JP2000193670A - Specimen dispensing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discharge a specimen from a dispensing position in a confirmable state from the outside without dispensation it, when an abnormal of a parent specimen is detected and abnormal detection is carried out, when a specimen such as blood is automatically dispensed. SOLUTION: A container 11 for a main specimen and a container 12 for a sub-specimen are subsequently conveyed through a dispensing position in a state in which they are retained in a rack 13. A tip 18 is inserted to the specimen 11 set at a dispensing position and absorbs the specimen. The specimen is discharged to the container 12 for a sub-specimen in a prescribed amount. When a pressure exceeds a prescribed suction pressure by a blinding of the tip 18 caused by a solidification of the specimen, the pressure sensor 27 detects the phenomenon as an abnormal and imparts it to a control device 15. A quantity of the specimen is detected by a CCD camera and a quantitative abnormal is judged by the control device 15. In the case where the abnormal is detected, the tip 18 or a marker 22 is dropped off in the container 11 for the main specimen and is discharged so as to confirm it from the outside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sample dispensing system, and more particularly, to a system for dispensing a sample from a parent sample container to a child sample container, which is a sample container in a medical examination and medical treatment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, at a medical site, various test items are executed by collecting a sample such as blood in a test tube-shaped sample container. The sample container is composed of a parent sample container and a plurality of child sample containers associated with the parent sample container according to the number of test items. Alternatively, it is used for a series of operations assigned to an inspection organization.

[0003] The parent specimen can be dispensed into the child specimen container manually using, for example, a dropper-shaped tip. In addition to being unable to respond, it also causes human errors such as mixing of samples.

Therefore, recently, a plurality of racks that can be transported on a predetermined transport path are used, and a parent sample container and a child sample container are set in each rack in advance.
Automated systems for dispensing parent samples into child sample containers while transferring chips via appropriate robot mechanisms have been adopted.

[0005]

However, in such a system, for example, when the sample is blood, it depends on the sample difference, but before the sample is dispensed.
Due to the fact that the hebrinogen contained in the blood changes to fibrin and the blood gradually coagulates, this causes clogging in the chip, making it difficult to aspirate and making it impossible to dispense to the child sample, dispensing accuracy And the efficiency is greatly reduced. In addition, there is an inconvenience that dispensing cannot be performed even when the sample amount is insufficient.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised in view of such inconvenience, and an object of the present invention is to detect an abnormality of a parent sample in an automated sample dispensing system and to detect the abnormality. At the time of dispensing, it can be removed from the dispensing position in a state that can be confirmed from the outside without dispensing, and the process shifts to dispensing processing for the subsequent sample to dramatically improve dispensing efficiency, An object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing system that can surely apply a sample for which dispensing has not been performed to a reprocessing step.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method in which a parent sample container and a child sample container associated with the parent sample container are set at a predetermined dispensing position, and In a system in which a chip capable of performing a suction and discharge operation is inserted into a sample container via a robot mechanism to aspirate a predetermined amount of the parent sample, and then dispenses the parent sample into a child sample container, The chip or a predetermined marker is dropped into the parent sample container when the abnormality detection means detects an abnormality of the parent sample. In such a configuration, for example, when the sample in the parent sample container is coagulated and chip suction failure occurs due to clogging or the like, or
When a shortage of the parent sample has occurred, the abnormality detecting means can detect this. Then, by dropping the chip or marker into the parent sample container by the robot mechanism based on the abnormality detection, it is determined that the parent sample container and the child sample container associated therewith were not dispensed. It can be removed from the dispensing position in a more confirmable state. Then, while shifting to dispensing from the next set parent sample container to the child sample container,
The removed parent sample container and child sample container are subjected to a reprocessing step by the operator. Examples of the reprocessing step include manual dispensing, or sedimentation of coagulated components by centrifugation or the like, and then setting the dispensing system again.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a system according to the present invention,
It is preferable that the parent specimen is blood, and the marker is formed of a member capable of adhering and sedimenting a coagulation component contained in blood. In this case, the marker may be constituted by a hollow cylindrical main body and a partition provided inside the main body and forming a passage in the axial direction of the main body. With such a configuration, a large contact area between the marker and the coagulation component can be obtained, so that when the marker has settled, a serum region that can be dispensed is formed in the upper region of the parent sample container. be able to.

Further, the abnormality detecting means includes an optical device for detecting a sample amount in the parent sample container, and / or a pressure sensor for detecting that a suction pressure by the tip exceeds a predetermined pressure. A configuration is employed. As a result, both the pressure abnormality and the quantitative abnormality can be detected, and the dispensing failure factor can be reliably detected to improve the dispensing efficiency.

[0010]

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a dispensing system according to the present embodiment. In this figure, the dispensing system is associated with a casing 10, a parent specimen container 11 arranged in the casing 10, and specified for each subject, and the parent specimen container 11 according to the number of test items. It is configured to include a number of racks 13 that stand up and hold a plurality of child sample containers 12 together. These racks 1
Numeral 3 allows the sheet to be sent to a discharge position via a predetermined dispensing position along a transport path (not shown) in accordance with a program preset in the control device 15.

The parent sample container 11 contains blood B collected from a subject, and the blood B is sucked by a chip 18 prepared in advance and is removed from each child sample container 12.
To be dispensed. A large number of the chips 18 are held in a stocker 20, are specified for each subject, and are taken out by a robot mechanism 21. In the stocker 20, a number of markers 22 are arranged at positions adjacent to the chips 18.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the marker 22 has an outer diameter that can be dropped into the parent sample container 11. The marker 22 includes a hollow cylindrical main body 24 and a large number of radially extending partitions 25 provided inside the main body 24.
While a large contact area with the blood B is ensured and a large amount of the above-mentioned fibrin can be attached thereto, the blood B
Has a shape that easily circulates and settles. The marker 22 is formed of a resin material having a specific gravity higher than that of blood, and is provided in a color that can be distinguished from the blood B in color.

The robot mechanism 21 has at its tip a chuck 21A capable of selectively gripping the chip 18 and the marker 22 described above, and is provided so that the chip 18 can perform a suction / discharge operation of blood B. . The robot mechanism 21 is provided so as to be able to reciprocate between the position of the stocker 20 and the dispensing position by a driving device 26. The driving device 26 is provided with a predetermined operation command signal from the control device 15. Has become. Further, the robot mechanism 21 is provided with a pressure sensor 27 as abnormality detecting means for detecting a pressure change when performing the suction / discharge operation. This pressure sensor 27 is connected to the robot mechanism 21.
When the pressure required for suction by the control exceeds a preset value, it is regarded as an abnormality in which clogging or the like has occurred, and a signal is output to the control device 15.

The blood B contained in the parent specimen container 11 is provided so as to be measurable by an amount detecting sensor constituting an abnormality detecting means, for example, a CCD camera 30. Is also provided to the control device 15 as data.

The control device 15 can be provided with various information including subject information and test items from a host computer (not shown). The control device 15 enables the entire system to be controlled automatically and in series. Is provided.

Next, the overall flow of the dispensing operation in this embodiment will be described.

A parent sample container 11 for each subject and a number of racks 13 on which a plurality of child sample containers 12 corresponding to test items, for example, a biochemical test, a blood glucose test, an immunological test, etc. are arranged on a predetermined transport path. It is assumed that they are set, and are in a state of being conveyed from the rack 13 located at the head to the discharge position sequentially through the dispensing position. In addition, the parent specimen container 1
1, an ID label such as a barcode specified for each subject is affixed, while the child specimen container 12 is affixed with a label indicating an examination place, an examination method, an examination model, and the like. And

At the time of transporting the first rack 13 to the dispensing position, the amount of blood B in the parent sample container 11 in the first rack 13 is photographed by a CCD camera, and the photographed data is controlled. It is sent to the device 15.

When the rack 13 is sent out to the dispensing position, an operation command signal is output from the control device 15 to the drive device 26, and the robot mechanism 21 is driven. After the chip 18 is grasped by the robot mechanism 21, the robot sample 21 is moved to the parent sample container 11 at the dispensing position.
The blood B is sucked by the tip 18 by moving to the position.
Then, the sucked blood B is discharged and dispensed by a predetermined amount into each child specimen container 12, and after all dispensing is completed,
While the rack 13 is transported to the discharge position, the next rack 13 is transported to the distribution position. At this time, if the blood B in the parent specimen container 11 is coagulating or is about to coagulate, if the tip 18 is clogged and the suction pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure, an abnormal state where sufficient suction cannot be performed is set. It is detected by the pressure sensor 27. Then, the control device 15 receives the signal from the pressure sensor 27 as an input and outputs a signal to the driving device 26, and the robot mechanism 2
The chip 18 gripped by 1 is dropped into the parent sample container 11. Alternatively, the chip 18 is transferred to another place and discarded, and the marker 22 is grasped and dropped into the parent sample container 11. Then, in this case, the blood B in the rack 13 is discharged without being dispensed, and the process shifts to dispensing the blood B in the next rack 13.

The blood B is detected by the CCD camera 30.
Control unit 1 confirms that the amount of
In the case where the judgment is made by 5, the robot mechanism 21 grasps the marker 22 without grasping the chip 18 and immediately drops it into the parent sample container 11. At this time, it is also possible to hold the chip 18 and drop it into the parent sample container 11, and of course, it is also possible to drop both the chip 18 and the marker 22.

The parent sample container 11 discharged without performing dispensing and the child sample container 12 attached thereto are subjected to predetermined processing by an operator. In this process, in addition to the manual dispensing by the operator, the parent sample container 11 is set in a centrifuge, the coagulation component is settled together with the marker 22, and then set again in the rack 13 to set the system in the system. To automatically perform dispensing. In the case of an abnormality in which the amount of the sample is insufficient, the sample can be collected again or dispensed by hand in small amounts.

Therefore, according to such an embodiment, those for which dispensing could not be performed are ejected to be subjected to different post-processing, and the process proceeds to the next dispensing processing of the sample held in the rack 13. As a result, the operation rate of the entire system can be increased.

Although the system according to the present invention has been described with reference to the configuration incorporated in the casing 10, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and includes a case in which individual independent devices are combined. However, an integrated configuration using the casing 10 has the advantage that it can be supplied for general purposes.

Further, the marker 22 is not limited to the illustrated configuration example, and various modifications are possible as long as the marker 22 can be settled by the centrifugal separator while being immersed in the parent specimen container. For example, a spherical body or a granular body can be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where one rack 13 holds one parent sample 11 and the child sample 12 associated therewith has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A plurality of parent specimens 11 are held in a rack 13 of each child, and child specimens 12 associated with each parent specimen 11 are stored.
Can be applied to the case where is held in a different rack 13, and can be applied even when this is combined with the embodiment.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the CCD camera 30 as the quantity detection sensor is disposed in the casing 10 has been illustrated and described. However, this quantity detection sensor is configured as an external separate device, and May be output to the control device 15.

Further, the removal of the sample container, which has not been dispensed, from the dispensing position can be performed manually.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the sample suction failure and insufficient quantity can be judged as abnormal, and the sample is ejected so that it can be confirmed from the outside, it is easy to distinguish it from the one in which dispensing was performed normally. It is possible to surely perform post-processing steps on the parts not dispensed.

Further, according to the configuration using the marker, it is possible to easily and quickly secure a serum region in which sedimentation can be performed by promoting sedimentation of the coagulation component. Furthermore, since the abnormality detection means of the specimen is constituted by the optical device and the pressure sensor,
It is possible to establish a dispensing system having an unprecedented excellent effect that a dispensing factor can be reliably detected and dispensing efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sample dispensing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a marker used in the dispensing system.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where a marker is dropped into a parent sample container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 parent sample container 12 child sample container 13 rack 15 control device 18 chip 21 robot mechanism 22 marker 24 body 25 partition 26 driving device 27 pressure sensor (abnormality detecting means) 30 CCD camera (abnormality detecting means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yuichi Kokiyoshi 41-1 Chiyogamaru, Ohara-machi, Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture (72) Inventor Kazuki Shibasaki 24, Enokicho, Fujimi-shi, Saitama Prefecture Fujimi New Life 3 (72) Inventor Norihisa Yamada 2-18-6-501 F-term (reference) 2-18-6-501 Singaoka, Tama-shi, Tokyo 2G058 AA09 BA06 CB15 EA01 ED36 GA20 GB05 GB10 GC01 GE02

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a state in which a parent sample container and a child sample container associated with the parent sample container are set at a predetermined dispensing position, a chip capable of performing a suction / discharge operation is mounted in the parent sample container by a robot mechanism. A system for dispensing the parent sample into the child sample container after inserting the parent sample into the child sample container by inserting the parent sample through a predetermined amount, comprising: an abnormality detection unit for detecting an abnormality of the parent sample; A sample dispensing system comprising dropping the chip and / or a predetermined marker into a parent sample container when an abnormality of the sample is detected. 2. The sample dispensing system according to claim 1, wherein the parent sample is blood, and the marker is formed of a member capable of adhering and sedimenting a coagulation component contained in the blood. 3. The marker according to claim 2, wherein the marker comprises a hollow cylindrical main body, and a partition provided inside the main body and forming a passage in an axial direction of the main body. Sample dispensing system. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality detecting means includes an amount detection sensor for detecting a sample amount in the parent sample container and / or a pressure sensor for detecting that a suction pressure by the tip has exceeded a predetermined pressure. Claim 1, 2, or 3
The described sample dispensing system.