JPH022538B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for automatically chemically analyzing samples such as blood and urine, and more particularly to an automatic analyzer equipped with at least one ion electrode for measuring the ion concentration of a sample. This is related to.

Conventionally, automatic analyzers with various configurations have been proposed, and an analyzer equipped with at least one ion electrode for measuring the in concentration of a sample is also known as an analyzer capable of increasing the number of measurement items. In known analyzers equipped with an ion electrode, in order to be able to measure the ion concentration of a sample contained in a reaction vessel, a so-called cuvette, the ion electrode is arranged so as to be vertically displaceable with respect to the reaction vessel. When measuring ion concentration, the ion electrode is directly inserted into the reaction vessel. As a result, when the ion concentration of a large number of samples is to be measured, it is necessary to displace the ion electrode up and down relative to each reaction vessel, and to clean the ion electrode before measuring the ion concentration of different samples. Even if a cleaning device is installed at an appropriate location, it is difficult to completely clean the electrodes, and contamination between samples is inevitable, so there is a limit to the improvement of measurement accuracy.

The present invention has been made with attention to these problems, and by making it possible to accurately clean the ion electrode, it is possible to constantly measure the ion concentration of a large number of samples with high reliability without reducing measurement accuracy. The purpose is to propose an automatic analyzer that can obtain analytical results.

That is, the automatic analyzer according to the present invention has a plurality of reaction vessels each containing a test liquid made of a transparent material, and a plurality of photometric positions and ion concentration locations spaced apart from each other along a common reaction line. a reaction container transfer means for transferring the reaction container through the measurement position; and a test liquid contained in at least one of the reaction containers;
a photometric means that performs photometry when the reaction container passes through each photometry position; measuring the ion concentration of the test liquid contained in the at least one reaction container when the reaction container passes through the ion concentration measurement position; ion concentration measuring means for measuring ion concentration, the ion concentration measuring means comprising a flow cell and at least one ion concentration measuring means arranged in the flow cell.
and a suction nozzle for transferring the test liquid from the at least one reaction container into the flow cell, and configured to measure the ion concentration of the test liquid within the flow cell. That is.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of the automatic analyzer of the present invention. This device is a discrete type automatic analyzer that uses a batch process, and is also a sequential multi-type automatic analyzer that performs analysis of multiple items one after another. The sample container 1 is held by a sample transfer mechanism 2 and is intermittently transferred in the direction of arrow A.
A predetermined amount of the sample contained in the sample container 1 is sequentially aspirated by the sample dispensing mechanism 3 at predetermined positions according to the number of analysis items, and then transferred to a cuvette 4 as a reaction container.
Dispense into a container together with diluent 5. The cuvette 4 is held in a cuvette transfer mechanism 6, and is configured to be intermittently transferred along a reaction line indicated by arrow B at one step in 6 seconds. Further, this cuvette 4 is sequentially fed onto the transfer mechanism 6 by a cuvette supply mechanism 7. The cuvette 4 that has received the sample is further transferred several steps, and at a predetermined position on the reaction line B, the reagent dispensing mechanism 8 dispenses a reagent corresponding to the analysis item together with the diluent 9 into the cuvette 4. Reagents necessary for analysis are stored in reagent containers 10, respectively.
₁ to 10 _degrees , held in a reagent transfer mechanism 11 movable in the direction shown by double arrow C, and configured such that a reagent according to the analysis item is sucked by a reagent dispensing mechanism 8 at a predetermined position. do. The sample and reagent are sufficiently stirred by dispensing the reagent and diluent at an appropriate flow rate using the reagent dispensing mechanism 8. Cuvette 4 where reagents were dispensed
are separated from each other by an integer multiple of the amount of movement of the cube 4 in one step on the reaction line B (in the illustrated example, only four locations are representatively shown).
The reaction state of the test liquid in the cuvette 4 is monitored by photometric colorimeters 12 to 15 each comprising a light source and a light receiving element provided in the cuvette 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of each part of the analyzer 25 of the present invention when the top cover is removed. The sample container is transported to the suction position by the transport mechanism 34. A predetermined amount of the sample sucked from the sample container by the pump 36 is discharged into the cuvettes that are fed one by one by the cuvette feeder 35 to a position adjacent to this suction position. While these cuvettes are transported to the photometry position by the transport mechanism 37, appropriate reagents stored in the tank 38 in the reagent cassette 32 are delivered to the dispenser 3.
9, a predetermined amount is supplied. Reagent tank 38
As will be described later, a plurality of reagents are linked together in an endless manner, and a tank 38 containing a desired reagent is displaced to a position corresponding to the dispenser 39. Along the cuvette transport mechanism 37, an ion concentration measuring device 40 is disposed for measuring the ion concentration of the reaction solution in the cuvette, as will be described later.
A distribution mechanism 41 is arranged at the end of the cuvette transport mechanism 37, and the distribution mechanism 41 connects the two photometers 42 to the transport mechanism 37 in succession, and alternately supplies the sequentially transported cuvettes to the left and right photometers 42. . Each photometric section 42 is made to pass through a passage connected to the opening 27 of the upper lid 26 described above. Note that the cuvette and reaction liquid that have undergone photometry in the photometry section 42 are discarded at a station 43.

In the case of providing two systems of photometry sections 42 in this way, for example, the cuvette is 6
Even if the light is supplied at a rate of one per second, each photometry section only needs to perform photometry for one cuvette every 12 seconds, making it possible to improve the photometry accuracy accordingly. Furthermore, even if one photometering section breaks down, data can be obtained using only the other photometering section, so there is no need to completely stop work.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of an example of the cubet 45. As shown in FIG. The cuvette 45 shown in this example includes a rectangular opening 45a and a holding flange 45b provided on the outer periphery of this opening, and is tapered to become narrower toward a bottom 45c. The bottom portion 45c is formed in a semicylindrical shape, and at least both end surfaces in the longitudinal direction are light-transmissive so that the photometry window 4 is formed.
5d, and is configured so that the test liquid contained in the cuvette can be photometered through both photometry windows.

According to this cuvette 45, the opening 45a
Since the (receptacle) is wide, samples and reagents can be easily injected without scattering outwards, and the amount of test liquid only needs to fill the semi-cylindrical bottom 45c, so analysis can be carried out with very small amounts of samples and reagents. be able to. Further, by setting the photometric optical axis in the longitudinal direction, a sufficiently long optical path length can be obtained, so that highly accurate analysis can be performed. Furthermore, since the cuvette is formed in a tapered shape so as to become narrower from the opening 45a toward the bottom 45c, and the flange 45b is provided on the outer periphery of the opening 45a, when this is attached to the cuvette transfer mechanism, the fourth As shown in Figure A, by placing the flange 45b on the holding member 60, or as shown in Figure B, by forming a groove in the holding member and engaging the flange 45b in this groove in a freely insertable and removable manner. , the photometric window 45d is held by the holding member 60 or 6.
The device can be easily attached without touching the device and without causing any scratches or the like. Note that the arrow E shown in FIG. 4A represents the photometric optical axis. Furthermore, when the cuvette 45 is integrally molded from a light-transmitting material, it can have excellent mechanical strength.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of an example of an ion concentration measuring device. This ion concentration measuring device is designed to suck the test liquid in the cuvette 45 with a suction nozzle 170 and measure various ion concentrations in a flow cell 171. Suction nozzle 170
is held at one end of an arm 172, and a guide rod 173 is attached to the other end of this arm. This guide rod 173 loosely fits into a sleeve 174 provided on the support plate, and a roller 175 is pivotally attached to the end thereof.
This roller is brought into contact with the cam surface of an eccentric cam 177 attached to the rotating shaft of a motor 176. In this way, the motor 176 is driven to drive the eccentric cam 17.
By rotating the suction nozzle 7, the suction nozzle 170 can be inserted into the sample liquid in the cuvette 45. Further, the suction nozzle 170 is connected to a syringe 179 through a flexible tube 178 and a flow cell 171, and to a suction pump 182 through a valve 180 and a waste liquid tank 181.
Further, the ion selection electrode 183 is arranged with its electrode portion penetrating into the flow cell 171. Note that the ion concentration measuring portion is covered with a cover 184 to prevent dust from entering and adhering to it. In this configuration, to measure the ion concentration in the test liquid, first close the valve 180 and drive the motor 176 to cause the suction nozzle 170 to enter the test liquid in the cuvette 45 on the reaction line. Next, the syringe 179 is operated to aspirate the sample liquid in the cuvette 45 and store it in the flow cell 171. In this state, the ion selection electrode 183 measures the concentration of various ions in the test liquid. After the measurement, the valve 180 is opened, the suction pump 182 is operated to store the aspirated test liquid in the waste liquid tank 181, and the syringe 179 is returned to its original position.

In the ion concentration measuring device shown in FIG. 5, a cleaning water container (not shown) can be arranged at a position away from the reaction line, and a suction nozzle can be inserted into this container. In this case, since the ion selective electrode can be easily and reliably cleaned, accurate measurements can be performed without causing contamination between test liquids.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an example of the signal processing circuit of the ion concentration measuring device described above.
This processing circuit amplifies the signal from the ion selection electrode 183 with a preamplifier 185, and then
converted into a digital signal by a digital converter 186,
This signal is supplied to the control device 187 for arithmetic processing.

As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, an ion electrode for measuring the ion concentration of the sample is disposed within the flow cell, and the ion concentration of the sample is measured within the flow cell. The ion electrode can be cleaned accurately,
When measuring the ion concentration of a large number of samples, it is possible to always obtain highly reliable analysis results without reducing measurement accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of the automatic analyzer of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of each part in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an external perspective view of the cuvette, and Fig. Figures A and B are side and front views showing how the cuvette shown in Figure 3 is held, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of an example of the ion concentration measuring device provided in the device of the present invention, and Figure 6 is a FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a signal processing circuit in the apparatus of FIG. 5; 1... Sample container, 2... Sample transfer mechanism, 3...
sample dispensing mechanism, 4... cuvette, 6... cuvette transfer mechanism, 7... cuvette supply mechanism, 8...
...Reagent dispensing mechanism, 10 ₁ to 10 _o ...Reagent container, 1
1... Reagent transfer mechanism, 12-15... Photoelectric colorimeter, 16... Control device, 25... Analyzer main body,
34... Sample transfer mechanism, 35... Cuvette supply mechanism, 36... Sample dispensing device, 37... Cuvette transfer mechanism, 38... Reagent container, 39... Reagent dispensing mechanism, 40... Ion concentration measuring device , 41...
Distribution mechanism, 42... Photometry unit, 45... Cuvette, 170... Suction nozzle, 171... Flow cell, 183... Ion selection electrode, 185... Preamplifier, 186... Analog-digital converter,
187...control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Reaction container transfer in which a plurality of reaction containers made of a transparent material each containing a test liquid are transferred through a plurality of photometry positions and ion concentration measurement positions that are spaced apart from each other along a common reaction line. means; a photometric means for performing photometry on the test liquid contained in at least one of the reaction vessels when the reaction vessel passes through each photometry position; and a photometry means for measuring the test liquid contained in the at least one reaction vessel; , ion concentration measuring means for measuring the ion concentration of the reaction vessel when it passes through the ion concentration measuring position, the ion concentration measuring means comprising a flow cell;
at least one ion electrode for measuring ion concentration disposed in the flow cell; and a suction nozzle for transferring the test liquid from the at least one reaction vessel into the flow cell; An automatic analyzer characterized in that it is configured to measure the ion concentration of.