JPH06100608B2 - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer, and in particular, it has a reagent pipetting mechanism and a stirring mechanism that enable analysis of two or more items during one cycle operation, and changes the analysis speed. The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer capable of increasing the processing capacity without having to do so.

[Background of the Invention]

A conventional automatic analyzer has a structure as shown in FIG.

That is, the sample disk 10 on which a plurality of standard substances having different concentrations for each measurement item can be installed is provided near the reaction disk 21. A plurality of standard substances are configured so that they can be continuously arranged on the sample disk 10 for each measurement item. Further, the reaction disk 21 has a reaction container 22 also serving as a plurality of measuring cells on the circumference thereof and is configured to be rotatable. Further, the transfer of the standard substance (sample) is performed by the sampling probe 41, and the dispensing of the reagent is performed by the dispensers 38, 39.
Further, the spectroscope 27 is a multi-wavelength simultaneous photometric type having a plurality of detectors, faces the light source lamp 25, and when the reaction disk 21 is in a rotating state, the row of the reaction vessels 22 is a luminous flux 26 from the light source lamp 25. Is configured to pass through. The light flux 26 is arranged so as to pass through, for example, the center of the 31st reaction container 46 when counted from the discharge position 45 in the clockwise direction when the reaction disk 21 is in the stopped state. A drainage device and a cleaning device 24 are arranged between the position of the light beam 26 and the discharge position 45.

The overall control system consists of a multiplexer, logarithmic conversion amplifier 53, A / D converter 54, read-only memory (hereinafter ROM
Random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM)
The printer 55, the operation panel 52, and the mechanism drive circuit 35 are provided, and the A / D converter 54 is further connected to the central processing unit 51 via the interface 50. The central processing unit 51 controls the entire apparatus including the mechanical system and performs overall data processing such as calibration curve creation and concentration calculation by the above-described multiple regression, and a microcomputer is used.

With this configuration, when the sample container 44 containing the measured standard substance (sample) containing drugs, hormones, etc. is supplied to the sampling position, the pipette 40
The tip of the probe 41 is immersed in the sample container, and a fixed amount of serum is inhaled and held in the probe 41. afterwards,
The probe 41 moves to the discharge position 45 of the reaction disk 21, and discharges the serum held by the probe 41 into the reaction container 22 transferred to the discharge position 45. When the above sampling operation is completed, the reaction disk 21 starts intermittent rotational movement in the counterclockwise direction, and the reaction vessels 22 on the reaction disk 21 that are one more than the total number of the reaction vessels 22 pass through the discharge position. Rotate to and stop.

By the rotation of the reaction disk 21, the reaction container 22 containing the sample sampled in the sampling operation,
The discharge position 45 has come to a position which has advanced counterclockwise by one pitch of the reaction container and has stopped. During the rotation of the reaction disk 21, all the reaction vessels 22 on the reaction disk 21 have a luminous flux 26.
Pass through. Therefore, when each reaction container 22 passes through the light beam 26, the optical absorption measurement by the spectroscope 27 is performed, and the output of the spectroscope 27 is selected by the multiplexer as the signal of the currently required measurement wavelength and A / D converted. It is taken into the central processing unit 50 by the device 54 and stored in the RAM.

If the time during which the reaction disk 21 is rotated and stopped is, for example, 20 seconds, the above operation is repeated with 20 seconds as one cycle. As the above cycle progresses, the position of the specific sample to be measured sampled while the reaction disk 21 is stopped advances counterclockwise by one pitch of the reaction container. The reagent is discharged from the dispenser 36 and the dispenser 37 in such a manner that the reaction container 22 containing the sample moves counterclockwise by one pitch of the reaction container and the discharge position 4 on the reaction disk 21.
It will be done in a stopped state at 6,47. Looking at a specific sample to be measured, due to the first reagent added at the discharge position 47,
The first stage reaction is started, and the second reagent is added at the discharge position 46 to start the second stage reaction. As described above, the conventional automatic analyzer adopts the reaction container drive system in which the reaction table is of a rotary type and one reaction container advances by one rotation plus one reaction container. However, in such a conventional automatic analyzer, when two reagents are used for one analysis item, at least two agitation mechanisms are required to agitate immediately after the reagent is ejected and to promote and stabilize the reaction between the reagent and the sample. Needed. Also in the reagent pipetting mechanism, the one-analyte, two-reagent system has the drawback of requiring two sets of pipetting mechanisms.

[Object of the Invention]

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic analyzer having a simplified structure capable of improving processing capacity and reliability without changing the analysis speed.

[Outline of Invention]

The present invention provides a sample supply device comprising a sample sampling mechanism for dispensing a sample into a reaction container on a reaction table in which a predetermined number of reaction containers are arranged, and a first and second reagent in the reaction container on the reaction table. In an automatic analyzer equipped with a reagent supply device for dispensing and a photometer for irradiating light to a plurality of reaction vessels while moving the reaction table to optically measure the contents in the reaction vessels, The reaction table is rotated in a specific direction from the sample discharge position to the reagent injection position and stopped, and is rotated in the specific direction from the reagent injection position to a position passing through the reagent discharge position. And is configured to repeat a unit cycle formed by a second rotating operation of stopping by
The reagent supply device includes a single reagent pipetting mechanism, and when a specific reaction container containing no reagent is stopped at the reagent injection position, the first reagent is injected into the specific reaction container, The second reagent is injected into the specific reaction container when the specific reaction container into which is injected again stops at the reagent injection position. That is, according to the present invention, the first reagent and the second reagent can be dispensed into the specific reaction container at the same injection position, even though the reaction table is rotated in the specific one direction, so that the throughput is high. Moreover, since the single reagent supply device also serves to dispense the first reagent and the second reagent, the reagent supply configuration can be simplified.

Example of Invention

 Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 101 is a reaction table in which a plurality of reaction vessels (48 in this embodiment) 102 are set, and a reaction thermostat 103 controlled to a predetermined temperature is rotated to maintain a constant temperature. There is. The reaction table 101 includes a sample sampling mechanism 104, a reagent pipetting mechanism 105, and a stirring mechanism.
106 and a cleaning mechanism 107 are mounted close to each other, and when the rotation of the reaction table 101 is stopped, each mechanism engages with the reaction container 102 set on the reaction table 101. That is, the sample table
The sample in the sample container 109 set in 108 is partially sucked by the sample pipettor 110, and this sample is transferred to the reaction container 102 by the sample sampling mechanism 104 and discharged. Further, the reagent in the reagent container 112 set in the reagent table 111 is partially sucked by the reagent pipettor 113, and is transferred to the reaction container 102 already containing the sample by the reagent pipetting mechanism 105 and discharged. . The sample and the reagent contained in the reaction container 102 are uniformly stirred by the stirring mechanism 106 to promote the chemical reaction. The absorbance of the solution which has reacted uniformly in this way is directly measured by a photometer 114. When the measurement is completed in this way, the cleaning mechanism 107 sucks and discharges the solution in the reaction container 102, and at the same time, the cleaning liquid is discharged and sucked to be washed to a reusable state. Discharge / suction of cleaning liquid is a cleaning syringe
Performed by 115.

The sample sampling mechanism 104 and the reagent pipetting mechanism 105 used here, the sample / reagent suction probes 116 and 117, and the stirring rod 118 of the stirring mechanism 106 are inserted into the cleaning tanks 119 and 120 each time the cycle is used and washed with the cleaning liquid. The hot water in the reaction thermostat 103 is controlled to a constant temperature by the thermostat 121. These temperature control and mechanical system operation control are all carried out through the interface 123 in response to commands from the micro computer 122. Also a photometer 1
The absorbance of the solution in the reaction vessel 102 measured in 14 is the LOG converter
The data is calculated by the microcomputer 122 via the A / D converter 124 and the data is output by the printer 125.

The operation of this automatic analyzer is performed in an interactive manner between the operation panel 126 and the CRT 127. If necessary, part of the operation, analysis conditions and measurement data may be transferred to the floppy disk 12
You can have the 8 remember and also make calls.

Incidentally, the configuration of the automatic analyzer shown in the present embodiment, the vertical line of the reaction table 101 is centered on the left and right, that is, the sample sampling mechanism 104 and the reagent pipetting mechanism 105,
By disposing the sample table 108 and the reagent table 111, and the stirring mechanism 106 and the cleaning mechanism 107, respectively, there are many common points in the configuration of the opposing mechanisms, and it is possible to achieve commonality of parts and further reliability The productivity is greatly improved, and the effect is that it can be manufactured at a considerably low cost in terms of cost.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG.

Now, when the reaction container 102 on the reaction table 101 stopped at the sample discharge position is in the position shown in FIG. 2, the sample transferred by the sample sampling mechanism 104 is stored in the reaction container 102 at the position shown in FIG. Is ejected. Reaction table 101 after stopping at the position shown in FIG. 2 for several seconds (5 seconds in the embodiment)
Rotates (clockwise in the embodiment) and stops at the reagent injection position shown in FIG. The first reagent (R ₁ reagent) transferred by the reagent pipetting mechanism 105 at the position shown in FIG. 2 is injected into the reaction container 102 in which the sample has already been injected at the position shown in FIG. It Even at the position shown in FIG. 2 for several seconds (in the embodiment, 5
After the stop, the reaction table 101 rotates again (clockwise in the embodiment) to perform one cycle of operation (one rotation + 1 pitch), that is, stops at the position shown in FIG. The above operation is repeated, and the reaction container 102 is returned in the third cycle.
Stops at the position shown in FIG. 2 and the position shown in FIG. When stopped at the position shown in FIG. 2 among these two stop positions, the stirring mechanism 106 operates to stir the mixed first reagent and sample at the position shown in FIG. The operation is repeated in this manner, and the second reagent (R ₂ reagent) is injected into the reaction container 102 containing the first reagent and the sample in the 15th cycle. The operation is repeated, and in the 17th cycle, the second reagent contained in the reaction container 102 is stirred and mixed by the stirring mechanism 106.

Here, since the solution containing the first reagent and the solution containing the second reagent cross the optical axis of the photometer 114 every cycle, the absorbance of the solution at that time is measured (in the embodiment, about 1 in 20 seconds). Measured on a timely basis).

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since the reaction table (1 rotation + 1 pitch) is always stopped a plurality of times (twice in the embodiment) in the rotation cycle of the reaction table, in the conventional configuration, the reagent pipetting mechanism adds the reagent. The number of positions (for example, two mechanisms of the first reagent and the second reagent) is required, but only one mechanism can sufficiently cope.

Further, according to the present embodiment, one mechanism can sufficiently cope with the conventional automatic analyzer which requires a plurality of stirring mechanisms.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the structure of the entire automatic analyzer is simplified and reliability is improved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced considerably.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the analysis part has a bilaterally symmetrical structure with the reaction table as the center, so that the parts of the left and right mechanisms are almost common to further reduce the cost.

〔The invention's effect〕

The present invention rotates the reaction table in one specific direction,
It is possible to inject the first reagent and the second reagent into a specific reaction container at the same injection position, and a single reagent supply device serves to both inject the first reagent and dispense the second reagent. Therefore, the reagent supply configuration can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a conventional automatic analyzer, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the automatic analyzer showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a time chart of the analyzing section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 101 ... Reaction table, 102 ... Reaction container, 103 ... Reaction constant temperature bath, 104 ... Sampling mechanism, 105 ... Reagent pipetting mechanism, 106 ... Stirrer, 107 ... Washing mechanism, 108
…… Reagent table, 109 …… Sample container.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sample supply device for dispensing a sample into a reaction container on a reaction table in which a predetermined number of reaction containers are arranged, and a reagent for dispensing first and second reagents into the reaction container on the reaction table. In an automatic analyzer equipped with a supply device and a photometer that optically irradiates a plurality of reaction vessels with light during movement of the reaction table to optically measure the contents in the reaction vessels, the reaction table is The first rotation operation of rotating in a specific direction from the sample discharge position to the reagent injection position and stopping, and the first rotation operation of rotating in the specific direction and rotating and stopping from the reagent injection position to a position passing through the reagent discharge position. It is configured to repeat a unit cycle formed by two rotation operations, and the reagent supply device comprises a single reagent pipetting mechanism, and a specific reaction container containing no reagent is The first reagent is injected into the specific reaction container when the reaction container is stopped at the reagent injection position, and the specific reaction container in which the first reagent is injected is stopped at the reagent injection position again. An automatic analyzer characterized by injecting a second reagent into a reaction container. 2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the liquid in the reaction container containing the first reagent and the sample is stirred and the liquid in the reaction container containing the second reagent is stirred. An automatic analyzer characterized by comprising a single stirring mechanism for stirring.