JPH11237385A - Biochemical analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speedily separate a blood plasma or blood serum for analyzing components of a blood and simplify the constitution of an analyzer. SOLUTION: A blood collection tube held at a sample storage part 16 is set to a blood plasma filter unit 9. A sucking means 2 for sucking and filtering a blood from the blood plasma filter unit 9 is fitted to a drip arm 88. The drip arm 88 is rotated to face the sucking means 2 and blood filter unit 9 each other to suck and filter the blood. A blood plasma component of the blood is separated and supplied to a cup of the blood plasma filter unit 9. The blood is biochemically analyzed with the use of the obtained blood plasma component.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a biochemical analyzer for determining the concentration of a predetermined biochemical substance in a sample liquid using a chemical analysis element on which a sample liquid such as blood or urine is spotted. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a dry-type chemical analysis element capable of quantitatively analyzing a specific chemical component or material contained in a sample liquid simply by spotting and supplying a small droplet of the sample liquid. Has been put to practical use. In addition, in order to perform quantitative analysis of chemical components and the like in a sample liquid using such a chemical analysis element, after the sample liquid is spotted on the chemical analysis element,
This is kept at a constant temperature for a predetermined time (incubation) in an incubator (incubator) to produce a color reaction (dye formation reaction).
Then, the chemical analysis element is irradiated with measurement irradiation light having a wavelength selected in advance by a combination of a predetermined biochemical substance in the sample solution and a reagent contained in the chemical analysis element, and its optical density is measured. From this optical density, a substance concentration of a predetermined biochemical substance in a sample solution is obtained using a calibration curve representing a correspondence between an optical density determined in advance and a substance concentration of a predetermined biochemical substance. Biochemical analyzer is used.

In this biochemical analyzer, the chemical analysis elements are sequentially transported to an incubator, and the measured chemical analysis elements are taken out of the incubator and disposed of for disposal. , JP 61
-26864, U.S. Pat.No.4,296,069, etc., the chemical analysis element is carried into the disc-type incubator from the outer side, and the chemical analysis element whose measurement has been completed is taken from the inner side of the incubator. It is provided so as to be carried out by being pushed out or taken out from the outer peripheral side, and to be discarded.

Further, a chemical analysis element having a sample liquid spotted thereon is linearly transported by a transport means and inserted into a storage section of a rotary incubator having a storage section for storing a plurality of chemical analysis elements one by one. Then, a predetermined incubation is performed in the storage section, the color reaction of the chemical analysis element is measured from the bottom of the storage section, and the chemical analysis element whose measurement has been completed is further transported toward the center of the incubator by the transporting means. There is also known a biochemical analyzer which is dropped into a disposal hole opened at the center and disposed of (JP-A-6-66818).

On the other hand, in the above-described biochemical analyzer, in order to analyze biochemical substances contained in blood, whole blood is separated into plasma or serum and blood cells by a centrifugal separator, and the separated plasma is separated. In most cases, analysis is performed using serum as a sample solution.

[0006]

When blood is analyzed by the biochemical analyzer as described above, it may be necessary to analyze the blood immediately as in an emergency patient.
However, since it is necessary to separate blood by a centrifugal separator in order to obtain plasma or serum for analyzing blood components, time is required for this separation,
I could not respond in an emergency.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a biochemical analyzer capable of rapidly separating blood into plasma or serum and immediately performing a biochemical analysis of blood. .

[0008]

A biochemical analyzer according to the present invention is a biochemical analyzer for determining the concentration of a predetermined biochemical substance in a sample solution using a chemical analysis element onto which the sample solution has been spotted. A filter for filtering a whole blood to obtain a filtrate as a sample solution, a holder holding the filter and having a blood inlet and the filtrate outlet, and a filter provided on the filtrate outlet side to receive the filtrate A blood filtration unit having a filtrate receiving tank, and applying a negative pressure from the filtrate outlet side to the spotting means and the holder for applying the filtrate in the filtrate receiving tank to the chemical analysis element; A spotting arm having a suction means detachably provided on the filtrate outlet side.

The biochemical analyzer according to the present invention further comprises a receiving portion for receiving the filtrate from the filtrate receiving tank, and a diluting solution mixed in the receiving portion to dilute the filtrate in the receiving portion. It is preferable to further include a unit.

[0010]

According to the biochemical analyzer of the present invention, the suction means provided on the dropping arm is attached to the blood filtration unit and a negative pressure is applied from the filtrate outlet side, thereby obtaining plasma in blood. Alternatively, plasma or serum separated from blood is filled in the filtrate receiving tank as the filtrate by filtering the serum through the filter. Then, the filtrate in the filtrate receiving tank is spotted on the chemical analysis element by spotting means, and the concentration of the biochemical substance in the sample liquid is determined using the chemical analysis element. Therefore, plasma or serum can be separated from blood simply by suctioning with a suction means, and separation and analysis of plasma or serum can be performed only by passing the collected blood through a blood filtration unit. Separation of plasma or serum from blood and analysis can be performed in a shorter time than when using a separation device, so that urgent biochemical analysis of blood can be performed. Can be.

Further, by providing the spotting means and the suction means on the spotting arm, a mechanism for driving the suction means can be omitted, thereby simplifying the configuration of the apparatus. .

Further, by providing a dilution unit for diluting a filtrate in the biochemical analyzer according to the present invention, a filtrate requiring dilution can be analyzed immediately.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic plan configuration of a biochemical analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The biochemical analyzer 10 includes a blood filtration device 5 for separating plasma from blood, a slide standby unit 12 for storing an unused chemical analysis slide 11, and a plasma (whole blood, serum, Urine and the like are also possible, but in the present embodiment, only the plasma will be described) comprising a spotting unit 13 for spotting a sample solution, and an incubator 14 containing the chemical analysis slide 11 and holding at a constant temperature for a predetermined time, The chemical analysis slide 11 is sequentially spotted from the slide standby section 12 by the transport means 15
13 and slide it on the chemical analysis slide
On the other hand, the nozzle tip 25 (see FIG. 6) is attached to the tip of the spotting nozzle 91 of the spotting means 17 (sampler), and then the sample liquid (plasma) is sucked from the sample storage section 16 into the nozzle tip 25. After a predetermined amount of spotting is performed on the slide 11, the spotted chemical analysis slide 11 is inserted into the storage section 55 of the incubator 14 by the transporting means 15, and the incubator
The degree of coloration (reflection optical density) of the chemical analysis slide 11 kept at a constant temperature in 14 is measured by the photometric head 27 of the measuring means 18, and the chemical analysis slide 11 after the measurement is discarded by the transport means 15 at the center side of the incubator 14. It is dropped and discharged into the reject hole 56. The spotting means 17 is provided with a syringe means 19 for performing suction and discharge of the sample liquid by the nozzle tip 25 and suction filtration of blood plasma from blood as described later, and the used nozzle tip 25 is located near the incubator 14. It is detached from the spotting nozzle 91 by the disposed chip extracting section 20 and dropped downward to be discarded.

FIG. 9 shows the structure of a chemical analysis slide 11 used to measure the degree of coloration of plasma. As shown in FIG. 9, the chemical analysis slide 11 has a reagent layer disposed in a rectangular mount, and a spotting hole 11a is formed on the surface of the mount. Plasma is spotted on the spotting hole 11a as described later. Further, a bar code for specifying an inspection item or the like is attached to the back surface of the chemical analysis slide 11.

The structure of each part will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, a blood filtration unit 9 is attached to an opening of a blood collection tube 7 accommodated in a sample accommodation part 16; The suction means 2 is connected to the holder 1 constituting the unit 9 and applies a negative pressure for separating plasma from blood. The holder 1 includes a holder body 1A and a lid 1B made of plastic. The holder body 1A includes an insertion portion 1a inserted into the blood collection tube, a filter holding portion 1b into which the filter 3 made of glass fiber is inserted, and a flange portion 1c joined to the lid 1B by ultrasonic welding or the like. Become.
The lid 1B has a flange portion 1d joined to the holder body 1A,
It comprises a cup 1e for holding the plasma filtered by the filter 3, and a nozzle-like supply port 1f for supplying the plasma from the filter 3 to the cup 1e.

The suction means 2 is attached to a spotting arm 88 of the spotting means 17 described later. At the distal end side of the suction means 2, a suction cup portion 2b which is in contact with the lid 1B of the holder 1 is provided.
The suction cup 2b is connected to a negative pressure supply 2c connected to a syringe means 19 described later. Further, the negative pressure supply section 2c is provided with a release valve for releasing the negative pressure from the syringe means 19. Further, a liquid level detection sensor 2d for detecting the level of the plasma supplied to the cup 1e and preventing the plasma from overflowing from the cup 1e is provided in the suction cup 2b. The rotation drive of the spotting arm 88 will be described later.

When separating plasma from blood,
As shown in FIG. 3, the insertion portion 1a of the holder 1 is inserted into the blood collection tube 7 accommodated in the sample accommodating portion 16, and the spotting arm 88 is rotated so that the suction cup 2b of the suction means 2 faces the holder 1. ,
Further, the spotting arm 88 is lowered to bring the lid 1B of the holder 1 and the suction cup 2b into contact with each other. Next, the syringe means 19 is driven to apply a negative pressure to the space formed between the lid 1B and the suction cup 2b. Thereby, the whole blood in the blood collection tube 7 is sucked up from the insertion portion 1a, filtered by the filter 3, and supplied to the cup 1e via the nozzle supply port 1f.

The liquid level detecting sensor 2d irradiates the liquid level of the plasma supplied to the cup 1e with light and optically detects the reflected light. The plasma level is substantially the same as the height of the cup 1e. Is set to output the maximum signal value when. Therefore, when the maximum signal value is output from the liquid level detection sensor 2d, the release valve of the negative pressure supply unit 2c is opened to stop blood suction. Thereafter, the spotting arm 88 is raised and moved to the original position (the position shown in FIG. 1), and the filtration is completed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the transport means 15 includes a transport table 30 which extends linearly toward the center of the incubator 14, and a leg 30a at the front and rear ends thereof has a flat plate on the lower side. The slide stand 12 is disposed at a substantially central portion of the transfer base 30, and the spotting portion 13 is disposed on the incubator 14 side.

The slide standby section 12 has a chemical analysis slide
A slide guide 32 for holding the chemical analysis slides 11 is formed, and a plurality of unused chemical analysis slides 11 are usually stacked and held on the slide guide 32. The slide guide 32 is mounted on the concave portion of the transport base 30 so that the lowermost chemical analysis slide 11 is positioned at the same height as the transport surface of the transport base 30. An opening 32a through which only the chemical analysis slide 11 can pass is formed. An opening through which an insertion member described later can be inserted is formed on the rear surface side, and a groove communicating with a slit 30b described later formed on the carrier 30 is formed on the bottom surface.
32b is formed. Note that a cartridge containing a plurality of chemical analysis slides 11 stacked on each other may be set in the slide guide 32.

In the spotting section 13 in front of the slide standby section 12,
A slide holder 33 having a circular opening 33a is provided. The slide holder 33 is slightly movably accommodated in a cover 34 fixed above the transfer table 30, and a glass fixed above the cover 34. The plate 35 also has an opening 35a for spotting. A bar code reader 130 (see FIG. 1) for reading a bar code provided on the chemical analysis slide 11 is attached to the spotting portion 13. This barcode reader 130 is used to identify inspection items, etc.
It is provided to detect the transport direction (front and back, front and back) of the chemical analysis slide 11.

The chemical analysis slide 11 is transported by the forward movement of the plate-shaped insertion member 36 placed on the transport table 30. That is, a slit 30b extending in the front-rear direction is formed at the center of the transfer table 30.
An insertion member 36 is slidably mounted on the upper surface 30b, and a block 37 is fixed to the rear end bottom of the insertion member 36 from below through a slit 30b, and the block 37 is provided slidably in the front-rear direction along the slit 30b. Have been. An auxiliary plate 38 for pressing the insertion member 36 is disposed on the transfer table 30 at a position behind the slide standby unit 12 by the slide guide 32, and the auxiliary plate 38 is held in the cover 39 so as to be able to move slightly up and down. Have been.

A slider 40 is attached to a lower portion of the block 37. The slider 40 is slidably supported in a front-rear direction by a guide rod 41 disposed along the carrier 30. Further, a part of a belt 44 wound around pulleys 42 and 43 disposed before and after the transfer table 30 is fixed to the slider 40. The rear pulley 43 is driven to rotate by a transport motor 45, and the insertion member 36 is moved in the front-rear direction by a block 37 that moves integrally with the slider 40, and the leading end thereof moves the chemical analysis slide at the lower end of the slide guide 32. By pushing the rear end of the slide 11, the chemical analysis slide 11 is transported linearly from the spotting unit 13 to the incubator 14.

The chemical analysis slide 11 at the lower end of the slide guide 32 is transported to the spotting unit 13 by driving the transport motor 45,
The chemical analysis slide 11 on which the sample solution is spotted is further inserted into the storage section 55 of the incubator 14, and the chemical analysis slide 11 after the measurement is further transported to the disposal hole 56 at the center of the incubator 14. The drive control of the motor 45 is performed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the incubator 14 has a disk-shaped rotating member 50 rotatable with respect to a bearing 53 via a bearing 52 by a rotating cylinder 51 having a lower center as shown in FIG. The upper member 54 is supported on the rotating member 50. The bottom surface of the upper member 54 is flat, and a plurality of (six in the case of FIG. 1) concave portions are formed on the upper surface of the rotating member 50 at predetermined intervals on the circumference so that a slit-shaped space is formed between the two members 51 and 54. A storage section 55 is formed.
The height of the bottom surface is set to be the same as the height of the transfer surface of the transfer table 30 of the transfer means 15, and the outer peripheral portion of the rotating member 50 is located close to the tip of the transfer table 30.

The inner hole of the rotary cylinder 51 is formed in a waste hole 56 of the chemical analysis slide 11 after the measurement, and the diameter of the waste hole 56 is set to a size through which the chemical analysis slide 11 can pass. An opening communicating with the disposal hole 56 is provided at the center of the rotating member 50.
50a is formed. The central portion of the storage portion 55 communicates with the central opening 50a at the same height as the storage portion 55,
When the chemical analysis slide 11 located in the storage section 55 moves to the center side as it is, it is configured to drop into the disposal hole 56.

A heating means (not shown) is provided on the upper member 54 to maintain the temperature of the chemical analysis slide 11 in the storage part 55 at a constant temperature by adjusting the temperature thereof. A holding member 57 for holding the mount of the slide 11 from above to prevent evaporation of the sample liquid is provided.
While a cover 58 is provided on the upper surface of the upper member 54, the incubator 14 is covered at the top and sides by an upper cover 59, and at the bottom by a lower cover 60 to shield light. The heating means heats the chemical analysis slide 11 in the storage section 55 in the incubator 14 to 37 ± 0.2 ° C. in a portion for measuring the degree of coloration of the chemical analysis slide 11.

Further, the chemical analysis slide 11 of the rotating member 50
In the center of the bottom of each storage section 55 that stores
Is formed, and the reflection optical density of the chemical analysis slide 11 is measured by the photometric head 27 disposed at the position shown in FIG. 1 through the opening 55a.

Here, the rotational drive of the incubator 14 is as follows.
A timing belt (not shown) is wound around the outer peripheral portion of the rotary cylinder 51 that supports the rotating member 50, and this timing belt is also wound around a drive pulley (both not shown) of the drive motor. The rotary member 50 is configured to perform reciprocal rotary drive by rotary drive. And the rotation operation of the incubator 14
First, for the photometric head 27 disposed below the predetermined rotation position of 14, the density of the white reference plate is detected, and then the density of the black reference plate is detected and calibrated. 55
Measure the optical density of the color reaction of the chemical analysis slide 11 inserted in the, after this series of measurements, return to the reference position by reverse rotation, so as to perform the measurement of the next slide 11,
The control is performed so as to perform the reciprocal rotation drive within a predetermined angle range.

Further, a collection box 70 for collecting the chemical analysis slide 11 after the measurement is provided below the incubator 14. The collection box 70 has a storage chamber 71 formed below the disposal hole 56 at the center of the rotary cylinder 51, and the storage box 71 is formed in the incubator 14 in relation to the arrangement of other various devices. Is formed wider on one side with respect to the center point. In the corner of the storage chamber 71, an inclined portion 72 into which a nozzle tip 25 to be replaced for each sample liquid in the spotting means 17 described below falls.
Are formed. The inclined portion 72 is located below the chip extracting portion 20 from which the nozzle tip 25 is dropped, and the bottom surface of the inclined portion 72 tilts the falling nozzle tip 25 and guides the nozzle tip 25 toward the center of the accommodation chamber 71. It is formed on a slope (20-45 °) with the 71 side lower.

A projection 73 is provided at the bottom of the storage chamber 71 at a position shifted from the center of the disposal hole 56 to the opposite side to the widened portion of the storage chamber 71. The projection 73 has a spherical or needle-like tip, and has a function of coming into contact with the chemical analysis slide 11 falling from the waste hole 56, changing the falling direction thereof, and dispersing the same.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the sample storage section 16 has a reference liquid chip holding section 16a,
Electrolyte sample chip holding section 16b, reference liquid storage tube 16c, diluent chip holding section 16d, diluent cup 16e, mixing cup 16f, blood collection tube holding section 16g, and sample chip holding section 16
h are formed, and the reference liquid chip holder 16a, the electrolyte sample chip holder 16b, and the diluent chip holder 16
The reference liquid chip 25a, the electrolyte sample chip 25b, the diluent chip 25d, and the sample chip 25h are held in d and the sample chip holding section 16h, respectively. Also,
Reference liquid chip holding section 16a, electrolyte sample chip 16b,
The reference liquid storage tube 16c, the diluent chip holding unit 16d, the diluent cup 16e, the mixing cup 16f, the blood collection tube holding unit 16g, and the sample chip holding unit 16h are connected to the spotting means 17 described later as shown in FIG. Dotting nozzle 91 with turning of spotting arm 88
It is set to be on the turning locus of a. The sample container 16 is a consumable as a whole, and the entire sample container 16 is replaceable with the biochemical analyzer according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the reference solution chip 25a and the electrolyte sample chip 25h are not used.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the spotting means 17 has a flange member 83 rotatable via a bearing (not shown) with respect to a supporting member 80 installed on the base 31, as shown in FIG. Mounted on Guide rods 84, 84 are erected on both sides on the outer peripheral side of the flange member 83, and upper end portions of the guide rods 84, 84 on both sides are fixed to the connecting member 85, so that the two guide rods 84, 84 are vertically moved. It is arranged in parallel to. Further, a feed screw 86 is disposed vertically at the center of rotation of the connecting member 85, the upper end of the feed screw 86 is rotatably supported by the connecting member 85, and the lower end thereof is a flange member 83.
Is rotatably supported at a central portion thereof, and further has a pulley 87 fixed at a distal end portion protruding from the flange member 83. Further, the base end of the spotting arm 88 is supported by the guide rods 84, 84 on both sides so as to be able to move up and down freely, and a sleeve 89 into which the guide rods 84, 84 are inserted is interposed on the spotting arm 88 of the supporting portion. Have been. Further, the feed screw 86 penetrates the spotting arm 88, and a nut member 90 that is screwed to the feed screw 86 is provided in the penetrating portion, so that the spotting arm 88 moves up and down in accordance with the rotation of the feed screw 86. Is configured.

As shown in FIG. 8, which is an enlarged view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7, the tip of the spotting arm 88 has a spotting nozzle that penetrates in the vertical direction to suction and discharge the sample liquid. 91
a and the aforementioned suction means 2 are provided. The shaft portion of the spotting nozzle 91a is slidably fitted to the spotting arm 88, and is urged downward by a spring 92a. At the tip of the spotting nozzle 91a, the above-described pipette-shaped nozzle tips 25a, 25b, 25d, and 25h (hereinafter represented by 25) are detachably mounted, and unused nozzle tips are used. Numeral 25 is set in the sample accommodating section 16, which is fitted to and held at the tip of the spotting nozzle 91a by the downward movement of the spotting arm 88.
When the upper end of the nozzle tip 25 is engaged with the engagement groove 20a of the nozzle 20, the fitting is released by upward movement of the spotting arm 88, and the tip extracting portion is removed.
It is dropped into the collection box 70 below through the 20 openings 20b and discarded.

The turning operation of the spotting arm 88 is performed by a flange member.
A timing belt 94 is engaged with an outer peripheral portion of the motor 83, and the timing belt 94 is wound around a drive pulley of a turning motor (not shown), and is turned to a predetermined position by forward / reverse drive control of the turning motor. Is done. The vertical movement of the spotting arm 88, that is, the rotation drive of the feed screw 86,
A timing belt 99 is wound around the pulley 87 at the lower end and the drive pulley of the elevating motor, and is moved to a predetermined height by forward / reverse drive control of the elevating motor.

Next, a mechanism for sucking and discharging the sample liquid into the nozzle tip 25 and a mechanism for supplying a negative pressure to the suction means 2 will be described. An air passage 101a opening at the tip is formed at the center of the spotting nozzle 91a.
An air pipe 110a is connected to an upper end portion of 101a. The other end of the air pipe 110a is connected to the syringe 10 of the syringe means 19.
2 (see Fig. 1). Further, the negative pressure supply section 2c of the suction means 2 is also connected to the right end portion of the syringe 102. The syringe 102 is a syringe-shaped air pump, and is configured to perform suction and discharge by operating the syringe 102. Switching of the spotting nozzle 91a and the suction flow path of the suction means 2 is performed by switching a solenoid valve (not shown) provided in the syringe means 19.

The spotting means 17 causes the nozzle tip
With the tip of 25 immersed in the diluent or plasma in the diluent cup 16e or the cup 1e of the plasma filtration unit 9, the piston of the syringe 102 is lowered to perform suction,
A predetermined amount of spotting is performed on the chemical analysis slide 11 by rotating to the spotting unit 13.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

FIGS. 10 to 13 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of this embodiment. First, as shown in FIG. 1, before performing the analysis, the chemical analysis slide 11 is set in the slide standby unit 12, and the consumable sample accommodating unit 16 is set, and then the analysis process is started. At this time, the reference liquid chip holding unit 16a of the sample storage unit 16,
The electrolyte sample chip 16b, the reference solution storage tube 16c, the diluent chip holder 16d, the blood collection tube holder 16g, and the sample chip holder 16h are respectively provided with a reference solution chip 25a, an electrolyte sample chip 25b, and a reference solution. , Diluent chip 25d, blood collection tube 7 having blood for analysis, and sample chip
25h is retained. In this embodiment, the electrolyte sample chip 25b and the reference solution chip 25a are not used.

First, in step S1, the biochemical analyzer is initialized, and in step S2, the blood component in the blood collection tube 7 is filtered by the blood filtration unit 9 and the suction means 2 to obtain a plasma component. FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of the processing performed in the blood filtration unit 9 and the suction means 2. First, in step S21, dirt on the liquid level detection sensor 2d is checked, and a reference plate is set at the height of the cup 1e to set the gain of the liquid level detection sensor 2d. Next, in step S22, the spotting arm 88 is rotated to a position where the suction part 2b of the suction means 2 faces the holder 1, and the spotting arm 88 is further lowered to move the lid 1B of the holder 1 and the suction part 2b. Abut each other. Then, step S23
, The syringe means 19 is driven to move the lid 1B and the suction cup portion.
A negative pressure is applied to the space formed between 2b. Thereby, the blood is filtered by the filter 3 and the nozzle supply port
Plasma is supplied to the cup 1e via 1f. At this time, the pressure of the syringe means 19 may be checked to detect a leak or a hematogenous amount of blood.

In the next step S24, the liquid level detection sensor 2d detects that a predetermined amount of plasma has been supplied to the cup 1e, and stops driving the syringe means 19. On this occasion,
Instead of the liquid level detection sensor 2d, the driving of the syringe means 19 may be stopped after a certain suction time has elapsed. Then
In step S25, the release valve of the negative pressure supply section 2c is released to end the pressure reduction. In step S26, the spotting arm 88
To release the contact between the lid 1B and the suction cup 2b, return the spotting arm 88 to the original position (the position in FIG. 1), and end the process.

Returning to FIG. 10, in step S3, the slide 11 is spotted from the slide standby section 12 by the transporting means 15.
Transport to 13. Barcode reader in spotting section 13
The barcode provided on the slide 11 is read by 130, and the inspection items on the slide 11 are detected. If the read inspection item is a dilution request item, the process proceeds to A1 described later. If the read test item is a measurement of the degree of coloration,
In the next step S4, the spotting arm 88 is moved to the sample accommodating section 16 and the sample tip 25h is dropped onto the spotting nozzle 91a.
Attach to In step S5, the liquid level of the sample (plasma) supplied to the cup 1e is detected, and it is confirmed whether the liquid level and the required plasma are supplied to the cup 1e. Then, in step S6, the spotting arm 88 is lowered to aspirate the sample from the cup 1e to the sample chip 25h,
Sample tip 25h from which the sample was aspirated in step S7
Is moved to the spotting section 13 to spot the sample in the spotting hole 11a of the slide 11. At this time, the clogging of the tip 25h may be detected by monitoring the pressure change and comparing it with a predetermined value.

Then, in step S8, the slide 11 on which the sample is spotted is inserted into the incubator 14.
The internal temperature of the incubator 14 is set at 37 ± 0.2 ° C. for measuring the degree of coloration. At this time, slide
It may be detected whether or not 11 has been inserted into the incubator 14 without fail. When processing is performed continuously, step S13 is performed.
In step S6, another slide 11 is conveyed to the spotting unit 13, and the barcode is read.
Is performed. At this time, if the read inspection item is a dilution request item, the process proceeds to A2 described later.

When the slide 11 is inserted into the incubator 14, the storage 55 of the incubator 14 is rotated, and the inserted slide 11 is sequentially moved to a position facing the photometric head 27. Then, in the next step S9, the photometric head
The measurement of the reflection optical density of the slide 11 by 27 is performed.
After the measurement is completed, the chemical analysis slide 11 after the measurement is pushed out to the center side of the incubator 14 by the transport means 15 for inserting the slide 11 into the incubator 14 and discarded. Then, the measurement result is output in step S11, and in step S12, the used sample tip 25h is detached from the spotting nozzle 91a by the tip extracting section 20 and dropped downward to be discarded, thus ending the processing.

When outputting the measurement results, an identifiable mark (for example, P) is attached to the data in the output table in order to distinguish the data of the filtered blood from the data of the unfiltered blood. It may be.

Next, the case where the test item is a dilution request item will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. This dilution request item is performed, for example, when the blood concentration is too high to perform an accurate test. First, in step S31, FIG.
In the same manner as in step S4, the spotting arm 88 is moved to the sample storage section 16 and the sample tip 25h is mounted on the spotting nozzle 91a. In step S32, the liquid level of the sample (plasma) supplied to the cup 1e is detected, and it is confirmed whether the liquid level and the required plasma have been supplied to the cup 1e. In A2 in FIG. 10, the processing from step S33 is performed. Then, in step S33, the spotting arm 88 is lowered to remove the sample chip 25h from the cup 1e.
Aspirate the sample. At this time, the clogging of the chip 25h may be detected by monitoring the pressure change and comparing it with a predetermined value.

In the next step S34, the aspirated sample is dispensed from the sample chip 25h to the mixing cup 16f.
After dispensing the sample, in step S35, the used sample tip 25h is detached from the spotting nozzle 91a by the tip extracting section 20, and is dropped and discarded. Next, in step S36, the spotting arm 88 is moved to the sample accommodating section 16, and the diluent tip 25d is mounted on the spotting nozzle 91a. In step S37, the liquid level of the diluent supplied to the diluent cup 16e is detected, and it is confirmed whether or not the liquid level and the required diluent have been supplied to the diluent cup 16e. Then, in step S38, the spotting arm 88 is lowered to suck the diluent from the diluent cup 16e to the diluent tip 25d. At this time, the clogging of the tip 25d may be detected by monitoring the pressure change and comparing it with a predetermined value.

In the next step S39, the sucked diluent is discharged from the diluent tip 25d to the mixing cup 16f. Then, in step S40, the diluent chip 25d
Is inserted into the mixing cup 16f, and stirring and discharging are repeated to perform stirring. After stirring, the sample diluted in step S41 is aspirated into the sample chip 25h,
The spotting arm 88 that has aspirated the diluted sample at 42 is moved to the spotting section 13, and the sample is spotted on the spotting hole 11 a of the slide 11. At this time, the clogging of the tip 25d may be detected by monitoring the pressure change and comparing it with a predetermined value. When the processing is to be performed continuously, the slide conveyance and the reading of the bar code are performed in step S43, and the processing in steps S41 and S42 is performed.

Then, in steps S45 to S49, as in steps S8 to S12 in the flowchart of FIG. 10, photometry, slide discard, result output, and chip discard are performed, and the process ends.

As described above, in the present embodiment, plasma can be separated from blood simply by performing suction using the blood filtration unit 9, and the blood collection unit 9 is loaded into the blood collection tube 7. Since plasma can be separated and analyzed, plasma can be separated from blood and analyzed in a shorter time than when a centrifugal separator is used. For example, when a centrifugal separator is used, it takes about 10 minutes to separate the plasma, but by using the blood filtration unit 9, the time for separating the plasma is reduced to about 1 minute. Accordingly, it is possible to cope with urgent biochemical analysis of blood.

A spotting arm 88 for spotting plasma or the like.
Is provided with a suction means 2 connected to the blood filtration unit 9 for performing suction and filtration of plasma, so that a separate mechanism for driving the suction means 2 does not need to be provided, thereby simplifying the configuration of the apparatus. And the device can be configured at low cost.

The number of storage sections 55 for the chemical analysis slides 11 of the incubator 14 in the above embodiment is arbitrary. Further, the blood filtration unit 9 may be provided at an arbitrary position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a main mechanism of a biochemical analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a plasma filtration unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a blood filtration state;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional front view of a portion of a conveying unit.

FIG. 5 is a sectional front view of a part of the incubator.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a sample storage unit.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional front view of the spotting means.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a chemical analysis slide.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a coloration degree measurement process;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing in the blood filtration unit.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing for performing a dilution operation (part 1);

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing for performing a dilution operation (part 2);

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Suction unit 5 Blood filtration unit 9 Blood filtration unit 10 Biochemical analyzer 11 Chemical analysis slide 13 Spotting unit 14 Incubator 15 Transport unit 16 Sample storage unit 17 Spotting unit 25 Nozzle chip 88 Spotting arm

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A biochemical analyzer for determining a concentration of a predetermined biochemical substance in a sample liquid using a chemical analysis element onto which the sample liquid is spotted, wherein a whole blood is filtered to obtain a filtrate as a sample liquid. , A filter holding the filter, a holder having a blood inlet and the filtrate outlet, and a blood filtration unit provided on the filtrate outlet side and having a filtrate receiving tank for receiving the filtrate, and the filtrate A spotting means for spotting a filtrate in a receiving tank on the chemical analysis element and a suction means detachably provided on the filtrate outlet side for applying a negative pressure to the holder from the filtrate outlet side. And a spotting arm having a biochemical analyzer. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving portion for receiving the filtrate from the filtrate receiving tank, and further comprising a diluting unit for mixing the diluting liquid into the receiving portion to dilute the filtrate in the receiving portion. The biochemical analyzer according to claim 1.