WO2021256643A1

WO2021256643A1 - Sample collection device

Info

Publication number: WO2021256643A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/018154
Authority: WO
Inventors: 황민욱; 김호종
Original assignee: 특허법인(유한)해담; 황민욱
Priority date: 2020-06-16
Filing date: 2020-12-11
Publication date: 2021-12-23
Also published as: KR102283278B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sample collection device for a virus test, wherein an entrance is formed at one side of the device and the inner working space of the device is isolated from the outside, a sample collection method employing a positive pressure mode is used, and air in the booth is sterilized. Therefore, the present invention has an advantage in that a medical team can safely collect a sample without any special protective equipment.

Description

sampling device

The present invention relates to a walk-through booth-type sample collection device that can quickly and safely collect a sample, and more particularly, to a device that can more reliably ensure the safety of medical staff by installing a plasma sterilizer inside the booth will be.

In recent years, as highly pathogenic viruses transmitted through the human body or livestock appear variously, methods and devices for preventing the spread of highly pathogenic viruses are being studied in various ways.

These highly pathogenic viruses may include not only infectious viruses such as avian flu or foot-and-mouth disease that cause disease in animals, but also infectious viruses such as MERS, SARS, or H1N1 influenza that cause diseases in the human body. Among the contagious viruses that cause, a new pathogenic virus, Corona 19, has emerged.

Pathogenic virus refers to a virus that can cause disease through infection after an infectious agent is transmitted to a host individual through transmission. Therefore, it is desirable to prevent further spread through the rapid response possible in the event of the emergence of a pathogenic virus.

Accordingly, in each country, various efforts are being made to prevent the spread of and treat highly pathogenic viruses when they emerge.

In particular, in Korea, when a highly pathogenic virus appears, we take an active stance on quarantine, and when an infected person occurs, quarantine treatment is taken for the infected person, disinfection treatment in the moving line, and inspection for infection of the person in contact are carried out.

However, due to the nature of the pathogenic virus that spreads to multiple individuals, it is required for each infected person to be tested for infection by multiple people who have come in contact with him.

To be more specific, if a specimen is to be collected to test for infection with a highly pathogenic virus, the inspector wears a protective suit, enters a specific collection room where the subject is located, and collects the specimen. Since the entire collection room must be disinfected and cleaned in addition to the protective clothing, it takes a considerable amount of time until the next inspection, so there is a problem that the sample collection operation proceeds very slowly.

In addition, there is a risk that the pathogenic virus remaining in the collection room is spread to the outside through the door while the examiner or the subject enters the collection room.

Even in some testing laboratories, there was a problem of not only infection of medical personnel but also secondary infection in which test subjects who came in contact with medical personnel were infected as the specimens were collected without the inspectors wearing protective clothing.

Accordingly, in order to respond to the above problem, a drive-through method in which a subject is moved to a vehicle, the vehicle is stopped at a specific location while the vehicle is moving, and then a sample is collected has been introduced.

In the case of such a drive-through method, since the sample is collected from the outside, there is an advantage in that it can save time for disinfecting and cleaning the collection room compared to the sample collection method conducted in the collection room.

However, in the drive-through method, since the inspector still has to wear a protective suit, it is not only difficult to shorten the time required to wear the protective suit and the time to disinfect it, but there is a problem that only the driver can actually collect the specimen among the occupants of the vehicle.

In addition, when disinfecting protective clothing while wearing protective clothing for rapid inspection, disinfection is difficult due to the nature of the textile material, and there is a risk of secondary infection as a large number of people come into contact with that state.

Furthermore, since the drive-through method is performed from the outside, it is difficult for the examiner to see the driver's mouth depending on the location of the lighting, the relative position and direction between the driver and the examiner, and it is difficult to accurately identify the sample on the cotton swab.

On the other hand, recently, a walk-through method has been used in which a subject enters a collection room in a negative pressure atmosphere and an examiner located outside the collection room collects a sample from the subject through a glove provided on one side of the collection room.

However, in this walk-through method, there is a collection room in which the test subject enters, like the sample collection method conducted in the collection room, and it takes a considerable amount of time to disinfect it, so there is a limit to shortening the sample collection time.

In addition, in the walk-through method, the air inside the laboratory must be exhausted to the outside in order to form the inside of the collection room with negative pressure, and in this process, there is a risk that the virus in the laboratory may leak to the outside. There was also a problem that time was still required to do it.

On the other hand, as a walk-through method using positive pressure, in Chinese Patent No. 204274876 and Chinese Patent No. 103395074, a fan is installed at the top of the booth to maintain positive pressure inside the booth, and the glove unit is installed on one side to protrude to the outside. A technology that enables efficient sample collection while preventing virus infection of the examiner even when the examiner is not wearing a protective suit has been proposed.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to take a positive pressure method of sample collection and sterilize the air inside the booth so that medical staff can safely collect a sample without a special protective device. .

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, an entrance is formed on one side, and the inner working space is separated from the outside. A chamber in which a sphere is formed, an air supply unit installed or connected to one side of the chamber to maintain the inside of the chamber in a positive pressure atmosphere, is installed at one side of the chamber, and one side and the other side are respectively connected to the inside of the chamber, so that the inside of the chamber After sucking air, it sterilizes the sucked air, and the plasma generator for re-supplying the sterilized air to the inside of the chamber is mounted on one side of the outer surface of the chamber on which the inspection hole is formed, and the hand or arm of the inspector is inserted. It provides a sample collection device comprising a glove unit to be worn.

In addition, the plasma generating unit is installed on one side of the chamber, a suction unit for sucking air in the chamber, a discharge space for discharging therein is formed, and an inlet through which the sucked air is introduced is formed in connection with the suction unit A housing having a discharge port communicating with the inside of the chamber on the other side is formed, and the air introduced into the inlet in the housing is vertically installed on one side of the movement path of the air moving to the outlet, and both sides are formed flat Preferably, the electrode wall portion and a pair of electrode portions installed at both sides of the electrode wall portion within the housing to be spaced apart from the electrode wall portion by a predetermined distance, respectively.

In addition, the pair of electrode parts may be formed to have a length in the direction of the outlet, and inclined in a direction away from each other in the direction of the outlet.

In addition, it is preferable that the plasma generating unit further includes a protective wall unit installed in a region between the inner wall of the housing and the electrode unit.

And, the electrode wall portion includes an electrode projection formed to protrude outward from one side corresponding to the electrode portion among both sides, the electrode portion and the electrode projection are formed so that at least one side opposite to each other is formed to be curved, different diameters It can be formed to have

According to the present invention as described above, there is an effect that a medical staff can safely collect a sample without a special protective device by taking a pressure-type sample collection method and sterilizing the air inside the booth.

1 is a perspective view of a sample collection device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a cross-sectional view of a sample collection device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view of a plasma generator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a plan cross-sectional view of a plasma generator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a side cross-sectional view of a plasma generator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a view showing a state in which external air is introduced into the chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a view showing a state in which air is introduced into the housing through the inlet according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a view showing a state in which atmospheric pressure bulk plasma is formed by the electrode wall part and the electrode part according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a view showing a state in which an electrode member according to an embodiment of the present invention flows in a side area of an electrode wall part;

10 is a view showing a state in which an examiner is seated in a chair provided in a chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention;

11 is a view showing a state in which an examiner inserts a hand into a glove unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a view showing a state in which an inspector collects a specimen in the specimen collection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

13 is a view showing a state in which a specimen is collected in a drive-through method in a specimen collection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

14 is a view showing an electrode wall part according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of a sample collection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sample collection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the sample collection apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber 10, an air supply unit 20, a glove unit 30, and a plasma generator 40. is comprised of

The chamber 10 is configured to include a frame 11 forming an outer frame of a rectangular parallelepiped, and a shielding plate 12 installed on each side of the frame 11 to seal the internal space of the frame 11, and a rigid It is manufactured in the form of a booth of

The chamber 10 has a working space 13 for performing a sample collection operation therein, and one side of the shielding plate 12 constituting the rear of the plurality of shielding plates 12 has an entrance ( not shown) is formed.

Here, the frame 11 may be formed by assembling a plurality of beams 11a to each other. In addition, it is preferable that the beam 11a is formed of a metal material of high rigidity so that its shape can be firmly maintained even in environmental factors such as wind and rain.

The shielding plate 12 serves to separate the working space 13 and the external space by shielding each side of the frame 10, and a shielding plate ( In 12), a synthetic resin plate made of transparent glass or transparent material may be used to secure the inspector's field of view, and an inspection port 12a through which the inspector's hand or arm passes is formed on one side thereof.

And, although the shielding plate 12 according to the present embodiment is not shown in the drawings, a double-glazed window may be used to completely separate the working space 13 from the external space depending on the use environment.

On the other hand, the chamber 10 according to the present embodiment is manufactured in a prefabricated manner, so that it can be installed quickly when a corresponding facility is urgently needed, and can be disassembled and reassembled to provide mobility when transported to another place. .

In addition, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, it is preferable to install the wheels 14 in the lower part of the chamber 10 to reinforce the mobility.

Furthermore, the chamber 10 may be provided with a mounting portion protruding outwardly on one lower side of the front surface. This provides an area in which a specimen collection tool or a specimen receiving container for accommodating specimens can be mounted, so that the inspector's specimen collection operation can be made more easily.

The air supply unit 20 is installed on the upper part of the chamber 10 , communicates with the work space 13 , and serves to supply air to the work space 13 .

In other words, the air supply unit 20 forms the work space 13 in a positive pressure atmosphere to prevent air from flowing into the work space 13 , thereby protecting the examiner from external pathogenic viruses.

Accordingly, the specimen collection device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention can safely collect a specimen even if the inspector does not wear a protective suit, thereby saving the time required for the inspector to wear, undress, and sterilize the protective suit. In addition, manpower to manage it is not required, so the required manpower can be reduced.

In addition, the air supply unit 20 preferably uses a fan filter unit including a main filter 21 such as a HEPA filter or a Wolfa filter, and although not shown in the drawings, a pre-treatment filter is added in addition to the main filter 21 can be installed.

As the glove unit 30, a commonly used stretchable medical glove may be used, and one end into which the examiner's hand or arm is inserted is installed along the outer periphery of the inspection unit 12a to seal the inspection unit.

The glove unit 30 seals the test port to prevent the virus from entering the work space 13 through the test port 12a, and when the examiner collects a sample from the subject, a part of the examiner's body is inspected It plays a role in preventing secondary infection by avoiding direct contact with the subject.

The plasma generator 40 is installed on one side of the upper side of the chamber 10 and serves to protect the inspector from viruses by sterilizing the air in the chamber 10. The configuration of the plasma generating unit 40 according to the example will be described in more detail.

3 is a perspective view of a plasma generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of the plasma generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the plasma generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a cross section.

3 to 5, the plasma generator 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 41, an electrode wall part 42, an electrode part 43, a protective wall part 44 and It may be configured to include a suction unit (45).

The housing 41 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a discharge space 41a is formed therein, an inlet 41b connected to the suction unit 45 is formed on one side of the front end, and a discharge pipe (B) is formed on one side of the rear end. An outlet (43c) communicating with the inside of the chamber (10) is formed.

The housing 41 according to the present embodiment is installed on one upper side of the chamber 10 and serves to provide a discharge space 41a in which plasma is generated.

The electrode wall part 42 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape, is disposed in the moving direction of the air inside the housing 41 and is installed vertically, and serves to generate arc discharge together with the electrode part 43 to be described later. do.

The electrode part 43 includes an electrode member 43a in which a pair of the housing 41 faces both sides of the electrode wall part 420 and is disposed at a predetermined distance therefrom, and one end of the electrode member 43a. It is formed to extend downward from the housing 41 is configured to include a support portion (43b) supported on one side of the inner surface.

The electrode member 43a is formed in a rod shape having a substantially circular cross-section, is formed to have a predetermined length, and is disposed in a direction corresponding to the electrode wall portion 42, and the pair of the electrode members 43a move outward toward the outlet 13. is formed obliquely to

The reason that the electrode member 31 is inclined outwardly toward the outlet 13 as described above is to control the length of plasma generated between the electrode wall part 42 and the pair of electrode members 31 . By adjusting the inclination angle of the electrode wall part 42 in the inner and outer directions, the length of the plasma can be adjusted.

Here, in the plasma generating unit 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the side surface of the electrode wall part 42 opposite to the electrode part 43 is formed in a plane having a predetermined area, that is, to generate an arc discharge. Since the side surface of the electrode wall part 42 reacting with the electrode part 43 is formed to have a certain area, even if the electrode part 43 is not exactly aligned with the electrode wall part 42 during the manufacturing process, the electrode part 43 is connected to the electrode wall part ( 42), since it can be arranged within a range corresponding to the side area, the installation work can be easily and quickly performed.

Furthermore, when the position of the electrode member 31 is displaced within a range corresponding to the side area of the electrode wall part 20 due to an external force during use, there is an advantage that plasma generation can be performed stably.

The protective wall portion 44 is installed on the outside of the pair of electrode portions 43 among the inside of the housing 41 , and serves to protect the housing 10 from the high-temperature energy of the plasma generated when plasma is generated. Accordingly, the protective wall portion 40 is preferably formed of a material having high heat resistance.

The suction unit 45 is installed in communication with the inside of the chamber 10 on one side of the upper part of the chamber 10 near where the housing 41 is installed, and the other side is the inlet 41b of the housing 41 through the connection pipe (Y). is connected with

The suction unit 45 sucks the air inside the chamber 10 so that the sucked air flows into the housing 41 , so that the air in the chamber 10 is sterilized by plasma and then the outlet of the housing 10 . It serves to re-introduce into the chamber 10 through (41c).

6 is a view illustrating a state in which external air is introduced into the chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a state in which air is introduced into the housing through the inlet according to an embodiment of the present invention. 8 is a view showing a state in which atmospheric pressure bulk plasma is formed by the electrode wall part and the electrode part according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is an electrode member according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a view showing a state of flow in the side area of the negative part, Figure 10 is a view showing a state in which the examiner is seated in a chair provided in the chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 11 is an embodiment of the present invention It is a view showing a state in which an examiner inserts a hand into the glove unit according to , and FIG. 12 is a view showing a state in which the inspector collects a specimen in the specimen collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. is a diagram illustrating a state in which a specimen is collected in a drive-through method in the specimen collection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A sample collection method using a sample collection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration will be described with reference to the accompanying FIGS. 6 to 12 as follows.

Before the inspector enters the work space 13 for sample collection, the plasma generating unit 40 is driven to sterilize the air in the work space 13, and the air sterilization operation by the plasma generating unit 40 is as follows.

First, while the air supply unit 20 is driven, air flows into the chamber 10 . At this time, the air flowing into the chamber 10 is installed in the air supply unit 20 through a filter member such as a HEPA filter or a Wolfa filter. It is filtered through and introduced.

The air introduced into the chamber 10 is sucked by the suction unit 45 and moves into the housing 41 of the plasma generator 40 .

At the same time, power is applied to the electrode wall portion 42 and the electrode portion 43 through the AC high voltage power source, and arc discharge is generated between the electrode wall portion 42 and the electrode portion 43 through the inlet 41b through the housing ( 41) A transferred glow discharge is formed by the air introduced into the interior, thereby forming an atmospheric pressure bulk plasma at the outlet 41c of the housing 41 .

At this time, the arc discharge is performed in the region between the electrode wall portion 42 and the corresponding pair of electrode members 31, that is, at both sides of the electrode wall portion 20, so that a large amount of atmospheric pressure bulk plasma can be formed. have.

And, the air introduced into the housing 10 is sterilized by the high-temperature energy of the atmospheric pressure bulk plasma while moving into the chamber 10 through the outlet 41c. Furthermore, moisture contained in the air is ionized or dissociated by the high-temperature energy to form OH radicals, which are further sterilized or sterilized by the OH radicals.

As such, when the plasma generating unit 40 is driven, the inspector enters the working space 13 and sits on a chair provided inside the chamber 10 , and the inspection subject outside the chamber 10 also walks into the chamber 10 and It moves to a corresponding position and sits on a chair provided in front of the chamber 10 .

Thereafter, the inspector inserts his hand into the glove unit 30 through the inspection tool 12a and wears it, and collects a specimen from the subject by using a specimen collection tool provided in the mounting unit 15 .

When the sample collection is completed, the inspector accommodates the collected sample in a sample container, seals it, and mounts the sample container in the sample container (not shown) provided in the mounting unit 15 .

On the other hand, external support personnel located outside the chamber 10 disinfect the outer surfaces of the chamber 10 and the cradle 15 when the sample collection is completed. and can be done quickly.

And, since the inside of the work space 13 is continuously disinfected and sterilized by the plasma generating unit 40 as described above, a separate disinfection procedure is not required, so there is an advantage that the disinfection time can be significantly reduced.

On the other hand, although the sample collection apparatus according to the present embodiment shows an example applied to the walk-through method as described above, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. can be applied

The basic configuration of the embodiment of FIG. 14 is the same as that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 12 , but the electrode protrusion 42a is formed on one side of the electrode wall 42 .

As shown in FIG. 14, in this embodiment, unlike the previous embodiment, the electrode protrusion ( 42a) is formed.

At this time, the electrode protrusion 42a and the electrode member 43a are formed so that at least one side facing each other is formed to be curved and have different diameters. For example, as shown in FIG. 13 in the drawings, the diameter d of the electrode member 43a is formed to be smaller than the diameter D of the electrode protrusion 42a.

For this to happen, the electrode protrusion 42a and the electrode member 43a must be disposed at positions corresponding to each other for plasma generation. As mentioned above, the diameter (d) of the electrode member 43a is the diameter (d) of the electrode protrusion 42a It is to provide a compensation section (B) due to the diameter difference by forming a smaller diameter than D).

Here, the compensation section (B) provides a spare area equal to the diameter difference between the electrode protrusion 42a and the electrode member 43a when the electrode member 43a is installed or when the installed electrode member 43a flows. The compensation section (B) serves to facilitate the installation of the electrode member (43a) and to generate plasma even if the installation position of the electrode member (43a) is displaced within the compensation section (B). .

Since the other structures are the same as those of the above-described basic embodiment, the rest of the description will be omitted.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

a chamber having an entrance formed on one side and separating the inner working space from the outside, in which an inspection tool is formed on one side of the front side so that the hand or arm of the examiner can be exposed to the outside;

an air supply unit installed or connected to one side of the chamber to maintain the inside of the chamber in a positive pressure atmosphere;

a plasma generator installed on one side of the chamber, one side and the other side connected to the inside of the chamber, respectively, sucking the air inside the chamber, sterilizing the sucked air, and re-supplying the sterilized air into the chamber; and

and a glove unit mounted on one side of the outer surface of the chamber on which the inspection tool is formed, and into which the hand or arm of the examiner is inserted and worn.
According to claim 1,

The plasma generator

a suction unit installed at one side of the chamber and sucking air in the chamber;

a housing having a discharge space for discharging therein, connected to the suction unit to form an inlet through which the sucked air is introduced, and a housing having a discharge port communicating with the inside of the chamber on the other side;

an electrode wall part vertically installed on one side of a movement path through which air introduced into the inlet in the housing moves to the outlet, and both sides of which are formed to be flat; and

and a pair of electrode parts installed at both sides of the electrode wall part in the housing to be spaced apart from the electrode wall part by a predetermined distance, respectively.
3. The method of claim 2,

The pair of electrode parts are formed to have a length in the direction of the outlet, and are inclined in a direction away from each other in the direction of the outlet.
3. The method of claim 2,

The plasma generating unit further comprises a protective wall unit installed in a region between the inner wall of the housing and the electrode unit.
3. The method of claim 2,

The electrode wall portion includes an electrode protrusion formed to protrude outward from one side corresponding to the electrode portion among both sides,

The sample collection device, characterized in that the electrode part and the electrode projection are formed to have at least one side opposite to each other curved, and to have different diameters.