaction reagent and sample, that is, the reaction time, to improve accuracy. Furthermore, in recent years, due to an increase in the number of measurement items and the number of samples, there has been a demand for devices that are easy to operate and have high measurement efficiency.

A photometer has conventionally been used as a measuring device for transmitted light. While a photometer is simple and inexpensive, it is a measurement device for each sample, so in order to manually measure changes in the transmitted light of multiple samples, it is necessary to repeatedly repeat the sample cell while strictly controlling the reaction time. had to be taken in and out of the optical system. However, this is very complicated and extremely difficult. Particularly in dynamic measurements where the amount of transmitted light is measured at two or more points in the course of a reaction, it is practically impossible to take out and take out a large number of samples in parallel.
Usually, a method is adopted in which one sample monopolizes the optical system until the end of the measurement, resulting in extremely low measurement efficiency.

On the other hand, there are automatic analyzers on the market that automatically dispense reagents to multiple samples and mechanically move test sample liquids or sample cells into and out of a single optical system. The drawback was that it was very expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a transmitted light measuring device that allows strict measurement time management, high measurement efficiency, excellent operability, and can be manufactured at low cost. do.

``Summary of the Invention'' The present invention provides an apparatus for measuring changes in the amount of transmitted light after mixing and reaction of a mixture of a sample and a reaction reagent (test sample liquid). means for holding the test sample cuvettes; means for irradiating each test sample cuvette with a light beam and separately detecting the amount of transmitted light; a plurality of timers for measuring time, a means for detecting the time point at which the sample and the reaction reagent are mixed in conjunction with the pipetter, and a means for detecting the time point at which the sample and the reaction reagent are mixed; A means for starting timing, a means for notifying that the timer is in a timing state in conjunction with the timer that has started timing, and a means for sampling and storing the amount of transmitted light of the test sample at an arbitrary timing in conjunction with the timer that has started timing. The present invention is characterized in that it measures time changes in the amount of transmitted light of a plurality of samples simultaneously and in parallel.

In short, the present invention uses multiple optical systems, whereas conventional methods only considered the use of a single light source and detector and did not consider parallel measurements using multiple optical systems. By combining the optical system, multiple reaction time management timers corresponding to the optical system, and 1 (11) pipetters, the timer that is not in operation is started in conjunction with the dispensing operation of the pipettor, and becomes the reference timing for measurement. In addition to making it possible to strictly control the reaction time, when a single pipettor starts reactions for multiple samples in sequence, multiple optical systems can start measurements in sequence. Embodiment 2 A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a measuring device according to the present invention, which includes a plurality of test sample cuvettes 1 containing a mixture of a sample and a reaction reagent (test sample liquid), a plurality of light sources 2, and a corresponding plurality of cuvettes. a photoelectric detector 3 that irradiates the test sample cuvette 1 with a light beam and separately detects a plurality of amounts of transmitted light; a multiplexer 5 that sequentially switches and transmits the plurality of amounts of transmitted light detected by the photoelectric detector 3; An amplification circuit 6 that amplifies the transmitted signal, an A/D converter 7 that converts the signal amplified by the amplification circuit 8 into a digital value, and a pipettor that mixes the sample and reaction reagent are linked to each other. A switch 4 detects the mixing time, one of which is not in operation is started by the computer 8, and a plurality of timers 10 are used to measure the reaction time. an element 18 that notifies the timing (that is, measurement) state corresponding to the optical system that has become digitized, and samples the digitized transmission scene at an arbitrary timing in conjunction with a timer that starts timing and stores it in the memory 11. An example is shown in which the apparatus comprises a computer 8 which processes data on changes in the amount of transmitted light and controls the operation of the entire apparatus. Note that the means for holding the cuvette 1 is omitted in the figure.

As the light source 2, a light emitting element such as an LED or a tungsten lamp can be used. Further, the light source 2 does not need to be arranged in multiple stages, and the irradiation light may be guided from a single light source to each test sample cuvette through an optical fiber.

As the photoelectric detector 3, a light receiving element such as a photodiode or a photocell that generates an electric signal corresponding to the amount of transmitted light can be used. Similar to the light source, the photoelectric detector may also guide the transmitted light of each test sample cuvette to a single photodetector using an optical fiber.

The switch 4, which is linked to the pipettor and detects the mixing point of the sample and the reaction reagent, may include a microswitch or a magnetic switch built into the pipettor so that the switch 4 operates when the reagent is discharged from the pipettor. It can be realized with. An example of the structure of such a pipetter and switch is shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, when a piston knob 21 linked to a piston 22 is pressed, the piston 22 moves within the cylinder 2B to aspirate and discharge a sample liquid. In this pipettor, a magnet 23 that moves in conjunction with the movement of the piston is installed, and a magnetic detection element 24 that is activated when the piston moves to the reagent discharge position is installed in the pipetter housing. By extracting the signal from this element using the signal cable 25, it is possible to accurately detect the point in time when the pipetter performs a reagent discharging operation. As the magnetic detection element 24, a Hall element or a reed switch can be used. In addition to magnetic detection, it is also possible to perform mechanical detection using a microswitch or optical detection using an optical sensor.

The multiple timers 10 that sequentially start timing each time the switch 4 is operated can be constructed from a known sequential circuit and a counter.
It is also possible to replace it with one basic timer and a program operation using the computer 8 and memory 11.

An LED can be used as an element to notify which optical system is currently in the measurement state, and from the notification state it is possible to know which optical system will enter the measurement state next by the next operation of switch 4. can.

The computer 8 determines and controls which of the timers 10 to start by operating the switch 4, and samples the amount of transmitted light of the test sample at an arbitrary timing while observing the count of the timer 10 during the timekeeping operation. It is stored in the memory 11 as data. Also, after a predetermined period of time has passed,
Controls stopping of the timer. Since the reaction time is strictly controlled in conjunction with the operation of the pipettor 4, the memorized data can be used to strictly measure reactions using the endpoint method or dynamic reaction measurements using the rate method. .

It is also possible to correct differences in characteristics between a plurality of optical systems through program operations of the computer 8 and memory 11, and use all optical systems for the same measurement item.

In order to fully exhibit the functions of the measuring device of the present invention having the above configuration, in the above embodiment, a data numerical display device 12 (LED, CRT display, etc.), a data numerical display control switch 13, a data printing Printer 1
4. 0 equipped with a communication device 15 for communicating with an external computer
When using a CRT display as the display device 12,
It is also possible to replace the measurement status display element 18 with these displays.

Next, the present invention will be explained in more detail using an example of the basic operation timing of the apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. Here, an example of parallel measurement of eight multiple samples is shown.

Eight timers 1 to 8 are prepared to create eight types of timing corresponding to eight optical systems. A timer 1 is started by the pipetter at timing P when the first sample and the reaction reagent are mixed for the first time. at this point
One of the notification elements 18 in FIG. 1 corresponding to timer 1 lights up. After starting time measurement, the computer 8 stores the transmitted light amount data in the memory 1 at an arbitrary timing while checking the time value of the timer 1. Timer 1 is stopped at timing T1E, and the corresponding notification element 1B is turned off.In parallel with this operation, timing P2 occurs at which the second sample is mixed with the reaction reagent regardless of the timing of timer 1. , timer 2 starts counting.

Notification element 18 corresponding to timer 2 at timing P2
one of them lights up, the amount of transmitted light from T to T2E is sampled at an arbitrary timing and stored in memory, and at "2", timer 2 is stopped and the corresponding one of the notification elements 18 is turned off. For timers 3 and below, the 3rd, 4th, etc. samples and reaction reagents are pipetted at any timing of the experiment operator, regardless of the timing of timers 1 and 2. - Every time you mix, the timer starts timing p3.p, ・
... occurs, and measurement notification and data sampling are similarly executed.

When the ninth sample is mixed, the first timing operation of the timer 1 has already been completed, and a new timing and measurement sea fencing by the timer 1 is started at timing P8. Thereafter, the measurement of the 10th sample by timer 2 and the measurement of the 11th sample by timer 3 are repeated. In this way, by starting the measurement of multiple samples using one pipettor and performing parallel measurements while distributing them to multiple optical systems, it is possible to strictly control the reaction time for each sample, and at the same time, the operator can It is possible to eliminate the waiting time in conventional apparatuses in which measurement of the next sample cannot be started until measurement of one sample is completed, and it becomes possible to efficiently measure a plurality of samples. In addition, measurement of multiple samples can be started simply by repeating the mixing operation with one pipetter, and since each start-up timing is independent and independent of each other, the operator can perform the mixing operation with the pipetter at a timing convenient for the operator. All you have to do is just do it and it will be very easy to operate. In addition, since only one pipetter and one measurement electric circuit are required with only multiple optical systems and timers, the device can be constructed at a much lower cost than when measuring multiple photometric systems side by side. Can be done. Furthermore, when it is necessary to strictly control the temperature during a reaction such as in an enzyme reaction, the present invention suffices to install one temperature control device in a holder that holds multiple cuvettes, and a photometer with a similar function can be used. It is possible to achieve the same function at a lower cost than by arranging multiple units.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a specifically constructed measuring device of the present invention, in which 12 is a numerical display device for displaying the data of the measured sample, 13 is a control switch for switching between a plurality of display data, and IEI Reference numeral 17 is a photometric holder equipped with a temperature control device for holding a test sample cuvette, and a pipetter 118 having a built-in reagent discharge detection switch is an element that informs which optical system is currently in the measurement state. Here, as an example, eight test sample cuvettes are held simultaneously. When a sample or a reaction reagent is dispensed with the pipettor 17, this discharge operation is linked to the switch 4, and one of the timers that is not in operation is activated.

One of the corresponding notification elements 18 lights up in conjunction with the activation of this timer, so set the test sample cuvette in the photometry holder there, and then leave it until the notification element turns off, and the measurement and data will be taken. Processing has finished automatically.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, measurement of multiple samples can be started one after another with a very simple operation of repeating reagent dispensing with a pipettor according to the operator's arbitrary timing. At the same time, it becomes possible to strictly control the reaction time of each sample. In addition, by the time the photometric holder is full of test sample cuvettes, the measurement of the first sample has been completed, so by using the photometric holder again, you can quickly and efficiently measure a large number of samples without any idle time. Can be measured.

Moreover, since the structure is simple, such a large-volume sample processing apparatus can be manufactured at low cost, and since each sample can be operated at independent timing, it has excellent operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a pipettor showing an example of a switch that detects the mixing point of a sample and a reaction reagent in conjunction with the pipetter, and FIG. The figure is a basic operation timing diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a measuring device of the present invention. In the figure.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In an apparatus for measuring changes in the amount of transmitted light after the start of mixing and reaction of a mixture of a sample and a reaction reagent (test sample liquid), (1) a plurality of means for holding the sample cuvettes; (2) means for irradiating each test sample cuvette with a light beam and separately detecting the amount of transmitted light; and (3) after starting the mixing and reaction of each of the test samples. a plurality of timers that separately measure the elapsed time; (4) a means for detecting the mixing point of the sample and the reaction reagent in conjunction with the pipetter; (6) a means for notifying that the timer is in a timing state in conjunction with the timer that has started counting, (7) a means for notifying that the timer is in a timing state in conjunction with the timer that has started timing; What is claimed is: 1. A transmitted light measuring device comprising: means for sampling and storing the amount of transmitted light of a test sample at an arbitrary timing;