JPH0619360B2 - Automatic chemical analyzer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic chemical analyzer for chemical analysis of a sample by reacting the sample with a reagent and measuring the absorbance of the reaction solution. .

(Prior Art) A sample such as serum collected from a human body is reacted with a desired reagent and the absorbance in the reaction solution is measured by, for example, a colorimetric method to obtain a desired item of the sample, for example, total protein (TP),
An automatic chemical analyzer for chemical analysis of uric acid (UA), neutral fat (TG), etc. is known. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of the configuration of such an automatic chemical analyzer, in which a plurality of reaction vessels 3 are shown in an arrow direction by a driving source (not shown) in a constant temperature tank 1 filled with constant temperature water 2 having a constant temperature. It is arranged to move intermittently in a certain cycle. Constant temperature bath 1
Sampv dispensing nozzle 4 for sampling a sample to be analyzed and dispensing it into the reaction container 3 is arranged at the A position around, and at the B position, the first reagent for reacting with the sample is placed in the reaction container 3
A first reagent dispensing nozzle 5 for dispensing into the reaction vessel, a second reagent dispensing nozzle 6 for dispensing a second reagent which similarly reacts with the sample into the reaction container 3 is disposed at the C position, and the D position Is provided with a stirrer 7 for stirring the reaction solution. It should be noted that only one type of reagent needs to be used, and it is not always necessary to use two types. A measurement system 11 including a light source 8, a diffraction grating 9 and a detector 10 is arranged in the middle of the moving path of the reaction vessel 3 filled with the reaction solution, and the absorbance of the reaction solution is measured by, for example, a colorimetric method. It is designed to measure.

In such an analyzer, a sample is dispensed by the sample dispensing nozzle 4 into the reaction container 3 at the A position, and the reaction container 3 at the B position is in the state where the reaction container 3 is stopped in each cycle. The first reagent is dispensed by the one-reagent dispensing nozzle 5, and the second reagent dispensing nozzle 6 is placed in the reaction container 3 at the C position.
The second reagent is dispensed by. Further, in the reaction container 3 at the D position, the reaction solution is stirred by the stirrer 7, and then the absorbance is measured by the measurement system 11, whereby the chemical analysis of the sample is performed.

Here, as the sample sampled by the sample dispensing nozzle 4 and dispensed into the reaction container 3, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), only the serum necessary for the analysis of the blood previously collected from the patient by the centrifugation method is used. The serum 13 in the state of being separated and transferred to a separately prepared sample container 12 is used. Alternatively, recently, a vacuum blood collection tube itself used for blood collection directly from a patient is used as a sample container, and as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the serum 13 is collected by centrifugation and the supernatant of the vacuum blood collection tube 14 is collected. It is practiced to use the sample in such a state as a sample. A blood clot 15 is deposited on the bottom of the vacuum blood collection tube 14, and when the separating agent 16 is used, this remains between the serum 13 and the blood clot 15. In this case, a sample ID system in which a bar code label 17 showing a sample ID is provided on the surface of each vacuum blood collection tube 14 is adopted, thereby preventing a sample handling error and rationalizing the measurement.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the conventional automatic chemical analyzer, when sampling a sample, there is a problem that it is difficult to sample only a predetermined amount of serum necessary for analysis. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), when the sample container 12 is filled with only a serum amount V or less necessary for the analysis, the sampled amount is less than the desired amount, which makes accurate analysis impossible. This also applies to the case of the sample ID method. Particularly, in the case of the sample ID method, since the vacuum blood collection tube 14 itself is used as a sample container, the variation in the blood sampling amount for each patient directly appears as the variation in the amount of serum. Therefore, the tendency is great. Further, when the amount of serum is small as shown in FIG. 4 (b) in the sample ID method, the sample dispensing nozzle 4 at the time of sampling will reach the depth of the separating agent 16 or the blood clot 15, which will be analyzed. Since the components other than the necessary serum 13 are sucked, it causes clogging of the nozzle 4.
This is the same as in the case of FIG. 3, and if the serum 13 contains fibrin (fibrin) or the like, it will be sucked and the nozzle 4 will be clogged.

When the sample dispensing nozzle 4 is clogged in this way, it is necessary to suspend the analysis operation of the apparatus and wash the nozzle 4. However, it may be difficult to completely remove the clogging even after washing, and in this case, the analysis of the next sample is adversely affected.

The present invention has been made to address the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic chemical analyzer capable of sampling a predetermined amount of only a specific component of a sample necessary for analysis.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an automatic chemical analyzer for sampling a sample in a container and dispensing the sample into another container. Whether the sample is in a normal state based on the detection means for optically detecting a specific color of the sample in the container before the sampling and the light receiving area where the detection means receives the specific color of the sample And a determination unit that determines whether or not the amount of the sample is appropriate and determines whether or not to sample the sample based on the results of these determinations.

(Operation) According to the invention of the above configuration, the detection means detects the specific color of the sample in the container before dispensing. The determination means determines whether or not the sample is in a normal state and whether or not the amount of the sample is appropriate based on the detected light receiving area of the specific color of the detected sample. Then, the determination means determines that the sample can be sampled when the sample is in a normal state and the amount of the sample is determined to be appropriate. The sample is dispensed based on this determination result. For example, when blood is separated into each component by a centrifugation method, each component has its own unique color. Therefore, when the sample to be analyzed is serum, the presence or absence of components other than serum can be confirmed in advance by detecting the color exhibited by serum necessary for analysis. Further, the presence or absence of the amount of serum necessary for analysis can be confirmed in advance by the light receiving area. Therefore, by performing sampling only when each condition is satisfied, it is possible to sample only a predetermined amount of serum necessary for analysis.

(Example) First, the principle of the present invention will be described.

The serum 13 filled in the sample container 12 or the vacuum blood collection tube 14 in a normal state has a yellow color unique to the serum 13. On the other hand, components that are unnecessary for analysis, such as the separating agent 16, the blood clot 15, and fibrin, have a color different from yellow, for example, white or red. Similarly, when an unnecessary component is mixed in the normal serum 13 due to hemolysis, chyle, jaundice, etc., a color different from that of the normal serum is exhibited. Therefore, only the serum can be detected by specifying the yellow color of normal blood and detecting this color, and a well-known color image sensor can be used as this detection means.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the automatic chemical analyzer of the present invention to which such principle is applied. The color area detecting means 20 is composed of, for example, a color image sensor having a light receiving surface, is set so as to detect only the yellow color of the serum 13 filled in the sample container 12 or the vacuum blood collection tube 14, and the yellow color Also, the light receiving area (hereinafter, referred to as "color area") that receives the yellow light is detected. The sample ID reader 21 is for reading the sample ID information based on the barcode label 17 of the vacuum blood collection tube 14, and the sample ID, the analysis item of this sample, and the like are read and sent to the calculation means (determination means) 22. .

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of the vacuum blood collection tube 14 at the time of reading the ID. The vacuum blood collection tube 14 has a storage section 18a of a rack 18 and a bar code label 17 of the sample ID through an opening 18b.
It is arranged so as to face the reader 21. On the other hand, rack 1
The color area detecting means 20 is arranged at a position opposite to the sample ID reader 21 of No. 8, and this means 20 is arranged at the sampling position Ps.
It is placed on top. The color area detecting means 20 is a rack 18
The yellow color of the serum 13 in the vacuum blood collection tube 14 is optically detected through the opening 18c of the.

Based on the analysis item information read by the sample ID reader 21, the amount of serum 13 required for each analysis item (TP, UA, TG, etc.) is input to the calculation means 22. As an example, if 200 μm of serum is required to analyze the item X, this numerical value is input and the calculation means 22 stores this data. On the other hand, for the calculation means 22, data of the required color area to be detected by the color area detection means 20 is previously obtained from the set value input means 23 in correspondence with the serum amount (for example, 200 μ) necessary for each analysis item. It has been entered and stored. For example, data of a color area of 1 cm ² is input corresponding to a serum amount of 200 μ. This means that if the detected yellow color area of the serum 13 is 1 cm ² or more, the serum amount of 200 μ necessary for analyzing the item X is secured. Similarly, it is assumed that color area data corresponding to other items is input. This input data can be set arbitrarily.

The color area detecting means 20 detects the color area of the serum 13 for each different vacuum blood collection tube 14 and sends it to the calculating means 22. For each color area data input, the calculation means 22 determines, based on the ID information read from the sample ID reader 21, whether or not the necessary amount of serum 13 for analysis is secured for each analysis item of each sample.

When the required amount of serum 13 is secured for the analysis, the calculation means 22 instructs the sample dispensing nozzle 4 to perform the sampling operation via the control means 24. In the opposite case, it instructs not to perform the sampling operation.

When the sample container 12 is used instead of the vacuum blood collection tube 14, the sample ID reader 21 is unnecessary. In this case, the analysis item information is set value input means 23 based on a worksheet or the like.
Alternatively, it can be input to the calculation means 22 from another input means.

The color area of the blood serum 13 in the vacuum blood collection tube 14 or the sample container 12 is detected by the function of the color area detection means 20, the distance between the detection means 20 and the blood collection tube 14, the diameter between the blood collection tubes 14,
It is performed based on the data such as the height of the serum 13 and can be easily realized by using a well-known color image sensor.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

The color area detecting means 20 detects the color area of the blood serum 13 in the vacuum blood collection tube 14 or the sample container 12 for each specimen. Since the corresponding relationship between the amount of serum and the color area required according to the analysis item of each sample is input in advance to the calculating means 22,
Every time the color area data is input to the calculation means 22 based on the correspondence data, it is determined whether or not the relationship is satisfied. When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, the control means 2
4 allows the sample dispensing nozzle 4 to perform a sampling operation. On the other hand, in the opposite case, the sample dispensing nozzle 4 cannot perform the sampling operation.

As described above, according to the apparatus of the present embodiment, the determination operation as described above is repeated for each sample, and the sampling operation is stopped unless only the serum necessary for analysis or a desired amount is secured in advance. Therefore, clogging of the sample dispensing nozzle can be prevented in advance, and useless analysis due to a small amount of serum can be prevented in advance.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is determined whether the sample is in a normal state or the amount of the sample is appropriate based on the detection result of the detection means, and whether sampling is possible or not in advance Since the determination is made, only the specific component of the sample necessary for the analysis can be sampled in a predetermined amount.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the automatic chemical analyzer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a layout drawing showing the main part of the apparatus of this embodiment,
3 (a) and 3 (b) are perspective views of the sample container, FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are perspective views of the vacuum blood collection tube, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of the configuration of the automatic chemical analyzer. It is a figure. 12 ... Sample container, 13 ... serum, 14 ... vacuum blood collection tube, 17 ... bar code label, 20 ... color area detecting means, 21 ... sample ID reader, 22 ... computing means, 23 ... setting Value input means.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic chemical analyzer for sampling a sample in a container and dispensing the sample into another container, which has a light-receiving surface and optically detects a specific color of the sample in the container before the sampling. Means and the detection means to determine whether the sample is in a normal state and whether the amount of the sample is appropriate based on the light receiving area where the specific color of the sample is received, and the results of these determinations are determined. An automatic chemical analysis device comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not to sample a sample based on the determination result. 2. The automatic chemical analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the container is a blood collection tube. 3. The automatic chemical analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the container is provided with a bar code label indicating the ID of the sample. 4. The automatic chemical analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the specific component is serum.