JPH08122336A - Cartridge container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable the executing of the dispensing of a specimen and the dispensing of a dilution liquid, a reagent and a washing liquid with only one pipette by providing a cartridge container with a base part having a plurality of holes containing the one for optical measurement to move a dispensing tip to the positions of the holes. CONSTITUTION: Holes 32A-32J are provided in a base part 56 of a cartridge container 32 and a specimen is injected into the hole 32C, a reaction insoluble magnetic liquid into the hole 32D, washing liquids into the holes 32E, 32F, 32H and 321 and an enzyme label liquid into the hole 32G beforehand. A substrate liquid is dispensed into the hole 32J for measurement to allow the measuring of emission condition. Then, a dispensing tip 36 is moved to the positions of the holes 32 of the container 32 with an XYZ stage to perform a delivery, suction, mixing by agitation or the like of the specimen, magnetic liquid, washing liquid, label liquid, substrate liquid, a reaction stop liquid or the like. The specimen is dispensed into the hole 32J to measure an emission value and after the measurement, the tip 36 and the container 32 are discarded. This enables the carrying out of dispensing work or the like free from fear of cross contamination with one pipette thereby simplifying drive and control.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cartridge container used in an automatic immunoanalyzer such as a chemiluminescence method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as is well known, an immunoassay based on a chemiluminescence method has the advantages of extremely high sensitivity and high reliability for measurement. In many cases, the incubation time, the number of reaction steps, etc. differed, and the flow processing from sample dispensing to measurement also varied.

Therefore, conventionally, it is necessary to install a pipette device or the like for dispensing a specimen, dilution, a reagent, and a washing liquid in a processing line, and independently drive and control the pipette device. There are many problems such as that the apparatus becomes very complicated and that cleaning must be managed with high precision in order to prevent cross contamination.

The present invention was devised in view of the present situation, and its purpose is to carry out operations such as sample dispensing, dilution, reagent dispensing, and washing liquid dispensing with a single pipette. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge container in which drive control of a pipette is greatly simplified and the configuration of an automatic analyzer is greatly simplified because contamination can be performed without worrying about it.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a cartridge container according to the present invention has a base portion and a plurality of holes provided in the base portion, among the plurality of holes. The one hole is an optical measurement hole, and the base part is provided with a holding part for holding a dispensing tip, and the base part is provided with information regarding the cartridge container. And a plurality of holes provided in the base, the hole in the vicinity of one end of the base is a hole for optical measurement in which the wall and the bottom are light-shielded, and the other end has the above-mentioned portion. A holding portion for holding the injection chip is provided, and the base portion is formed with information regarding the cartridge container attached thereto.

Here, the "information regarding the cartridge container" includes, for example, information for identifying the cartridge container, information for identifying the corresponding item, and information for identifying the sample. In the case of a bar code, a character code, Or displayed by other marks. Also usually 1
One item corresponds to one cartridge container and one sample. Hereinafter, in the present specification, the "hole" means a bottomed one, and the "hole" means a bottomless one.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the cartridge container 32 according to this embodiment is formed with a base portion 56 made of a transparent material such as glass or plastic, and a side surface at one end so as to project. Has a knob 54, and the base 56 has
For example, 11 holes are provided. Of course, this hole may be formed by attaching a separately molded container to the hole formed in the base portion 56.

Of the 11 holes, the hole on the side closer to the picking side is a tip sack 55 for holding the dispensing tip 36, and the hole at one end is for optical measurement. It is a hole 32k. The tip sack 55 can be formed separately and attached to the base portion 56, and the disposition position is not limited to that in the above embodiment, and may be appropriately set according to the reaction step. Can be arranged in position.

The tip sack 55 has a hole formed deeply in accordance with the length of the dispensing tip 36 so that the dispensing tip 36 can be held, and the bottom of the tip sack 55 is attached to the dispensing tip 36. A water absorption pad 55a for absorbing the liquid component is provided.

The measurement hole 32J is provided with a light-shielding portion 53 which shields light from the outside by forming a light-shielding film on the wall and bottom of the hole 32J by coating or by forming a light-shielding film or a light-shielding plate integrally or integrally. Has been done. This is because light other than the light generated by the reaction is blocked during the optical measurement. Of course, depending on the measuring method such as the transmission measuring method, the spectroscopic measuring method, or the turbidimetric measuring method, it may not be necessary to shield the light. In this case, it is used while being transparent.

Further, light travels through the upper surface of the transparent body from the main body base side where 11 holes are provided in the area where the bar code 56b is attached or from the area where the bar code is attached. A light shielding groove 57 is provided in the vicinity of the upper surface of the main body 56 so as not to reach the measurement hole 32J.

The other holes 32A to 32I are formed so as to be transparent so that the inside can be seen.

A holding edge portion 56a is provided on the upper surface of the base portion 56, and the edge portion 56a is a side plate (not shown) formed in a hole portion of a rotary stage formed on the automatic analyzer side. It is configured to be positioned and held by being fitted into the corresponding groove formed in the.

The dispensing tip 36 dispenses a required amount of the sample from the sample container in the sample rack, and the reaction-insoluble magnetic substance liquid or the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cartridge container 32.
It is used to eject or suck the enzyme labeling solution, the substrate solution, the reaction stopping solution, and the like.

The magnet for adsorbing the reaction-insoluble magnetic material is
The dispensing tip 36 is disposed so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the outer peripheral surface of the dispensing tip 36, and the dispensing tip 36 is mounted on a nozzle unit (not shown). When the liquid is sucked into the dispensing tip 36, the magnetic substance in the liquid is reliably collected by the magnet.

The cartridge container 32 has holes 32A arranged in series.
Not only in the case of providing 32H to 32H, it may be configured in a row shape such as a loop shape or a zigzag shape.

A sample is preliminarily roughly dispensed into the hole 32C, a required amount of the reaction-insoluble magnetic material liquid is previously stored into the hole 32D, and a required amount is held into the holes 32E and 32F. A cleaning liquid is stored in advance, a required amount of labeling liquid is stored in advance in the hole 32G, a required amount of cleaning liquid is stored in advance in the holes 32H and 32I, and the measurement hole 3
The substrate solution is dispensed into 2J and the luminescent state is measured.

The cartridge container 3 having the above structure
2 is used as follows, for example.

First, a predetermined amount of the sample, which has been roughly dispensed into the hole 32C of the cartridge container 32 stopped at the dispensing position, is sucked by the dispensing tip 36 and quantitatively determined. The dispensing tip 36 in which the roughly dispensed sample is sucked is transferred by the XYZ stage, and after discharging the whole amount of the sucked sample in the reaction-insoluble magnetic material liquid in the hole 32D, the specimen and the reaction-insoluble magnetic material liquid The mixed liquid of (1) is repeatedly sucked and discharged by the dispensing tip 36 (pumping) to generate a uniform stirring and mixing state of the magnetic material.

Then, the dispensing tip 36 is transferred to the position of the tip sack 55, detached from the nozzle unit, held by the tip sack 55, and then the rotary stage of the automatic analyzer is rotated to a predetermined position. Transferred to the position.

Then, the nozzle unit is transferred to the position of the tip sack 55 of the first cartridge container 32, the dispensing tip 36 held in the tip sack is mounted, and the incubated hole 3
The mixed solution held in 2D is sucked by the dispensing tip 36.

At this time, the magnetic substance floating in the mixed liquid sucked by the dispensing tip 36 is moved by the magnetic force of the magnet arranged outside the dispensing tip 36 when passing through the dispensing tip 36. Collected on the inner wall.

After the magnetic substance is collected in this manner, the mixed liquid excluding the magnetic substance is discharged into the hole 32D and discharged, and only the magnetic substance remains on the dispensing tip 36.

Next, the dispensing tip 36 is sent to the next hole 32E while collecting the magnetic substance, and the liquid containing portion 32 is held.
Aspirate the cleaning liquid in E. At this time, the magnet moves in a direction away from the dispensing tip 36 to release the adsorbed state of the magnetic substance. Therefore, by pumping the cleaning liquid, all magnetic substances can be efficiently washed. it can.
Of course, it is also possible to clean the magnet while the magnetic substance is adsorbed.

After the pumping is completed, the dispensing tip 36 sucks a fixed amount of the cleaning liquid in the hole 36E. At this time, the magnet is replaced by the dispensing tip 36.
All the magnetic substances floating in the suctioned cleaning liquid are collected, and the cleaning liquid excluding this magnetic substance is discharged and discharged into the hole 32E, and only the magnetic substance remains in the dispensing tip.

Next, the dispensing tip 36 is sent to the next hole 32F while collecting the magnetic material, sucks the cleaning liquid in the hole 32F, and performs the same procedure as that performed in the hole 32E. Cleaning work and collection work of the magnetic body are performed.

Next, the dispensing tip 36 is sent to the next hole 32G while collecting the washed magnetic substance, and the hole 3
Aspirate the labeling liquid in 2G. At this time, the magnet moves in a direction away from the dispensing tip 36 to release the adsorbed state of the magnetic substance. Therefore, by pumping this labeling liquid, the reaction between all the magnetic substances and the labeling liquid is made uniform. Can be made.

After the pumping is completed and the incubation is completed, the dispensing tip 36 is inserted into the hole 3
Aspirate a certain amount of the labeling liquid in 2G. At this time, the magnet again approaches the dispensing tip 36 and collects all magnetic substances floating in the sucked labeling liquid, and the labeling liquid excluding this magnetic substance is discharged to the hole 32G and discharged. Then, only the magnetic material remains on the dispensing tip 36.

After that, the dispensing tip 36 is sent to the next hole 32H while collecting the magnetic substance, sucks the cleaning liquid in the hole 32H, and magnetically follows the same procedure as the holes 32E and 32F. After washing / collecting the body, the next washing liquid in the hole 32I is sucked by the same procedure as the washing liquid suction procedure in the hole 32H to wash / collect the magnetic material.

After this, the dispensing tip 36 has a hole 32J.
After a predetermined reaction time (incubation) has passed, the substrate solution previously stored in the hole 32J is sucked. At this time, the magnet moves in the direction away from the tip 36 in the sentence to release the attracted state of the magnetic substance, and
By pumping the substrate solution, the reaction between the all-magnetic material and the substrate solution can be made uniform.

When the pumping is completed and the incubation is completed, the dispensing tip 36 is
It is transferred and held at the position of the tip sack 55.

After a certain period of time, the cartridge container 32
The measurement hole 32J is rotatably transferred so as to reach the measurement fixed position. Of course, the transfer form of the cartridge container 32 may be rotational transfer or serial transfer.

Here, the fixed time is the time required for incubation of the first cartridge container 32.

At this measurement position, the amount of emitted light is measured by an optical measuring device corresponding to a measuring method such as PMT.

After that, the dispensing tip 36 and the cartridge container 32 are discarded.

In this example, the rotary transfer is performed by the rotary stage after the pumping in the hole 32D and before the measurement in the hole 32J. However, the present invention is not limited to this case, and each process is performed. Alternatively, it may be rotatably transferred after every process.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the cartridge container is washed twice after the reaction insoluble magnetic substance liquid is discharged and twice after the marker liquid is discharged is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be one that can be washed once or more as necessary.

In the above embodiment, the case where the dispensing tip 36 and the cartridge container 32 are disposable has been described as an example, but the dispensing tip 36 and the cartridge container 36 may be washed and reused. .

Further, in the above embodiment, the dispensing tip 36
In the above description, the case where the cartridge is returned to the chip sack 55 of the cartridge container 32 has been described as an example.

In the above embodiment, the case where the magnet is arranged on one side of the middle diameter portion of the dispensing tip so as to be freely contactable and separable has been described. However, the magnet is arranged on both sides with the middle diameter portion interposed therebetween. Good,
Further, the efficiency of collecting the magnetic substance can be further improved by repeatedly moving up and down the dispensing tip itself.

[0042]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention is constructed as described above, there is no need to worry about cross contamination with a single pipette for operations such as sample dispensing, dilution, reagent dispensing, and washing liquid dispensing. Therefore, the pipette drive control is greatly simplified, and the configuration of the automatic analyzer is greatly simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cartridge container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge container.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the cartridge container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 32 cartridge container 32A to 32H hole 36 dispensing tip 55 tip sack

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base part and a plurality of holes provided in the base part, one of the plurality of holes is a hole for optical measurement, and the base part has a dispenser. A cartridge container, wherein a holding part for holding a chip is provided, and information about the cartridge container is attached to the base part.