JPH05302923A - Carrier housing container for automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a carrier housing container for an automatic analyzer, which has the simple structure and can be made at a low cost, and wherein the clogging of carriers such as beads is hard to occur and the activity of the carriers is not decreased. CONSTITUTION:This is a container, which is used for an immunological automatic analyzer and houses carriers wherein antigens, antibodies or reagents are made to be the solid phase. A plurality of longitudinal grooves 5-1-5-5 each containing a plurality of the carriers are provided. The grooves 5-1-5-5 are made to communicate with each other in the inside through communicating parts 6-1-6-4. Wells 3-1 and 3-2 of buffer solution are formed at the parts of the grooves 5-1-5-5 through communicating paths 8-1-8-4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accommodates carriers such as beads to which antigens, antibodies or reagents are solid-phased, which are used in immunological automatic analyzers used in clinical laboratories of hospitals and test centers. It concerns a container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the analysis using an immunological technique, an insoluble carrier on which an antigen, an antibody or a reagent is solid-phased is used, and an enzyme or an enzyme-labeled antibody or an enzyme-labeled antigen that has reacted with B.
A heterogeneous enzyme immunoassay method has been generalized in which F separation is performed, and the amount of the labeled enzyme activity after this B / F separation is determined to quantify the test substance.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the analysis process of the heterogeneous enzyme immunoassay method. In FIG. 5, an antibody or an antigen that causes an antigen-antibody reaction with a test substance in a sample is preliminarily immobilized on a carrier 21 such as insoluble beads.
The test substance 22 in the sample is bound to the carrier 21 by causing an antigen-antibody reaction between 1 and the sample. Next, after washing and performing B / F separation, a labeling reagent 2 in which the carrier 21 is labeled with an enzyme with a substance that causes an antigen-antibody reaction with the test substance 22
The antigen-antibody reaction is caused by the action of 3 and then washing is performed again to separate B and F, and then the enzyme activity of the labeling enzyme in the labeling reagent 23 is obtained to quantify the test substance 22.

Quantitative analysis of various samples based on this enzyme immunoassay is carried out by an immunological automatic analyzer, and in this immunological analyzer, an antigen which specifically causes an antigen-antibody reaction with a test substance in the sample. Alternatively, a large number of carriers each having an antibody immobilized thereon are housed in a carrier container and taken out one by one,
It is configured such that the sample and the enzyme labeling reagent to be analyzed are supplied to the reaction container sequentially conveyed at a predetermined pitch and the carrier and the sample are reacted.

Synthetic resins such as plastics and glass beads are used as the carrier. In this case, two types, known as dry beads and wet beads, are known. The wet beads are more susceptible to vibrations during movement and the influence of outside air. It is advantageous to use wet beads rather than dry beads because the antigen, antibody or reagent immobilized on the carrier can be stably stored for a long time without receiving it, and as a result, highly accurate data can be obtained. is there.

As a carrier storage container using such wet beads as a carrier, an outer casing, a spiral passage for accommodating the carrier formed along the inner wall of the outer casing, and a lower side of the spiral passage. A storage container having a carrier outlet for taking out the carriers discharged one by one from, for example, JP-A-61-2
No. 58170. Further, as the disposable type, the storage container disclosed in JP-A-1-100545 is also known.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned conventional carrier accommodating container has a problem that it cannot be manufactured inexpensively due to the large number of parts due to its complicated shape. Also,
Since a large number of carriers must be set in the spiral passage one by one, the burden on the operator becomes great, and because of the spiral passage, carriers such as beads are caught in the middle of the spiral passage, and the carriers after that are used. There were also problems such as being unable to do so. Further, if the carrier outlet is exposed to air for a long time, the carrier may be dried and the activity may be lost.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer, which has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost, is less likely to cause clogging of a carrier such as beads, and does not reduce the activity of the carrier.

[0009]

A carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer of the present invention is a container for storing a carrier on which an antigen, an antibody or a reagent is solid-phased, which is used in an immunological automatic analyzer. It is characterized in that each is provided with a plurality of vertical grooves for accommodating a plurality of carriers, these grooves are communicated with each other inside, and a buffer solution pool is provided in a part of these grooves. ..

[0010]

In the above structure, since carriers such as beads are held in the vertical groove, the carriers can be arranged vertically, the structure of the storage container is simplified, and the storage container can be manufactured at low cost. You can Moreover, since the structure of the storage container is simple as described above, clogging of the carrier such as beads is unlikely to occur. Further, since there are a plurality of vertical grooves, even if clogging occurs at one place, the carrier can be taken from another place. Furthermore, even if the buffer solution evaporates from the upper opening of each groove, the carrier is not exposed to the air and loses its activity because the buffer solution is naturally supplied from the buffer solution reservoir. ..

[0011]

1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an example of a carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA, and FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line BB. FIG. The carrier storage container of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is configured by providing a carrier storage part 2 and buffer solution supply parts 3-1 and 3-2 inside a container body 1. The carrier storage portion 2 for storing a carrier such as beads can store a plurality of carriers 4 such as beads having an antigen, an antibody or a reagent solid-phased thereon in the direction of gravity, that is, in the vertical direction. -1 to 5-5). Each of the grooves 5-1 to 5-5 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the carrier 4 to be housed, and communicates with each other through the communication portion 6 (6-1 to 6-4). In addition, the buffer solution supply units 3-1 and 3-2 include the buffer solution tank 7 (7-1, 7).
-2) through the communication passage 8 (8-1 to 8-4) to the groove 5-1.
It is constituted so as to communicate with a part of 5-5, and constitutes a closed buffer solution reservoir.

An opening 9 for taking out a carrier such as beads is provided in the upper part of the carrier accommodating portion 2 of the container body 1. Through this opening 9, the carrier in the groove 5 is sucked by a method such as negative pressure suction. 4 is taken out. In addition, inside the grooves 5-1 to 5-5, the buffer solution supply units 3-1 and 3-2 are provided.
Buffer tanks 7-1, 7-2 and communication passages 8-1 to 8-8
The function of the carrier 4 is filled with the buffer solution to improve the storage stability of the carrier 4.

In the carrier accommodating container having the above-described structure, a plurality of carriers 4 such as beads having a predetermined antigen, antibody or reagent solid phase are previously inserted into the grooves 5-1 to 5-5 and filled with the buffer solution. Set in the automatic analyzer in this state, if necessary, suck the carriers 4 one by one from the grooves 5-1 to 5-5 by a method such as negative pressure suction, transfer them to the reaction container, and put the reagent there. Thus, an antigen-antibody reaction can be performed. Note that FIG.
In the storage container shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the same antigen, antibody or reagent is immobilized on all the carriers to be stored and different carriers are used for each test of one item.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of another example of the carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the same members as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is different from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in that the outer shape of the container body 1 is wedge-shaped, and the partition 10 is provided in the sealed buffer solution supply sections 3-1 and 3-2. -1 and 10-2 are provided. Further, the number of grooves 5 is 10. In this embodiment, since the outer shape of the container body is wedge-shaped, the strength and accuracy of the carrier storage container can be improved. It should be noted that 11-1 and 11-2 are reagent tanks provided together with the carrier storage container of the present invention and are not directly related to the configuration of the present invention.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, by arranging a plurality of carriers such as beads in a plurality of rows in a vertical direction, even if the carrier is clogged, another Carriers can be supplied from the rows without having to interrupt the analysis or replace the storage container. In addition, after the use of the carrier, even if the buffer solution evaporates from the upper opening, the buffer solution is naturally supplied from the buffer solution reservoir, and the carrier is not exposed to the air and the activation is not lost. Further, since the structure is very simple, the carrier storage container can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an example of a carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the carrier storage container shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the carrier accommodating container shown in FIG. 1, taken along line BB.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of another example of the carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an analysis process of a heterogeneous enzyme immunoassay method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Container Main Body 2 Carrier Storage Section 3-1 and 3-2 Buffer Solution Supply Section 4 Beads 5 (5-1 to 5-5) Groove 6 (6-1 to 6-4) Communication Section 7 (7-1, 7) -2) Buffer tank 8 (8-1 to 8-4) Communication passage 9 Opening 10-1 and 10-2 Partition 11-1 and 11-2 Reagent tank

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container used for an immunological automatic analyzer for storing a carrier on which an antigen, an antibody, or a reagent is solid-phased, each of which has a plurality of vertical grooves for storing a plurality of carriers. A carrier storage container for an automatic analyzer, comprising: these grooves communicating with each other inside, and having a buffer solution pool in a part of these grooves.