JPS63271164A - Automatic biochemical analysis system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To progress automation of an inspection chamber by installing plural pieces of analysis instruments between a rack installation yard and stock yard connected by a belt conveyor forming a route and circulative path. CONSTITUTION:The rack installation yard 1 housing racks R inserted with specimen cups and the stock yard housing the racks R after the end of inspection are connected by the belt conveyor 2 for conveyance and the circulative path is constituted of reinspection belt conveyors 3A, 3B, 3C. The analysis instruments 5, 6 of different kinds are installed at the mid-point of the conveyor 2. Stoppers 7, 8 are provided before the analysis instruments 5, 6. The rack R contg. the specimen having the item of which the analysis value exceeds a measurable range in the analysis and inspection with the analysis instrument 5 or 6 is fed to the reinspection conveyor 4 via transfer rollers 4 by operating a direction change mechanism 9 by the signal from said analysis instrument.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to automation of equipment for performing biochemical analysis.

[Conventional technology]

When performing biochemical analysis of blood, plasma, urine, etc., for example, when performing biochemical analysis of blood, separate the blood into serum (plasma) and blood cells using a centrifuge as necessary. After processing, the sample is transferred to a sample cup inserted into the turntable or rack of the analyzer's sampler section for analysis and testing. In this type of analysis work, an inspector sequentially uses a pipette or the like to take out the required amount of sample from a sample cup inserted into the rank of the sampler unit, and analyzes and tests it on multiple analyzers. may contain various pathogenic bacteria and viruses, and when performing biochemical tests on blood, etc., there is a risk of infection or onset of disease if the examiner comes into direct contact with blood, etc., so do not use blood, etc. Direct contact should be avoided as much as possible.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As mentioned above, in conventional analysis and testing work, it is necessary to classify samples, dispense them into several sample containers, and transport the samples to multiple analyzers, resulting in an increase in the amount of work and complexity. There was a problem in that sample replacement errors were likely to occur. Additionally, when transferring samples, there was a risk that the samples would come into contact with human bodies.

This invention was made in view of these problems, and its purpose is to promote automation of testing rooms to save labor, prevent infectious diseases, and prevent sample mix-up errors. .

[Means for solving problems]

That is, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a biochemical automatic analysis system equipped with a rack installation yard, a belt conveyor, an analyzer, a stockyard for storing sample cups, racks, etc. It is characterized in that it is connected to the yard by the belt conveyor as one or more regular routes and one or more circulation routes, and a plurality of the analysis devices are installed along the way.

[For production]

The effect of the above means will be described along with the movement of the rack. First, in the case of a system with one regular route and one circulation route, the rack containing sample cups is placed on a belt conveyor from the rank installation yard, and the amount of sample is measured while moving on the belt conveyor. It is identified and stops in front of one analyzer. Here, it is dispensed, analyzed and inspected using a pipettor system, and then subjected to a different kind of analysis and inspection using the next analyzer, and then transported to the stockyard and collected. Racks containing sample cups that need to be analyzed and tested again are guided to the circulation path, reprocessed, stopped in front of the necessary analysis equipment, retested, and finally collected in the stockyard.

In the case of a system with multiple routes and multiple circulation routes, the racks containing sample cups placed on the belt conveyor from the rack installation yard are identified by measuring the sample amount and barcode league while moving on the belt conveyor. , it is redirected onto another belt conveyor containing the necessary analyzer and stops in front of one analyzer. Here, it is dispensed using a pipettor system and analyzed and inspected. The rack then moves on a conveyor belt and is redirected to a circulation path where another analytical device is installed, where it is subjected to different types of analysis and testing.

The racks into which the sample forceps are inserted require re-analysis/inspection during the process, and are guided to another circulation path, reprocessed, and subjected to the necessary analysis/inspection again. In this way, the racks are moved through different circulation paths, undergoing several analyzes and inspections, and are then re-inspected before being finally collected at the stockyard.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of an automatic analysis system according to the present invention. In this figure, 1 is a rack installation yard in which racks with sample cups inserted are stored, 2 is a conveyor belt conveyor, 3A, 3B, and 30 are reexamination belt conveyors.
, 3C are adapted to be driven by a drive device. That is, in this embodiment, the belt conveyor consists of one forward path and one circulation path. Reference numeral 4 denotes a passing roller placed between the belt conveyor 2 and the belt conveyor 3A, etc., for guiding the sample cup Rt. Reference numerals 5 and 6 designate analyzers, and in the illustrated example, two types of analyzers are installed. These analyzers house reaction tubes and measuring instruments to carry out the necessary analyses, and a pipettor system (not shown) aspirates the specimen from a sample cup on the belt line and dispenses it for different analyzes and tests. It is designed to do this. Stoppers 7 and 8 are installed in front of the analyzers 5 and 6, respectively, and stop the rack R until the necessary analysis/inspection is completed. 9 is a mechanism for changing the direction of travel of the rack R. 10 is a stockyard for storing sample cups and racks after analysis and testing. A barcode league and a sample amount detection mechanism (not shown) are installed at the front part 11 of the analyzer 5 in the direction of movement.

In the automatic analysis system configured as described above, first, a plurality of racks R into which sample tubes containing samples are inserted are set in the rack installation yard 1. Then, the belt conveyor 2 is automatically moved by a robot, magic hand (not shown), etc.
When placed on the rack R, the sample identification and sample amount are confirmed by the barcode league and sample amount detection mechanism installed at the front part 11 of the analyzer 5, and the rack R is stopped by the stopper 7 in front of the analyzer 5. Here, the sample is aspirated by a pipettor system (not shown), and analyzed and tested by the analyzer 5. Then, the stopped state by the bar 7 is released, the rack R comes in front of the next analyzer 6, and is stopped by the stopper 8. Here again pipettor system (not shown)
The sample is aspirated by the analyzer 6, and the next analysis/examination is performed by the analyzer 6. For samples whose analysis value exceeds the measurable range in the analysis/inspection of the analyzer 5 or 6, the direction change mechanism 9 is activated by the signals from these automatic analyzers, as shown in Fig. 3. That rack R
is sent to the re-examination belt conveyor 3A via the crossing rollers 4. A sample diluter (not shown) is installed in the circulation belt line between the re-examination belt conveyors 3A to 3C, and operations such as dilution are performed here.
A rack R containing diluted sample cups is sent from C to a belt conveyor 2 via a transfer roller 4.

The nine samples that have been analyzed and tested go straight to the stockyard 10, where the sample tube is removed from the rack R and post-processed.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the automatic analysis system according to the present invention. In this figure, 13 to 20 are conveyor belt lines, which constitute several regular routes and several circulation routes. Reference numeral 21 denotes a manual stop section. That is, in this embodiment, there are two analyzers 5 and 6 and a manual
It is installed in parallel with the 7-piece section 21. Further, in this figure, reference numerals 23, 24, and 25 are direction change mechanisms, and a barcode league and a sample amount detection mechanism (not shown) are installed in the front part 22 of the direction change mechanism 23. The barcode league may be placed in front of the analyzer 5 or 6, etc.
26 is a barcode league placed on the conveyor belt 14 in front of the analyzer 6.

In the automatic analysis system configured as described above, first, a rack R in which sample cups are inserted (in the example, one cup P containing a sample is inserted into this rack)
Add multiple cents to rack installation yard 1. Then, when the rack R is automatically placed on the belt conveyor 13 by a robot, magic hand (not shown), etc., the rack R is placed on the belt conveyor 14 via the transition roller 4, and the rack R is placed on the belt conveyor 14 via the transfer roller 4. Specimen identification and sample amount are confirmed by the sample amount detection mechanism.

If only one type of analysis/inspection is required, the direction change mechanism 23 or 24 is operated to move the belt conveyor 16 where the analyzer 5 is installed, as shown in FIGS. 3(1) and (2).
Alternatively, the belt conveyor 17 on which the analyzer 6 is installed is conveyed. As described above, when the analysis and inspection are completed, the stopper 7 or 8 is released and the rack R is recovered to the stockyard 10 by the belt conveyor 19 and direction changing mechanism 25.

In addition, the two types of items that require analysis and inspection are belt conveyor 14→〃〃16→〃〃19→〃〃15→〃〃14→〃
Just set it so that the course is 〃17→〃〃19→〃〃20→stock yard. Furthermore, three types of analysis
Items that need to be inspected are belt conveyor 14→〃〃16→〃
〃19→〃〃15→〃〃 14→〃〃 17→〃〃 1
9→〃〃 15→〃〃14→〃〃18→〃〃19→〃〃
All you have to do is take the 20->Stock course.

Furthermore, by changing the order of tracing the circulation path, for example, two types of analysis can be performed.
When performing inspection, belt conveyor 14→〃〃17→
〃〃 19→〃〃 15→〃〃 14→〃//16→〃
It is also possible to take a course of 〃19→〃〃20→stockyards 10. In addition, for items that need to be analyzed and inspected again, they can be reprocessed using one of these circulation paths, and a processing device (not shown) is installed in the middle of the belt line, allowing them to undergo the same analysis and inspection again. It is also possible to do so.

Although the details of this invention are as described above, the technical scope is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, in FIG. 1, the circulation path may be double or triple, and in FIG. It is also possible to build a system that can perform even more analyzes and tests by increasing the number of parallel analyzers and installing other analyzers.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, the present invention provides a biochemical automatic analysis system in which a rack installation yard and a stockyard are connected by one or more forward paths and one or more circulation paths by a belt conveyor. Because it is characterized by the installation of multiple analyzers, it is possible to construct a system that allows inspectors to analyze and test samples without directly touching them, thereby saving labor and preventing infectious diseases. I can do it. Furthermore, by adopting such a system, it is possible to prevent sample mix-ups, and by using ranks for each sample cup, it is also possible to reduce the dead volume in the examination room.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an example of the arrangement of the automatic analysis system according to the present invention, in which it is configured with one regular path and one circulation path, and FIG. 2 shows another example of the arrangement of the automatic analysis system according to the invention. FIG. 2 is an example diagram of a case where the vehicle is configured with a plurality of regular routes and a plurality of circulation routes. FIGS. 3(1) and 3(2) are separate views of the operation of the direction changing mechanism when guiding the rack to another belt conveyor. 1- Rack installation yard 2- Belt conveyor 3A, 3
B, 3C... Circulation path belt conveyor 4- Transition roller 5.6...-Analysis device? , L-stopper
10...-Stockyard 12...Rack 13
20...Belt conveyor 21--Method stop section 9.23.24.25...Direction change mechanism Fig. 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a biochemical automatic analysis system equipped with a rack installation yard, a belt conveyor, and a stockyard for storing analytical devices, racks, etc., one or more belt conveyors are used to connect the rack installation yard and the stockyard. 1. A biochemical automatic analysis system, characterized in that a regular path and one or more circulation paths are connected, and a plurality of the analysis devices are installed along the way.