JPH0534343A - Test implement - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a test implement for blood or urine which is easy to dispose of. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 2 of a test implement 1 is constructed of a base of which the main component is biodegradable resin constituted of poly(hydroxyalkanoate), while a reagent layer 3 is constructed of nonwoven fabric of which the main component is the biodegradable resin constituted of the poly(hydroxyalkanoate). According to this constitution, the implement is decomposed even whe it is disposed of a flush toilet or the like after completion of inspection, and therefor a sanitary disposal thereof can be effected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blood or urine test device for checking human health.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional test tool, a support 2 which can be held by hand is made of a synthetic resin such as polystyrene or polyethylene terephthalate in a strip shape.
A reagent was carried to form a reagent layer 3 for measuring components in a sample, and the reagent layer 3 was adhered to the support 2 with an adhesive layer 4. And when they finish measuring the components in the sample,
It was treated in the same way as general plastic waste and general household waste, and was landfilled or incinerated.

Further, recently, by using a water-soluble support comprising water-soluble paper coated with a water-soluble resin, after the end of the test,
A flush toilet has been developed that can be discarded.

[0004] It is unsanitary to dispose of a test device that touches a sample such as human blood or urine mixed with general garbage, and in the case of a sample (blood or urine) from a sick person who is not a healthy person. He may even be infected by a disease. Therefore, it has been desired to dispose of the test tool hygienically immediately after the measurement of the components is completed.

Further, a test device using a water-soluble support is
It is difficult to maintain its strength during the test, increasing the strength makes it difficult to melt, and if it is easy to melt, the strength may be insufficient and it may bend during the test, so it has moderate strength and easy melting. It was very difficult to adjust.

[0006]

The object of the present invention is to:
In this way, it is an object to provide a test device that enables hygienic disposal.

[0007]

Such an object is achieved by the following constitution.

In a test device having a support and a reagent layer on a part of the support, the support is achieved by comprising a base material containing poly (hydroxyalkanoate) as a main component.

Further, it is preferable that the reagent layer is a non-woven fabric containing poly (hydroxyalkanoate) as a main component and carrying a reagent.

In a test device having a support and a reagent layer at one end of the support, the support is composed of a base material containing poly (hydroxyalkanoate) as a main component, so that the support has sufficient mechanical strength. Yes, and can be easily discarded in a flush toilet after the test.

Furthermore, the reagent layer can be decomposed by leaving almost no solid matter by using a non-woven fabric containing poly (hydroxyalkanoate) as a main component and supporting the reagent.

Examples of the poly (hydroxyalkanoate) applicable to the present invention include those having about 2 to 12 carbon atoms as a hydroxyalkanoate repeating unit, and specifically, poly (2-hydroxyacetate) and poly (2-hydroxyacetate). Hydroxypropionate) and other poly (2-hydroxyalkanoates), poly (3-hydroxypropionate), poly (3-hydroxybutyrate), poly (3-
Hydroxyvalerate), poly (3-hydroxyoctanoate) and other poly (3-hydroxyalkanoates)
Poly (4-hydroxyalkanoates) such as poly (4-hydroxybutyrate) and poly (4-valerate)
Classes and the like are preferably used.

In the present invention, the polyhydroxyalkanoate need not be a single homopolymer, but may be a copolymer thereof.

Specific examples of these copolymers include 2-
Hydroxyacetate / 2-hydroxypropionate copolymer, 3-hydroxypropionate / 3-hydroxybutyrate copolymer, 3-hydroxybutyrate /
3-hydroxyvalerate copolymer, 3-hydroxybutyrate-4-hydroxybutyrate copolymer, 3-hydroxybutyrate-4-hydroxyvalerate copolymer, 3-hydroxybutyrate-3-hydroxyoctano Aate copolymer, 3-hydroxybutyrate / 3-hydroxypropionate / 3-hydroxyvalerate copolymer, 3-hydroxybutyrate / 3-hydroxyvalerate / 4-hydroxybutyrate copolymer and the like are preferable. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Further, in the present invention, a mixture of the above poly (hydroxyalkanoates) and their copolymers, or a mixture of poly (hydroxyalkanoates) and their copolymers may be used.

The content of the polyhydroxyalkanoate component of the base material containing the polyhydroxyalkanoate as the main component of the present invention is preferably 50 wt% or more. Although it is effective to combine it with a water-soluble polymer, if the content of the polyhydroxyalkanoate component is 50 wt% or less, the decomposition in the activated sludge in the septic tank may be insufficient. Content of ate component is 50wt
% Or more is preferable. Further, it is also possible to mix the above-mentioned water-soluble polymer or water-soluble substance so that the base material of the present invention disintegrates morphologically before reaching the purification tank.

The polyhydroxyalkanoate of the present invention can be produced by a method obtained by fermentation synthesis using a microorganism,
The method obtained from chemical synthesis may also be used. Examples of the former method include Japanese Patent Application No. 2-076585, JP-A-57-150393, and Journal of General Microbiology,
115 , 185-192 (1979), Journal of the Society, Chemical Communications (J. Chm. Soc., Chem. Commun.).
1635 to 1636 (1987), Polymer Communications 30 ,
169-171 (1989), Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (Appl. Mi
crobiol. Biotech. ) 30 , 569-5
73 (1989) and the like, but other culture conditions and strains may of course be used. The latter method includes a method of ring-opening polymerization of β-butyrolactone or γ-valerolactone, a method of polycondensing 3-hydroxybutyric acid or a derivative thereof, 4-hydroxyvaleric acid or a derivative thereof, and the like. As an example, the Polymer Society of Japan Proceedings (Polymer Preprints, J
apan) 39 , NO. 7, 2265-2267 (19
90).

To form the support of the test device of the present invention,
A material containing polyhydroxyalkanoate as a main component can be formed into a sheet by thermoforming such as injection molding, extrusion molding, and hot pressing. Further, it can be formed into a sheet by a solvent casting method using a solvent of polyhydroxyalkanoate, such as chloroform, dichloromethane, dioxane and the like. These sheets can be cut to a required size to provide a support for the test device.

The reagent layer adhered to the support of the test device of the present invention comprises a non-woven fabric containing polyhydroxyalkanoate as a main component, and a material containing polyhydroxyalkanoate as a main component is melt-extruded and, if necessary, It is obtained by randomly gathering the yarns that have been stretched accordingly. In order to facilitate the placement of water-soluble chemicals, it is possible to subject the nonwoven fabric surface to alcohol treatment or plasma treatment. It is also effective to mix a hydrophilic substance such as glycerol triatelate before extruding into a thread form.

For adhering the test device support of the present invention to the reagent layer, any ordinary adhesive may be used without any particular limitation.

There are no particular restrictions on the inspection items that can be used in the test device of the present invention, and normally measured items can be applied. For example, for blood test devices, pH, glucose, etc.
With the urine test device, items such as pH, glucose, protein, urobilinogen, ketone bodies, bilirubin, occult blood, and nitrite can be applied. It can also be applied to items for determining pregnancy.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

[Example 1] 3-hydroxybutyrate-3
-Hydroxyvalerate copolymer (3-hydroxyvaleric acid content 17 mol%, purchased from Aldrich) is extruded from a T-die at a molding temperature of 170 ° C and molded to a thickness of 0.5.
mm sheet and cut into a 70 × 7 mm rectangle to obtain a support.

Further, using the same material, the inner diameter of the die is 0.3.
A yarn was obtained by extruding from mm and drawing only by its own weight without performing a drawing operation. The outer diameter of the thread is about 0.1 to 0.3 mm
Met. This was collected and compressed into a nonwoven fabric to form a reagent layer. The base material and the non-woven fabric were bonded with a small amount of an epoxy adhesive (Araldite manufactured by Ciba-Geigy). Then, the non-woven fabric portion was treated with ethyl alcohol (special grade reagent), and then immersed in a dipping solution for pH measurement for about 10 seconds to prepare a urine test device.

The dipping solution for pH measurement was methyl red (special grade manufactured by Tokyo Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd.) 20 mg / dl ethanol solution 17.6 ml, bromthymol blue (special grade manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) 200 mg / dl ethanol solution 25 ml,
Polyvinylpyrrolidone (K-30 manufactured by Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) 1
A 2 g / dl ethanol solution (50 ml) was mixed, and ethanol was added so that the total amount became 100 ml. When the pH of urine of a healthy person was measured using this urine test tool, it was used as usual, and it was in agreement with the measurement result of a commercial product (urine test paper Uriace manufactured by Terumo Corp.). After the measurement, put the used urine test paper in the Sakaguchi flask that aerobically cultures the activated sludge collected from the sewage final treatment plant in Isehara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and observe it one month later. The base material and the non-woven fabric portion did not remain because it was assimilated into. Therefore, even if the urine test strip of the present invention is discarded in an ordinary flush toilet, it can be said that there is no problem because it is completely decomposed by the activated sludge in the septic tank.

Example 2 Other than using 20% by weight of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (purchased from Aldrich) and glycerol triacetate (manufactured by Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) as a molding material for the base material and the reagent layer. A urine test device for pH measurement was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. The pH measurement of urine of a healthy person showed the same result as the commercially available product. Decomposition in activated sludge was completely caused after 1 month.

[Comparative Example 1] A commercially available product (urine test paper Uriace manufactured by Terumo Co., Ltd.) prepared without using polyhydroxyalkanoate was put in the above-mentioned activated sludge, and the original shape was confirmed as it was even after one month. I was able to.

[0028]

As described above in detail, since the test device of the present invention is composed of a biodegradable base material containing polyhydroxyalkanoate as a main component, the test device of the present invention can be used after the measurement. Even if it is discarded in the toilet or drain, it does not adversely affect the sewage system because it is completely decomposed and assimilated by microorganisms due to active pollution during the sewage treatment process. Therefore, there is an effect that the test device can be easily treated without adversely affecting the sewage system. Further, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent an infection caused by the urine of the sample or blood attached to the test device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a test device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Urine test tool 2 ... Base material 3 ... Reagent layer 4 ... Adhesive layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A test device having a support and a reagent layer on a part of the support, wherein the support is composed of a base material containing poly (hydroxyalkanoate) as a main component. Ingredient 2. The test device according to claim 1, wherein the reagent layer is formed by supporting a reagent on a nonwoven fabric containing poly (hydroxyalkanoate) as a main component.