JP7523732B2 - Cell collection tool - Google Patents

Description

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies (1) Publication name: Proceedings of the Asia-Africa "Neo-Fiber Technology" Academic Conference Publisher: Fiber Science Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology Relevant section: "The Shape of Fiber Material and Functionality Evaluation and its Development in Cell Harvesting Instrument" Publication date: March 4, 2019 (2) Publication name: Proceedings of the "2018 Neo-Fiber Technology Project Research Report Meeting" Publisher: Fiber Science Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology Relevant section: "Evaluation of the shape and functionality of fiber materials in cell harvesting instruments and their development" Publication date: March 18, 2019 (3) Presentation at an academic conference Poster presentation on "Research and Development of a Cell Collection Brush for Cervical Cancer Testing Using Poly-L-Lactic Acid Fiber Yarn (PLLA) and Its Fiber Structure" Date: June 5th to June 7th, 2019 Name of the conference and venue: Anton Paar Japan's corporate booth at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Fiber Science and Technology, Tower Hall Funabori (4-4-1 Funabori, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo) (4) Publication name: Abstracts of the "International Symposium on Comfort and Smart Textiles 2019 in Nara" Publisher: Japan Society of Textile Products Consumption Science Relevant section: "Research and Development of a Braided Cervical Cell Harvest Instruments Using PLLA Yarn-Fiber Structure and Modified “Cross Section Yarn-” Publication date: September 6, 2019

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies (5) Name of publication "2019 Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers" Proceedings of the Conference Publisher: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Relevant section: "Research and development of a cervical cell collection brush using braided cord and irregular cross-section fibers" Date of publication: September 8, 2019 (6) Name of publication "41st Research Presentation Meeting of the Kansai Branch of the Japan Home Economics Association in 2019 (Reiwa 1)" Proceedings Publisher: The Japan Home Economics Association Relevant section: "Research and development of a braided cervical cell collection brush using poly-L-lactic acid thread - fiber structure and mass production of braided cord" Date of publication: October 26, 2019 (7) Name of publication "2019 Autumn Research Presentation Meeting of the Society of Fiber Science and Technology" Proceedings Publisher: The Society of Fiber Science and Technology Relevant section "Development of a braided cervical cell collection brush using poly-L-lactic acid fiber thread and its fiber structure and adsorption properties" Publication date: November 9, 2019

This invention relates to a collection device for collecting cells for testing from the cervix, etc.

To improve the reliability of cervical cancer testing, it is necessary to increase the amount of cervical cells collected and reduce the variation in the amount collected. For this reason, the inventors proposed a cell collection tool using braided cord (Non-Patent Document 1). That is, fibers such as poly-L-lactic acid are used to create braids such as Yatsukongo braid, S-uneven twist, Z-uneven twist, and Edo Genji braid. This braid is fixed to a core to make a cell collection tool. The prototype cell collection tool showed a higher cell collection amount than commercially available brush-shaped cell collection tools.

June 2, 2018, The Textile Machinery Society of Japan, 71st Annual Conference, Lecture No. B2-03 "Development of a cervical cell collection device using braiding technology" Hitomi Morino et al.

The inventors have investigated ways to improve a cell harvesting tool using a braided cord, thereby obtaining a cell harvesting tool that can harvest a large amount of cells with little variation in the amount harvested, and have found that the use of irregularly shaped fibers is effective.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cell harvesting tool which is capable of harvesting a large amount of cells with small variation in the amount of cells harvested.

The cell collection tool of the present invention comprises a handle, a core at the tip of the handle, and a collection part around the core,
The collection section is made of a monofiber non-circular fiber in which a plurality of synthetic resin ribbons are bonded together along the long side direction, and the plurality of ribbons include a combination in which the short side direction is not parallel, and there are gaps between the ribbons;
The long side of the ribbon will appear on the surface of the collection area.

Preferably, multiple braids made of multiple irregular fibers are fixed to the core, and the collected cells are held in the gaps between the braids, the gaps between the irregular fibers of the braids, and the gaps between the ribbons.

More preferably, the ribbon has an uneven surface along the short side. These uneven surfaces also collect and retain cells, thus increasing the amount of cells collected.

Preferably, the irregular fiber has three or four of the ribbons. A relatively small number of ribbons come into strong contact with the cell collection site, increasing the amount of cells collected.

The irregular fibers are not necessarily used as braids. For example, the wadding of the irregular fibers may be fixed to a core, and cells may be held in the gaps between the irregular fibers and the gaps between the ribbons.

A nonwoven or knitted fabric made of irregular fibers may be provided and fixed to the core as a collection section, and cells may be retained in the gaps between the irregular fibers and the gaps between the ribbons.

Comparing Figure 10 (a conventional example using a brush-shaped cell collection tool), Figure 11 (a comparative example in which fibers other than irregular fibers are used as braids), and Figure 12 (an embodiment in which irregular fibers are used as braids), it can be seen that the amount of cells collected is greater in the embodiments. In particular, the difference between Figure 11 and Figure 12 lies in whether or not irregular fibers are used. Figures 11 and 12 show that the amount of cells collected increases by using irregular fibers. Furthermore, Table 1 shows the variation in the amount of cells collected in the embodiments, and the variation in the embodiments is small.

Photographs of the main parts of the cell collection tools of the four examples Photos showing five types of braids Cross-sectional photo of irregular fiber Side view of irregular fiber Cross-sectional photograph of deformation of non-standard fiber Schematic cross-sectional view showing three other types of irregular fibers Schematic cross-sectional view showing two other types of non-circular fibers FIG. 1 shows the main part of a modified cell collection tool using cotton with a different fiber shape. FIG. 1 shows the main part of a modified cell collection tool using a nonwoven fabric with irregular fibers. A diagram showing the shape of a commercially available cell collection brush and the amount of sample adsorbed. A figure showing the shape of a cell collection brush of a comparative example in which three fibers are aligned instead of irregular fibers, and the amount of sample adsorption. FIG. 1 shows the shape of the cell collection brush and the amount of sample adsorption in the embodiment.

The following is an optimal example for implementing the present invention.

Figures 1 to 12 show the cell collection tool of the embodiment and its performance. The braid itself is well known, and a method for manufacturing the braid has already been published in Non-Patent Document 1. Figure 2 shows a photograph of the braid published in Non-Patent Document 1.

Figure 1 shows four different examples of cell collection tools. The cell collection tool has a handle at the bottom, and a plastic or other core is fixed to the tip of the handle. Multiple braided cords are fixed to the surface of the core by adhesive or other means, forming the cell collection area. The side of the braided cord is exposed at the collection area, and the side of the irregular fiber is exposed at the side. As described below, the irregular fiber is made up of multiple ribbons, and the sides of the ribbons that make up the irregular fiber are exposed at the side of the collection area, and scrape off the cells.

Figures 3 and 4 show cross sections of the modified fibers in the examples. The fiber material is a chemical fiber so that it can be melt spun, and in the examples, poly-L-lactic acid fiber is used, which is biodegradable and has hydrophilic groups such as ether groups and hydroxyl groups on its surface. Chemical fibers such as polyamide also have hydrophilic groups on their surface, so they can be used, although they are not biodegradable and may cause problems if they remain in the subject's body. It is believed that the presence of hydrophilic groups on the surface of the fiber makes it easier to retain the collected cells.

The irregular fibers in Figures 3 and 4 have a Y-shaped cross section in the short side direction, and are monofiber fibers in which three ribbons are bonded to each other at the center of the irregular fiber. Such irregular fibers are spun using a nozzle by melt spinning. Each ribbon has a cross-sectional shape like stacked cylinders, and the sides of the ribbons are uneven. A nozzle corresponding to the irregular fibers in Figures 3 and 4 can be manufactured, for example, by forming circular holes in the nozzle by laser processing and controlling the laser irradiation position so that the holes are connected to each other.

The three ribbons do not all need to be equal. Figure 5 shows an example of a modified fiber, where one ribbon is shorter in the short dimension than the other two ribbons.

The number of ribbons is not limited to three. Such an example is shown in FIG. 6. The irregular fiber 10 has two ribbons 15 and is L-shaped. The irregular fiber 12 has four ribbons 15 and is "+" shaped, and the irregular fiber 14 has five ribbons 15 and is H-shaped. It is considered that more cells can be collected by having three or four ribbons that strongly contact the area where cells are to be collected, rather than increasing the number of ribbons 15. For this reason, the number of ribbons 15 is preferably three or four. In addition, the end of the long side 16 appears at the end of the ribbon 15, and the long side 16 continues in the long side direction of the irregular fiber. Furthermore, the ribbon 15 has a convex portion 17 and a concave portion 18, and the surface is uneven along the short side direction.

The ribbons 15 in Figures 3 to 6 have irregularities in the short side direction, but Figure 7 shows an example without irregularities. The irregular fiber 20 is made up of three flat ribbons 21. The irregular fiber 24 is made up of three ribbons 25 with triangular cross sections, which are connected to each other at the center 27 of the irregular fiber 24. The irregular fibers 20 and 24 have a low cell collection ability because the ribbons 21 and 25 do not have irregularities.

Figure 8 shows a modified example with a cotton-like collection part 32. 40 is a cell collection tool, consisting of a handle 30, a core 31 made of synthetic resin or the like fixed to the tip, and a cotton-like collection part 32 surrounding the core 31. If the mass of irregularly shaped fibers in Figures 3 to 7 is processed so that the fiber directions are randomly distributed, a cotton-like collection part 32 is obtained.

Figure 9 shows a modified example with a cylindrical collection section 52 made of nonwoven fabric. The cell collection tool 50 has a handle 30 and a core 31. The core 31 is inserted into the cylindrical collection section 52, and the two are, for example, glued together. A nonwoven fabric tube 54 is manufactured, and the tube 54 is folded two or more times to increase its thickness to form the collection section 52. The core 31 is then passed through the cylindrical collection section 52, and, for example, glued together. To manufacture a small-diameter nonwoven fabric 54, for example, a small-diameter tube is knitted with irregular fibers. The irregular fibers of the cylindrical knitted fabric are then partially cut by needle punching or the like to form the nonwoven fabric tube 54.

A test was conducted to evaluate the amount of cervical cells collected. Figure 10 shows the shape of a commercially available cell collection tool (conventional example) and the test results. Figure 11 shows the test results for a cell collection tool (comparative example) that is otherwise similar to the example, but uses three fibers with a circular cross section pulled together to form a braid, rather than irregular fibers. In the comparative example, three poly-L-lactic acid fibers with a diameter of 110 μm are pulled together, but they are simply pulled together in parallel and are not irregular fibers. Figure 12 shows the test results for the cell collection tool of the example that uses the irregular fibers of Figures 3 and 4.

To evaluate the amount of sample collected, a sample of red ink dissolved in latex was applied to a model of the cervix, and the collection tool was rubbed against the model, and the weight of the sample adsorbed was measured from the change in weight of the collection tool. The collection tool was rubbed in a straight line 12 times without rotating, and 10 collection tools of each type were used to calculate the average amount of sample adsorbed. The room temperature during the measurements was 25°C.

Six types of commercially available brushes were used, and the average amount of adhesion was less than 20 mg. In the comparative example using braided cord, the average amount of adhesion was 61 mg to 72 mg, more than three times that of the conventional example. The average amount of adhesion in the working example was 94 mg to 116 mg, more than five times that of the conventional example, and approximately 50% greater than the comparative example.

The cell collection tools of the Examples also showed little variation in the amount of adsorption. The distribution of the amount of adsorption is shown in Table 1. The standard deviation of the amount of adsorption was less than 20% of the average value. In addition, across all four types of cell collection tools (40 samples), the minimum amount of adsorption was 70 mg, which is comparable to the average value in the Comparative Examples. From the above, it can be said that the Examples show little variation in the amount of adsorption, or that more cells can be reliably collected than the conventional examples and the Comparative Examples.

Table 1
Table 1. Adsorption amount in the examples
Yatsukongo Group S-Concave-Convex Twist Z-Concave-Convex Twist Edo Genji Group
Average value (mg) 94.4 115.7 112.4 94.4
Maximum value (mg) 126.0 138.4 130.6 122.9
Minimum value (mg) 79.3 98.0 94.9 70.0
Standard deviation (mg) 15.1 13.0 12.8 18.2

The difference in the amount of adsorption between the working example, the comparative example, and the conventional example will be considered. In the conventional example, the tips of the fibers are exposed on the surface of the collection section, so to speak, the tips of the fibers become points and scrape off the cells. In contrast, in the comparative example, the sides of the fibers in the long direction are exposed on the surface of the braided cord, and the sides of the fibers scrape off the cells. In addition, the collected cells are held between the braided cords and between the fibers within the braided cord.

In the embodiment, one fiber has multiple ribbons 15, and the long side 16 (the tip of the short side in a cross-sectional view) of each ribbon 15 scrapes off cells. Since the ribbons 15 are bonded to each other at the center of the irregular fiber, the ribbons 15 are more rigid and scrape off cells more strongly than when multiple fibers are simply pulled together. Furthermore, since there are multiple convex portions 17 and concave portions 18 on the side of one ribbon 15, the side of the ribbon 15 can also scrape off cells. For these reasons, the cell collection tool of the embodiment has a higher cell scraping ability than the comparative example. Furthermore, in the embodiment, the collected cells are also held in the gaps between the ribbons 15 in the irregular fiber.

Although the example shows collection of cervical cells, cells from other sites such as the pharynx may also be collected.

10, 12, 14, 20, 24 irregular fiber 15, 21, 25 ribbon 16 long side 17 convex portion 18 concave portion 27 center portion 30 handle 31 core 32, 52 collection portion
40, 41 Cell collection tool 54 Nonwoven fabric tube

Claims (3)

It consists of a handle, a core at the tip of the handle, and a collection part around the core,
The collection portion is made of a plurality of braided cords, each braided cord being made of a plurality of shaped fibers and fixed to the core;
The non-circular fiber is made of a synthetic resin monofiber in which a plurality of string-like ribbons are bonded to each other along the long side direction,
The plurality of ribbons include a combination in which the short sides are not parallel to each other, and there are gaps between the ribbons;
The long side of the ribbon will be visible on the surface of the collection area.
The cell collection tool is further configured to hold collected cells in the gaps between the braided cords, the gaps between the shaped fibers of the braided cord, and the gaps between the ribbons . 2. The cell harvesting tool according to claim 1 , wherein the ribbon has a surface with irregularities along the direction of the short side. 3. The cell harvesting tool according to claim 1, wherein the non-circular fiber comprises three or four of the ribbons.

Images