JP2002277381A - Particle analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely analyze a specimen containing a plurality of kinds of particles, and remarkably different in the number in every kind, by limited cost and processing capacity. SOLUTION: A first detection and a second detection are carried out for one specimen. Information expressing a configurational feature of each particle is detected, in the first detection, as a signal from a sample solution flowing in a flow cell, by a detection part. Then, an analyzing part analyzes the particle based on the signal. A detection condition for the particle in the second detection is set based on an analytical result therein, the detection part conducts the second detection, and the analyzing part conducts analysis based on a detection signal detected therein.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a particle analyzer, and more particularly, to a particle analyzer used in the field of clinical testing for analyzing cells such as blood cells and bacteria contained in blood and urine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an analyzer used for a clinical test,
For example, a device that measures red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in blood and a device that measures particles such as red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, crystals, epithelial cells, and casts, which are formed components in urine, are known. In these analyzers, those configured to subject a sample to a predetermined treatment with a reagent such as a staining solution or a diluting solution and flow the same to a flow cell or the like to detect particles optically or electrically have become common. I have. There are many types of particles contained in blood and urine, and depending on the types, the size is overlapped and the variation in shape is large. Therefore, classification of particles may be performed by combining a plurality of morphological information obtained from particles or measuring a plurality of samples subjected to different reagent treatments.

[0003] Among them, particles such as red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, crystals, epithelial cells, and casts, which are formed components in urine, are:
The size, shape, and number of each particle vary widely, making it difficult to automate the inspection.It was common for the observer to manually inspect the particle using a microscope, etc. Is measured by a flow cytometer, and it is possible to automatically classify by variously combining the morphological information (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-337460), and finally, this inspection has also been automated.

[0004] Although various types of particles are contained in the urinary particles, the number of particles present varies greatly depending on the type. Most types of formed components such as leukocytes are hardly contained in the urine of healthy subjects, and are positive if there are even a few in 1 μL. On the other hand, bacteria, which are one of the formed components, are contained to some extent in the urine of healthy subjects as resident bacteria, but if the number is at least 10 ^4/5 μL, it is determined to be positive as bacterial urine. Is done. In such bacteriuria,
Some bacteria have been propagated up to the number of bacteria of 10 ⁸ / μL or more.

[0005] In the particle analyzer, a memory or the like for processing and storing data on each detected particle is required. When the number of bacteria contained in the specimen is extremely large as described above, Much more processing and storage must be performed than in the case of analyzing a normal sample, which places a burden on the apparatus.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-261912 discloses a method in which measurement is performed until the count value reaches a predetermined number of particles, and the concentration of particles in the sample is determined from the time required for the measurement. There has been disclosed a particle analyzer which achieves reduction in size and cost by reducing the amount of memory required and eliminating the need for a quantitative device.

[0007] In the above-described particle analyzer, the number of detected particles is predetermined, so that all particles contained in the sample are not analyzed. For example, in a test for leukocyte classification, it is effective to determine the ratio of lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and the like. Therefore, a predetermined accuracy can be obtained by maintaining a constant total count value. However, when the test target contains particles of a plurality of types, such as urinary particles, and the number of the particles differs significantly depending on the type, for example, urine with a remarkably large amount of bacteria contains only a few leukocytes. For samples that do not contain a large number of particles (bacteria in this example) occupy the majority of the total particle number and consume memory, so particles with a small number of samples (white blood cells in this example)
Will be counted down.

[0008]

The above disadvantages are as follows.
The problem can be solved by increasing the memory mounted on the device. However, in view of miniaturization and cost reduction of the device, it is not possible to unconditionally add the memory.

[0009] In addition, most urine specimens have a low number of bacteria, and there are few abnormal specimens having a remarkably large number of bacteria as described above. Therefore, the memory amount should always be increased in accordance with the abnormal specimen. Is inefficient.

In trying to balance the elements required for the particle analyzer, such as the analysis accuracy, cost, and processing capacity, in the end, a small number of measurement objects (white blood cells in the above example) are ultimately used. At present, it is necessary to limit the amount of analysis at the risk of overlooking it.

In the above-described particle analyzer, after the measurement of one sample is completed, it is necessary to clean the fluid circuit of the device before measuring the next sample. This is because if the sample remains in the fluid circuit, the result of the next measurement will be affected. In particular, when a sample with a large amount of bacteria remains, there is a possibility that the sample is determined to be bacteriuria in the next measurement despite the sample with a small amount of bacteria. Therefore, a long-time cleaning using a large amount of a cleaning solution is always performed on the assumption that a specimen with a remarkably large number of bacteria is measured.

[0012] Therefore, even when a sample with a low amount of bacteria is measured, the same washing operation is performed as when a sample with a very large amount of bacteria is measured. It has been difficult to improve the processing capacity and reduce the running cost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a particle analyzer for measuring a sample containing a plurality of types of particles whose numbers are significantly different depending on the type, such as bacteria in urine and other solid components, as a measurement target at one time. Another object of the present invention is to provide a particle analyzer capable of performing accurate analysis with limited cost and processing ability.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a detection unit for detecting information representing the morphological characteristics of each particle as a signal from a sample liquid flowing through a flow cell, and an analysis unit for analyzing the particles based on the detected signal. And a part, wherein the first detection and the second detection are performed while one sample is forming a sample flow in the flow cell, and the particles detected by the first detection are detected. It is another object of the present invention to provide a particle analyzer characterized by setting detection conditions in the second detection based on an analysis result.

The present invention also provides a particle analyzer characterized by controlling a cleaning operation based on the analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A detection unit according to the present invention applies a sample liquid containing target particles to a flow cell, irradiates a laser beam, and photoelectrically converts the obtained scattered light or fluorescent light signal into a pulse-like signal. An optical detection device that detects an electric signal (pulse signal) or a sample solution containing target particles is passed through a flow cell,
A known device such as an electric resistance type detection device that detects a change in electric resistance when a particle passes through a pore in a flow cell as a pulse signal can be used.

When an optical detection device is used for the detection section of the present invention, a transparent material, for example, glass or the like is used for the flow cell irradiated with the laser beam. In addition, it is preferable that the flow cell has pores and that the particles are made to pass through the pores in a line by a hydrodynamic effect. The optical detection device includes a laser light source, a light receiving element, and other various optical components as needed. As a laser beam used here, an argon laser, a semiconductor laser, or the like can be used. As the light receiving element, a photodiode, a photomultiplier tube, or the like can be used. When an electric resistance type detection device is used for the detection unit, the material of the flow cell may not be transparent. A flow cell having pores and electrodes on both sides of the pores is used.

The analysis unit processes the pulse signal from the detection unit to obtain data for each particle.
It is preferable to be constituted by a microcomputer or personal computer comprising U, ROM, RAM and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the analyzer. The analysis unit is a parameter extraction unit that extracts parameters reflecting the characteristics of each particle from the pulse signal detected by the detection unit, a data storage unit that temporarily stores data related to each parameter extracted by the parameter extraction unit, It is composed of a data processing unit that creates histograms and scattergrams based on the data extracted from the storage unit to classify and count particles.

In addition, a display unit for displaying a data processing result by the data processing unit may be provided. CRT on display
Or an LCD. Also, a control unit for controlling the operation / setting of each unit may be provided.

The parameter extraction unit extracts a peak value, a pulse width, and the like as parameters reflecting the characteristics of each particle from the pulse signal detected by the detection unit. A counter circuit can be used to extract the width. The pulse signal is compared with a preset threshold value by a comparator provided in each circuit, and a peak value and a pulse width are extracted as a signal that detects particles during a period in which the pulse signal exceeds the threshold value. In the pulse signal shown in FIG. 4, a period from t1 to t2 is a period during which the threshold value (Th) is exceeded, which is a pulse width (W). The highest signal level during this period is set as the peak value (P).

When an optical detector is used for the detection unit, scattered light, fluorescence, and the like are detected as pulse signals. In a scattered light pulse signal (hereinafter also referred to as a scattered light signal), the peak value reflects the size of the particle, and the pulse width reflects the length of the particle. Fluorescence can also be detected in the case of nucleated cells or the like in which the particles are fluorescently stained. In a fluorescent pulse signal (hereinafter also referred to as a fluorescent signal), the peak value indicates the degree of staining of a nucleus or the like,
The pulse width reflects the length of the fluorescent stain. When an electric resistance type detector is used for the detection unit, a change in electric resistance is detected as a pulse signal. In this case, the peak value of the pulse signal can be used as information reflecting the volume of the particle.

That is, in the scattered light signal and the pulse signal of the electric resistance, the peak value is a parameter directly representing the particle size. Therefore, when a small particle is detected, the peak value becomes small and a large particle is detected. In this case, the peak value becomes large. For example, when bacteria and leukocytes are mixed in a urine sample to be measured, bacteria, which are small particles, are detected as a pulse signal having a small peak value, and leukocytes, which are particles larger than bacteria, are pulse signals of bacteria. It is detected as a pulse signal having a higher peak value.

The data of each parameter extracted by the parameter extracting section is temporarily stored in the data storing section. Thereafter, the data extracted from the data storage unit is sent to the data processing unit, where it is converted into distribution data F (X) in the parameter space. The distribution data is calculated using
, Xm selected as needed from X2,..., Xn, a frequency F (X1, X2) at coordinates (X1, X2,..., Xm) of an m-dimensional feature parameter space defined by m parameters. X2,..., Xm). Therefore, frequency distribution diagrams (histograms and scattergrams) are created with the parameters X1, X2,..., Xm as axes, and the classification and counting of each particle in the specimen are performed based on the histograms.

The particle analyzer of the present invention performs the first detection and the second detection when analyzing one sample, and performs the second detection based on the analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection. The detection conditions are set.

Here, as the analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection, the number of particles, for example, the number of bacteria contained in a sample liquid (here, urine) may be used. Based on this, the detection condition of the particles in the second detection is automatically set. It may for example be to switch a threshold for detecting particles in the second detection.

The threshold value of the particles to be detected may be controlled so as to be set higher or lower as required. In the parameter extracting unit, the pulse signal is compared with a threshold by a comparator, and when the pulse signal exceeds the threshold, a peak value and a pulse width are extracted as a signal for detecting particles. Therefore, when a pulse signal having a large peak value and a pulse signal having a small peak value coexist, if the threshold value of the comparator is set low (see Thα in FIG. 5), many pulse signals are detected and set high (see FIG. 5). Thβ
), A pulse signal having a small peak value is ignored, and only a pulse signal having a large peak value is subjected to parameter extraction.

Therefore, for example, if it is determined that only the parameters extracted from the large pulse signal need to be analyzed in the second detection based on the analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection, the second detection Will be set high in the detection of. Then, since the small pulse signal is not detected, the parameters are not extracted, and the data is not stored in the data storage unit, so that the memory of the data storage unit is not burdened.

The control of the threshold value is realized by controlling the setting of the comparator of the parameter extracting unit. On the other hand, the threshold value in the comparator is set to a normal value, the threshold value is set as a data fetching condition of the data storage unit, and the switching is performed.

In the present invention, another system such as a fluid system may be controlled based on the number of particles detected by the first detection. For example, the cleaning operation may be controlled based on the number of particles detected by the first detection. When the number of particles detected by the first detection is larger than a predetermined number, control may be performed so that the second detection is not performed. If the analysis unit determines that the number of particles detected by the first detection, for example, bacteria in urine is too large, the second detection is no longer performed, and the process proceeds to the measurement of the next sample. Is also good. At this time, the fact that the sample is an abnormal sample may be displayed on the display unit.

[0031]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a particle analyzer according to the present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment using an optical detector as a detection unit.
Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a main configuration of a particle analyzer, in which a fluid system is connected to a detection unit composed of various optical components. Reference numerals 1 and 2 denote valves, reference numeral 3 denotes a suction nozzle for suctioning a sample liquid subjected to pretreatment such as dilution and staining from a sample liquid container (not shown), reference numeral 4 denotes a syringe, reference numeral 5 denotes a flow cell, and reference numeral 5a denotes an orifice in the flow cell 5. (pore),
Reference numeral 6 denotes a sample nozzle, 7 denotes a valve, 8 denotes a sheath liquid container, and 9 denotes a waste liquid port for discharging the sample liquid and the sheath liquid passing through the flow cell 5.

Reference numeral 10 denotes an argon laser light source, 11 denotes a condenser lens, 12 denotes a beam stopper, 13 denotes a collector lens, 14 denotes a pinhole, 15 denotes a dichroic mirror, 16 denotes a filter, 17 denotes a photomultiplier tube, and 18 denotes a photo. A diode 19 is a sample liquid flow discharged from the sample nozzle 6, and 20 is a light shielding plate having a pinhole 14.

In such a configuration, first, the valves 1 and 2
Is opened for a predetermined time, the sample liquid (in this embodiment, the sample liquid containing the urine formed components) is supplied from the suction nozzle 3 to the valve 1 by negative pressure.
• Filled during 2

Next, the syringe 4 pushes the sample liquid between the valves 1 and 2 to the sample nozzle 6 at a constant flow rate, so that the sample liquid is discharged from the sample nozzle 6 to the flow cell 5. At the same time, by opening the valve 7, the sheath liquid is supplied to the flow cell 5. As a result, the sample liquid is wrapped in the sheath liquid and further narrowed down by the orifice 5a to form a sheath flow.

By forming the sheath flow in this way, the particles contained in the sample liquid can be flowed into the orifice 5a one by one in a line. The sample liquid and the sheath liquid that have passed through the orifice 5a are discharged from the liquid discharge port 9.

On the other hand, the sample liquid flow 1 flowing through the orifice 5a
The laser light oscillated from the argon laser light source 10 is squeezed by the condenser lens 11 into an elliptical shape and irradiated to the laser beam 9. The size of the ellipse is approximately the same as the test particle diameter in the sample flow direction, for example, about 10 μm, and is sufficiently larger than the test particle diameter in the direction orthogonal to the sample flow direction, for example, about 100 to 400 μm. is there.

The laser beam that has passed through the flow cell 5 as it is without hitting particles in the sample liquid is shielded by the beam stopper 12. Forward scattered light and forward fluorescence emitted from the particles receiving the laser light are collected by the collector lens 13,
The light passes through the pinhole 14 of the light shielding plate 20. Then, the light reaches the dichroic mirror 15.

The fluorescence having a longer wavelength than the scattered light passes through the dichroic mirror 15 as it is, and after the scattered light is further removed by the filter 16, the photomultiplier tube 1
Fluorescent signal 21 detected at 7 (pulse-like analog signal)
Is output as The scattered light is reflected by the dichroic mirror 15, received by the photodiode 18, and output as a scattered light signal 22 (pulse analog signal).

The analyzing unit has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 2 and includes a parameter extracting unit, a data storing unit, a data processing unit, a control unit, and a display unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a parameter extracting section for processing the fluorescence signal 21 and the scattered light signal 22 obtained as described above. The amplifiers 23 and 24, the DC regeneration circuits 25 and 26, the comparators 27 and 29, a peak hold circuit 28/30, a clock generator 31, counters 32/34, A / D converters 33/35, and a counter control circuit 36.

Next, an outline of the parameter extracting operation in such a configuration will be described. The pulse signal 22 of the scattered light is amplified by the amplifier 24, and the DC level is fixed by the DC regeneration circuit 26. The pulse signal output from the DC regeneration circuit 26 is compared in the comparator 29 with a threshold value Th (see FIG. 4). If the maximum value of the scattered light emission is larger than the threshold value Th, the peak hold circuit 30 detects the maximum value and A /
A / D conversion is performed by the D converter 35 to obtain a peak value. In addition, the period exceeding the threshold value Th is determined by the counter 34.
Is measured as the scattered light emission time, that is, the pulse width of the scattered light signal.

The peak value and pulse width are also extracted from the fluorescence signal by the same circuit as that for the scattered light signal.

The digitized output signals of the counters 32 and 34 and the A / D converters 33 and 35 are temporarily stored in a data storage unit and then sent to a data processing unit to perform particle discrimination processing. . That is, classification of bacteria, white blood cells, red blood cells, and the like is performed based on the distribution map (histogram or scattergram). The classified particles are counted (counted) and converted into the number per microliter of the sample. The results are displayed on the display together with various distribution maps.

Hereinafter, the analysis control operation of the present invention will be described. As an example, an analysis using a scattered light signal will be described in detail, taking urine containing bacteria and leukocytes, which are clinically highly required for measurement, as an example.

In the above-mentioned particle analyzer, a urine sample is prepared in a sample solution which has been subjected to a predetermined staining and dilution treatment. Thereafter, the sample liquid is extruded from the sample nozzle 6, wrapped in the sheath liquid, and narrowed down by the orifice 5a to form a sheath flow. When the sheath flow is formed, the scattered light emitted from the particles receiving the laser light is
At 8 the signal is detected as a scattered light signal and subjected to signal processing for performing particle discrimination processing by the analyzer.

Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIG. During the formation of the sheath flow, the detection of the particles is performed with the predetermined time set as the first detection time. A threshold value for extracting a parameter as a signal from which particles are detected among the signals detected by the first detection is set to a small value by a comparator so as to capture not only leukocytes but also bacteria (hereinafter, this threshold value is referred to as Thα). Is set to That is, when the threshold value is set to Thα, not only white blood cells but also bacteria are detected. The signal stored in the data storage unit via the parameter extraction unit is classified into bacteria and white blood cells in the data processing unit, and the numbers (concentrations) of both are determined.

After analyzing the signal of the first detection, the detection of particles is performed by setting a predetermined time during which the sheath flow is continuously formed as a second detection time. In the signal processing in the second detection, the control unit performs control to switch the threshold to one of the above Thα and a large value that takes in leukocytes but does not take in bacteria (hereinafter this threshold is referred to as Thβ). You.

Based on the result of the analysis in the data processing section,
If it is determined that the urine is very rich in bacteria as the analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection, the information is fed back from the data processing unit to the control unit, and the threshold value is switched to Thβ in the second detection. The control unit issues a signal to the parameter extraction unit to control. As a result, the second detection no longer detects bacteria, and only white blood cells are detected. Conversely, if it is determined that the urine is low in bacteria, the threshold is set to Thα in the second detection, and control is performed to detect both bacteria and leukocytes.

Hereinafter, in a particle analyzer having an analysis volume of 0.1 μL / sec in terms of the original urine sample,
The time of the first detection is 1 second, and the time of the second detection is 40
It will be explained by setting to seconds.

[0051] 10 when ^six / [mu] L sample bacteria is contained in, a sufficient number of signals for analysis of the first detection time by the data storage unit in the bacterial 10 ^five signals are stored,
Even if this sample contains 10 white blood cells / μL, one sample is detected in the first detection time. Thus, when a sample with a high bacterial concentration is measured,
Low-concentration leukocytes are at risk of being overlooked because the number of substantial analyzes is so small. As long as it can analyze all particles, it does not matter, but as described above,
Since the memory for storing data is limited, the analysis capacity cannot be freely increased. Therefore, when it is determined in the first detection that the specimen has a high bacterial concentration, the threshold value is switched. In the second detection, which extracts only data on leukocytes without extracting data on bacteria,
Since 40 leukocytes are detected, the reliability of the analysis result is improved.

In the above case, the concentration of bacteria is determined from the flow rate during the first detection time, and the concentration of leukocytes is determined from the total flow rate during the first detection and the second detection.

The threshold value in the second detection is controlled not only to be permanently fixed to either Thα or Thβ, but also to be switched from Thα to Thβ during the second detection. In this case, the larger the number of bacteria detected by the first detection, the longer the time when the threshold is Thα in the second detection,
That is, the threshold value is switched and controlled so that the time for detecting bacteria is shortened.

For example, in the second detection, the threshold value is switched to the threshold value Thα for the first 30 seconds and the threshold value Thβ for the remaining 10 seconds. The threshold switching time is automatically determined according to the number of bacteria detected at the time of the first detection.

As described above, in the analysis of bacteria, the load on the memory and the like is reduced by not extracting and storing an unnecessary number of cells, and the number of leukocytes with a small number is counted down by obtaining a sufficient amount of analysis. Can be prevented from occurring.

In this embodiment, since only the classification of bacteria and leukocytes is possible, it is possible to classify only by the peak value of the scattered light signal. However, there are various other material components in urine. In some cases, the classification cannot be performed only by the peak value of the scattered light signal. In that case, since it is known to perform classification using the pulse width of the scattered light signal, and further, the peak value and the pulse width of the fluorescence signal, the present invention can be applied to such an analyzer. .

When an abnormal high-concentration sample is measured, the high-concentration sample may remain in the fluid circuit and affect the next measurement, and a normal low-concentration sample may be determined as an abnormal sample. To prevent this, it is necessary to make the cleaning time longer than usual and to increase the amount of the cleaning liquid.

Therefore, in the above embodiment of the present invention, a particle analyzer configured to select an optimum washing operation for each specimen based on the number of bacteria detected by the first detection will be described below. In the above embodiment, the possibility of contact with the specimen in the fluid circuit due to the suction of the cleaning liquid from the suction nozzle 3, the discharge of the sheath liquid from the sheath liquid container 8, and the discharge of the liquid from the flow cell waste liquid port 6 accompanying the suction and the like. Can be cleaned.

After the analysis of one sample is completed, the particle analyzer of the above embodiment cleans the fluid circuit in preparation for the analysis of the next sample. FIG. 6 shows an outline of such a sequence. There are two types of cleaning operations of the present particle analyzer: a normal cleaning mode and an enhanced cleaning mode. The cleaning operation in the enhanced cleaning mode is longer than the cleaning operation in the normal cleaning mode,
The amount of cleaning solution used is also large.

When it is determined from the particle analysis result in the first detection that the urine sample has a large number of bacteria, a signal is issued from the control section to select the enhanced cleaning mode, and the fluid system of the apparatus is selected. Is controlled. When the detection in the second detection is completed, the fluid circuit is cleaned in the enhanced cleaning mode selected previously. As a result, even when a sample with a large amount of bacteria is measured, a sufficient washing process is performed in accordance with the measurement, so that there is no adverse effect on the analysis of the next sample.

At this time, in the case of a urine sample having an extremely large number of bacteria, it may be set to stop the sheath flow formation without performing the second detection. This is effective when it is determined that sufficient cleaning is difficult even in the enhanced cleaning mode.

When it is determined from the analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection that the specimen has a small number of bacteria, a signal is issued from the control unit to select the normal cleaning mode, and The fluid system is controlled. And the second
Is completed, the fluid circuit is cleaned in the normal cleaning mode selected previously.

As described above, the washing mode is determined for each sample based on the number of bacteria in the sample, and the washing operation is performed. You do not need to do this. In the case of an abnormal sample, the enhanced cleaning selection mode is selected, so that the influence of the sample remaining on the next sample can be prevented.

[0064]

According to the particle analyzer of the present invention, a sample containing a plurality of types of particles whose numbers are significantly different depending on the type, such as bacteria in urine and other material components, is measured at one time. Limited cost and
The analysis can be performed with high accuracy in the processing capacity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a main configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an analysis unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a parameter extracting operation according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship among a pulse signal, a threshold, and a parameter.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating setting of analysis conditions in the example.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an operation sequence of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 valve 2 valve 3 suction nozzle 4 syringe 5 flow cell 5a orifice 6 sample nozzle 7 valve 8 sheath liquid container 9 waste liquid port 10 argon laser light source 11 condenser lens 12 beam stopper 13 collector lens 14 pinhole 15 dichroic mirror 16 filter 17 photomultiplier Tube 18 photodiode 19 sample liquid flow 20 light shielding plate 21 fluorescence signal 22 scattered light signal

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tokihiro Kosaka 1-5-1, Wakihama Kaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe F-term in Sysmex Corporation (reference) 2G045 AA02 AA15 BB14 CA25 CB03 DA80 FA11 FA37 GA01 GC22

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A particle analysis system comprising: a detection unit that detects information representing the morphological characteristics of each particle from a sample liquid flowing through a flow cell as a signal; and an analysis unit that analyzes the particle based on the detected signal. An apparatus for performing a first detection and a second detection while one sample forms a sample flow in the flow cell, and performing a second detection based on an analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection. A particle analyzer for setting detection conditions for detecting a particle. 2. The analysis result of the particles detected by the first detection is the number of particles, and the setting of the detection condition in the second detection is to switch a threshold value for detecting the particles. The particle analyzer according to claim 1. 3. The particle analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning operation is controlled based on the number of particles detected by the first detection. 4. The particle analysis according to claim 1, wherein when the number of particles detected by the first detection is larger than a predetermined number, control is performed so as not to perform the second detection. apparatus. 5. The particle analyzer according to claim 2, wherein a threshold value for detecting the particles is set so as to detect bacteria in the first detection.