JPH0328358Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention allows particles such as blood cells and platelets suspended in a liquid to pass through micropores, and detects them based on the difference in electrical impedance between the liquid and the particles. A particle detection device, specifically, a particle suspension that quickly moves away from the vicinity of the micropores after passing through micropores for particle detection provided below the liquid surface, thereby preventing particle entrainment and return phenomena. In addition, multiple micropores for particle detection are provided to improve detection accuracy when the micropores have the same diameter, and because detection sensitivity differs when the micropores have different diameters, regardless of the size of the particle. The present invention relates to a particle detection device capable of measuring particle size distribution over a wide range.

[Conventional technology]

Particles such as red blood cells or platelets are suspended in physiological saline, etc., and the particle suspension is passed through micropores that are narrow enough to allow the particles to pass through, thereby determining the difference in electrical impedance between the particles and the liquid. In a particle counting device that detects particles based on, for example, when trying to detect platelets in a mixed solution of red blood cells and platelets, the red blood cells after passing through the micropore 1 are detected as shown in Fig. 1. A so-called entrainment phenomenon occurs in which the red blood cells floating in the vicinity of the micropores are caught up in the detection area 2, generating unnecessary pulses.The height of this pulse is the same as that of the platelets, so the apparent height of the platelets is The result is that the number increases.

That is, as shown in Fig. 2, the height of pulse A caused by entrainment is the same as that of pulse B caused by platelets, so red blood cells caught in the detection area are also counted as platelets, and therefore the apparent appearance of platelets is The number of will increase. C is a pulse caused by red blood cells.

For this purpose, a double-structured detector is used that sucks up all the particle suspension after passing through the micropores, and the sucked liquid is circulated near the micropores, and a filter is installed in the middle to remove the particles. A method has been proposed in which liquid that is not present is involved.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-61269 discloses that by flowing a clean electrolyte behind the measurement hole, particles that have passed through the measurement hole can be prevented from entering the sensing area again, resulting in erroneous counts. A particle measuring device is described that eliminates the In this particle measuring device, as shown in FIG. 1, the sample in the sample bath 48 is sucked through the measurement hole 14 and the orifice 16 using vacuum pressure. Therefore, in order to prevent particles in the sample sucked from the measurement hole 14 from becoming entangled, it is important to rectify the liquid between the outer chamber 13 and the inner chamber 18. In the description regarding the shield 32, it is also suggested that a plurality of pores be formed. That is, in the second line from the bottom to the first line from the bottom of the lower right column of page 4 of the above publication, it is stated that "This is necessary when one or more holes are immersed in the sample bath 48 of the container 38." has been done. However, details are unknown.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 13029/1983 discloses a particle analyzer having a plurality of measurement holes. Typically, as shown in Fig. 1, a single perforated pipe has multiple measurement holes, and as shown in Fig. 5, it has multiple measurement holes and each perforated pipe is A case where each hole has one measurement hole is shown. First, as shown in Fig. 1, when we consider the case where a single perforated pipe has multiple measurement holes, as shown in Fig. 2, which is a cross-sectional view of the same,
The inside of the perforated tube is completely divided into a plurality of chambers by the central wall 11, and each chamber is provided with one measurement hole. With such a configuration, the plurality of measurement holes will not be electrically connected to each other inside the perforated tube. Therefore, if the perforated pipe has such a simple structure, it can be said that it is possible to provide a plurality of measurement holes in one perforated pipe.

However, in the perforated pipe having a double pipe structure having a first chamber and a second chamber as shown in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983-13029,
As shown in 2, if multiple measurement holes are provided inside a perforated pipe without being electrically connected to each other, imagine what kind of structure the perforated pipe would have. Even this is extremely difficult. Even if such a device were to be realized, it would have an extremely complicated structure and would be difficult to manufacture, making it extremely impractical.

Therefore, when a perforated tube with a double tube structure having a first chamber and a second chamber is provided as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-61269, one or more holes are inserted into the sample bath 48.
Immersing in the water means immersing it in the
It is reasonable for those skilled in the art to understand that a plurality of perforated tubes are provided as shown in Fig. 5, and each perforated tube has one measurement hole.

Therefore, in the prior art or a combination thereof, it is not possible to provide a plurality of detection fine holes 8 in one detector main body 3 as in the present application, and to solve the problem of particle entrainment. That's why. The configuration of the present application has made this possible for the first time.

As mentioned above, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 43-13029,
A particle analyzer with multiple measurement holes is described. In particular, Fig. 1 shows a structure with multiple measurement holes (micropores) in a single perforated tube (detection part), but as shown in Fig. 2, which is a cross-sectional view of the same, The inside of the perforated tube is completely divided into a plurality of chambers by the central wall 11, and each chamber is provided with one measurement hole. Therefore, it is based on the same technical idea as the prior art in the present application in which one fine hole is provided in one detection tube.

In addition, in the device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 43-13029, the sample liquid in the container passes through the measurement hole and is sucked into the perforated tube, but at this time, the particles that have passed through the fine hole get caught up in the detection area. However, the problem still occurs that a so-called entrainment phenomenon occurs and unnecessary pulses are generated.

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

The conventional method of circulating the sucked liquid near the micropores and installing a filter in the middle to draw in the particle-free solution involves replacing the filter, the structure of the circulation pump, or the suspension passing through the micropores. This has not been realized due to problems with the method of quantifying the liquid. In particular, the mixing of air bubbles significantly reduces the quantitative accuracy, and the above-mentioned circulation method is not common, considering that it is very difficult to remove air bubbles generated in the circulation path, and there are problems such as leakage.

In addition, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 50-61269,
In the apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 43-13029, a sample is sucked into a detector through a measurement hole using vacuum pressure.
For this reason, the entrainment phenomenon and the rebound phenomenon occur.

The present invention was developed in view of the above points, and unlike the conventional method of sucking the sample into the detector, the present invention uses two pellets to form a double liquid flow to draw the sample from the detector. It is an object of the present invention to provide a particle detection device which prevents the phenomenon of generating unnecessary pulses due to entrainment or return of particles by ejecting them, and which is equipped with a plurality of detection pellets and can be used in various applications. It is something.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the particle detection device of the present invention has a cylindrical detection device having a sample supply port 4, a positive pressure introduction port 5, and a sample discharge port 7, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Micro holes 8 are provided on the lower side of the container body 3.
A plurality of detection pellets 10 having perforations are inserted and fixed so that the fine holes communicate with each other, and the outside of these detection pellets 10 is filled with a rectifying liquid via a space 11. small hole 1
2 is fixed to the outer surface of the detector main body 3, and a rectifying liquid supply passage 14 is provided in these spaces 11.
At the same time, each of these rectifying liquid supply passages 14 is connected to an electrically shielded rectifying liquid reservoir 16, and an external electrode 17 is housed in each of these rectifying liquid reservoirs 16. Common internal electrode 1 within the detector body 3
8 is disposed outside the side of the small hole 12 of the rectifying pellet 13, and a jet stream ejected into the air from the fine hole 8 of the detection pellet 10 through the small hole 12 of the rectifying pellet 13 is provided. It is characterized by being provided with a trap 21 for receiving and discharging the water.

[Effect]

To perform a measurement, first, a sample 28 (particle suspension) is introduced into the detector body 3 from the sample supply port 4 to fill the inside of the detector body 3 . On the other hand, the rectifying liquid supply passage 14 and the space 11 between the detection pellet and the rectifying pellet are somewhat pressurized with a rectifying liquid 30, such as physiological saline used for particle suspension. filled with state.

When positive pressure is introduced into the detector main body 3 from the positive pressure inlet 5, the sample is ejected from the micropores 8, and when this ejected flow passes through the space 11, a particle-free liquid such as physiological saline is released. It flows into the trap 21 as it surrounds the surrounding area.

Particles are detected by the difference in electrical impedance between the internal electrode 18 and the external electrode 17 when the particles pass through the micropores 8 . In this case, no particle entrainment phenomenon occurs, so no unnecessary pulses are generated.

After the measurement, the sample is discharged through the sample discharge port 7. The liquid falling along the outer wall of the detector main body 3 is electrically blocked by the circumferential groove 27 and drips.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. 3 and 4 show an embodiment of the particle detection device of the present invention. Reference numeral 3 denotes a cylindrical detector main body, which has a sample supply port 4 at the top, a positive pressure introduction port 5 connected to a pressurizing source and an electrode outlet 6, and a sample discharge port 7 at the bottom.

A plurality of detection pellets 10 made of ruby, sapphire, ceramic, or the like are fitted and fixed on the lower side of the detector main body 3, and each particle detection pellet 10 is made of ruby, sapphire, ceramic, or the like and has fine holes 8 with a diameter of 30 to 200 .mu.m. In addition, rectifying pellets 13 are provided with small holes 12 formed on the outside of these detection pellets 10 through spaces 11.
It is fixed to the outer surface of the detector body 3.

Further, a rectifying liquid supply passage 14 is connected to these spaces 11 for supplying a rectifying liquid having the same composition as the liquid from which particles are removed from the particle suspension, such as physiological saline. , these rectifying liquid supply passages 14 are connected to the rectifying liquid pipe 1
5 to electrically shielded rectifying liquid reservoirs 16.

External electrodes 17 for detection are housed within these rectifying liquid reservoirs 16, while a common internal electrode 18 is disposed within the detector main body 3. The rectifying liquid reservoirs 16 are each housed in a shield case 20 to prevent mutual electrical interference and to prevent noise from entering.

Furthermore, traps 21 are provided on the sides of the small holes 12 of the rectifying pellets 13 to receive the jet flow from these small holes, and these traps 21
is connected to a drain chamber 23 via a discharge pipe 22, and is configured to receive the liquid ejected from the micropores 8 and the space 11 with a trap 21, and send it into the drain chamber 23 in a dripping state. This drain chamber 23 also serves as a current interrupter. Reference numeral 24 denotes an outer cylinder for fixing the trap 21 and the like and for covering the outside of the detector main body 3 via a space 25. A drain outlet 2 is provided at the bottom of this outer cylinder 24.
6 is provided to discharge droplets that have fallen down along the outer wall of the detector body 3. 27
is a circular groove provided in the lower part of the outer wall of the detector body 3.

In the particle detection device of the present invention configured as described above, in order to perform a measurement, the sample 28 (particle suspension) is first introduced into the detector body 3 from the sample supply port 4, and then the sample 28 (particle suspension) is introduced into the detector body 3. satisfy. On the other hand, the rectifying liquid supply passage 14 and the space 11 between the detection pellet and the rectifying pellet are connected to the rectifying liquid 3.
0, filled under some pressure with, for example, physiological saline used for particle suspension.

When positive pressure is introduced into the detector main body 3 from the positive pressure inlet 5, the sample is ejected from the micropores 8, and when this ejected flow passes through the space 11, a particle-free liquid such as physiological saline is released. It flows into the trap 21 as it surrounds the surrounding area. Particles are detected by the difference in electrical impedance between the internal electrode 18 and the external electrode 17 when the particles pass through the micropores 8 . In this case, no particle entrainment phenomenon occurs, so no unnecessary pulses are generated.

After the measurement, the sample is discharged through the sample discharge port 7. The liquid falling along the outer wall of the detector main body 3 is electrically blocked by the circumferential groove 27 and drips.

Since the particle detection device of the present invention is equipped with a plurality of detection micropores as described above, it is particularly effective for measuring particle average volume or particle size distribution regardless of the number of particles, for example. In particular, when measuring particle size distribution, there are cases where particles of several sizes are dispersed, and a single detector cannot cover a wide range, but it is possible to detect them at once using micropores with different diameters. , which can later be statistically processed. In addition, when measuring the average volume, for example, when continuously capturing the process of particle destruction or agglomeration, it is possible to observe the process of change over a wide range by sequentially switching to micropores with different pore diameters. I can do it.

Furthermore, the diameter of the micropores is set to be the same, and the particles detected individually using a manometer or liquid quantitative device are compared, and since the flow rate is constant when using a manometer, the counted value within a predetermined time is calculated. ,
When using a liquid quantitative device, calculate statistical values,
By comparing each count value, clogging etc. can be monitored. That is, when a manometer (pressure detection) is used, the number of particles per unit time is presented as a measurement value, and it is possible to monitor the clogging of each micropore and the non-uniformity of particle distribution.

Furthermore, when using a liquid quantitative device, the total amount of particles detected in each micropore is presented as a measurement value, making it possible to monitor clogging of each micropore and non-uniformity of particle distribution, and the measurement time is extremely short. It has characteristics such as. Note that the manometer and liquid quantitative device are provided branching off from the sample supply port 4.

The particle detection device of the present invention allows the particle suspension to quickly move away from the vicinity of the fine hole after passing through the fine hole for particle detection, thereby preventing particle entrainment and return phenomena, and also Various applications are possible by providing a plurality of micropores with the same diameter or changing the diameter, and by introducing positive pressure into the detector body 3, the detection pellet 10 can be , rectifying pellets 13
The sample is ejected into the air (trap 21) through the trap 21.

Since the particles are ejected into the air in this way, particle entrainment cannot occur. If the only consideration is to eject particles, the liquid in the space 11 is not necessary. The liquid in the space 11 , the rectifying liquid supply passage 14 , and the rectifying liquid pipe 15 is for flowing current to the external electrode 17 . Therefore, in the present invention, the liquid rectification effect is not important as in JP-A-50-61269.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a single detector main body 3 is provided with a plurality of detection fine holes 8 without providing a partition or the like.

The present invention differs from the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 50-61269, and the reason why measurement is possible in this way is that each electrically independent external electrode 17 is connected to each microhole 8. By preparing each.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the particle detection device of the present invention ejects a particle suspension from the detector through a plurality of micropores, surrounds it with a particle-free liquid such as physiological saline, and mixes the particle suspension with the particle suspension. Since the electrical connection is made through a liquid that does not contain particles, the particle suspension quickly moves away from the vicinity of the micropores after passing through the micropores, and this causes phenomena such as particle entrainment and return. Therefore, since unnecessary pulses due to these phenomena are not generated, it has the effect of making it possible to perform accurate particle counting measurements.Especially, it is possible to perform accurate particle counting measurements, especially for particles of two sizes, large and small, such as red blood cells and platelets. Suitable for performing classification counting. Furthermore, since a single detector body is provided with a plurality of fine holes for detection, various applications are possible by making the diameters of the fine holes the same or changing the diameters.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing a state in which an entrainment phenomenon occurs near a microhole in a conventional particle detection device, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a pulse signal in the state shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a pulse signal in the state shown in Fig. The figure is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the particle detection device of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the vicinity of the micropore in FIG. 3. 1... Fine hole, 2... Detection area, 3... Detector body, 4... Sample supply port, 5... Positive pressure introduction port, 6
... Electrode outlet, 7 ... Sample discharge port, 8 ... Fine hole, 10 ... Detection pellet, 11 ... Space,
12... Small hole, 13... Rectifying pellet, 14...
...Liquid supply passage for rectification, 15...Liquid pipe for rectification,
16... Rectifying liquid reservoir, 17... External electrode, 1
8... Internal electrode, 20... Shield case, 21
... Trap, 22 ... Discharge pipe, 23 ... Drain chamber, 24 ... Outer cylinder, 25 ... Space, 26 ...
...Drain outlet, 27...Circular groove, 28...
Particle suspension, 30... liquid for rectification.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A detection pellet 10 with micro holes 8 formed in the lower part of a cylindrical detector main body 3 having a sample supply port 4, a positive pressure inlet 5 and a sample discharge port 7 is provided. A plurality of fine holes are fitted and fixed so that they communicate with each other, and the small holes 1 are inserted through a space 11 for filling the outside of these detection pellets 10 with rectifying liquid.
2 is fixed to the outer surface of the detector main body 3, and a rectifying liquid supply passage 14 is provided in these spaces 11.
At the same time, each of these rectifying liquid supply passages 14 is connected to an electrically shielded rectifying liquid reservoir 16, and an external electrode 17 is housed in each of these rectifying liquid reservoirs 16. Common internal electrode 1 within the detector body 3
8 is disposed outside the side of the small hole 12 of the rectifying pellet 13, and a jet stream ejected into the air from the fine hole 8 of the detection pellet 10 through the small hole 12 of the rectifying pellet 13 is provided. A particle detection device characterized by being provided with a trap 21 for receiving and discharging particles.