阅读说明：本技术 自动分析装置 (automatic analyzer ) 是由 朝仓诚 于 2019-06-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明的目的在于提供一种自动分析装置,该自动分析装置包括检查体稀释机构,其中,该自动分析装置能够避免经由稀释容器造成的残留。本发明的自动分析装置包括：避免信息存储部,其存储包含关于预处理容器的避免残留所需要的条件的避免信息；避免判断部,其根据避免信息以及在预定被检查体分注喷嘴分注检查体的预处理容器中前后分注的检查体的信息来判断是否需要进行避免残留并发出避免指令；以及避免控制部,其根据来自避免判断部的避免指令来控制检查体分注喷嘴以暂缓检查体分注喷嘴向该预处理容器分注检查体。(The present invention provides an automatic analyzer including a specimen diluting mechanism, wherein the automatic analyzer can prevent residue from a diluting container. The automatic analyzer of the present invention includes: an avoidance information storage unit that stores avoidance information including conditions required for avoiding remaining of the pretreatment container; an avoidance judging unit that judges whether or not avoidance of a residual is necessary based on avoidance information and information on a specimen dispensed before and after in a pretreatment container in which a specimen is dispensed from a predetermined specimen dispensing nozzle and issues an avoidance command; and an avoidance control unit that controls the specimen dispensing nozzle based on an avoidance command from the avoidance determination unit to suspend dispensing of the specimen from the specimen dispensing nozzle into the pretreatment container.)

1. An automatic analysis device is provided, which comprises a base,

The automatic analysis device includes:

A test body table for holding a plurality of test body containers for accommodating test bodies;

A pretreatment stage that holds a plurality of pretreatment containers that accommodate a pretreatment specimen obtained by pretreating the specimen;

A reaction table for holding a plurality of reaction containers and allowing the pretreatment specimen and the reagent to react in the reaction containers;

A reagent table that holds a plurality of reagent containers that contain the reagents;

A specimen dispensing nozzle for transferring a specimen from a specimen container held on the specimen stage to a pretreatment container held on the pretreatment stage;

A pretreatment specimen dispensing nozzle for transferring a pretreatment specimen from a pretreatment container held on the pretreatment stage to a reaction container held on the reaction stage; and

A reagent dispensing nozzle for transferring a reagent from the reagent table to the reaction vessel,

Pretreating the specimen in the pretreatment container, reacting the resulting pretreated specimen with a reagent in the reaction container, and analyzing the components in the specimen,

The automatic analysis device is characterized in that,

The automatic analysis device includes:

An avoidance information storage unit that stores avoidance information including a condition required for avoiding remaining of the pretreatment container;

A pretreatment container use history storage unit for storing information relating to a specimen dispensed into the pretreatment container in the past, the information including a type of a specimen material and a type of an inspection item requested to be analyzed;

an analysis request information storage unit that stores information concerning a specimen for which analysis has been newly requested, the information including a type of a material of the specimen and a type of an inspection item for which analysis has been requested;

An avoidance determination unit that determines whether avoidance is necessary and issues an avoidance command based on the avoidance information and information on the specimen dispensed before and after the specimen is dispensed into the pretreatment container intended to be dispensed into the specimen by the specimen dispensing nozzle, the information being stored in the pretreatment container usage history storage unit and the analysis request information storage unit; and

and an avoidance control unit that controls the specimen dispensing nozzle to suspend dispensing of the specimen from the specimen dispensing nozzle to the pretreatment container, based on the avoidance command from the avoidance determination unit.

2. the automatic analysis device according to claim 1,

The avoidance information storage unit stores a combination of types of the test object materials as a condition required for avoiding the residual in the avoidance information,

The avoidance judging unit judges whether avoidance is necessary or not and issues an avoidance command based on the avoidance information and the types of the specimen materials of the specimens dispensed before and after the specimen is dispensed into the pretreatment container into which the specimen is to be dispensed by the specimen dispensing nozzle, which are stored in the pretreatment container usage history storage unit and the analysis request information storage unit.

3. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1,

The avoidance information storage unit stores the type of the inspection item as a condition required for avoiding the remaining in the avoidance information,

the avoidance judging unit judges whether avoidance is necessary or not and issues an avoidance command based on the avoidance information and the types of inspection items to be subjected to the request analysis for the inspection objects dispensed before and after the inspection object is dispensed into the pretreatment container into which the inspection object is to be dispensed by the inspection object dispensing nozzle, which are stored in the pretreatment container use history storage unit and the analysis request information storage unit.

4. The automatic analysis device according to claim 3,

The automatic analyzer includes an analysis result storage unit that stores a concentration of an examination item contained in the examination body as an analysis result,

The avoidance information storage unit stores, for each of the stored inspection items, a threshold value for determining whether or not the influence of the residual is exerted as a condition required for avoiding the residual in the avoidance information,

The avoidance judging unit judges whether avoidance is necessary or not and issues an avoidance command by comparing an analysis result of a test object previously dispensed into the pretreatment container, the analysis result being related to a common test item for which analysis is requested for test objects dispensed before and after a pretreatment container into which the test object is dispensed by the test object dispensing nozzle, the analysis result being stored in the pretreatment container usage history storage unit and the analysis request information storage unit, with the threshold value of the test item stored in the avoidance information storage unit.

5. the automatic analysis device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

The automatic analyzer includes a cleaning liquid supply portion for supplying a cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid supply portion being configured to be capable of being sucked by the specimen dispensing nozzle,

The avoidance information storage unit stores the avoidance information by adding the type information of the cleaning liquid to each of the avoidance information,

When the avoidance information is included in the information on the specimen to be dispensed back and forth from the pretreatment container into which the specimen is to be dispensed by the specimen dispensing nozzle, the avoidance control unit controls the cleaning liquid supply unit and the specimen dispensing nozzle such that the specimen dispensing nozzle dispenses the cleaning liquid based on the avoidance information stored in the avoidance information storage unit from the cleaning liquid supply unit to the pretreatment container to which the avoidance determination unit has issued the avoidance command.

6. The automatic analysis device according to claim 5,

The automatic analyzer includes a pretreatment container cleaning history storage unit for storing information relating to the type of cleaning liquid dispensed into the pretreatment container in the past,

When information of a test object to be dispensed into a pretreatment container of the test object by the test object dispensing nozzle belongs to the avoidance information, the avoidance judging unit judges that avoidance is not necessary and does not issue the avoidance command when a history of a cleaning history of the pretreatment container stored in the pretreatment container cleaning history storage unit, the history being a history of a cleaning liquid dispensed into the pretreatment container after the test object was dispensed into the pretreatment container last time, exists in the past cleaning history of the pretreatment container.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for analyzing components contained in a specimen such as blood and urine.

Background

in an automatic analyzer, a specimen such as blood or urine and a reagent are dispensed into a reaction vessel, the specimen and the reagent are reacted in the reaction vessel, and the absorbance of the reaction solution is measured, whereby a specific component (hereinafter referred to as an examination item) contained in the specimen is analyzed.

in general, an automatic analyzer includes a reaction vessel cleaning mechanism for cleaning a reaction vessel by repeatedly ejecting and sucking a cleaning liquid such as water or detergent, and the reaction vessel containing a reaction solution after the measurement of absorbance is cleaned by the reaction vessel cleaning mechanism and reused.

The automatic analyzer that automatically cleans and reuses the reaction vessels as described above has a lower running cost than the automatic analyzer using disposable reaction vessels, but has the following problems: if the reaction vessel is insufficiently cleaned, there is a risk that the specimen, reagent, or reaction solution used in the previous analysis remains, and the analysis result value of the specimen using the reaction vessel is adversely affected. The phenomenon of leaving the specimen, reagent, reaction solution, etc. is generally called "carry-over" (Japanese: キ ャ リ ー オ ー バ ー).

For example, in a case where a reaction vessel after analysis of a specimen (strong positive specimen) having an extremely high analysis result value of a certain test item is used for analysis of a specimen (normal specimen) having an analysis result value of the test item within a reference range, the reaction vessel may be subjected to a normal analysis of the specimen, in which the strong positive specimen itself or a reaction solution of the strong positive specimen is not sufficiently washed away by normal washing by a reaction vessel washing means, but is left over to be analyzed by the normal specimen to be analyzed next, and the analysis result value of the normal specimen is higher than the original analysis result value.

In recent years, the types of test body materials (serum, plasma, urine, and the like) to be analyzed by such automatic analyzers have increased, and there are some test items in which the concentrations of components contained in the test body materials have a large difference depending on the types of the test body materials.

in such an inspection item, a reaction vessel used for analyzing an inspection object material having a high concentration (which brings a high analysis result value) may remain when the reaction vessel is used for analyzing an inspection object material having a low concentration (which brings a low analysis result value) in the next step.

In order to solve the above-described problems, recent automatic analyzers have a function of avoiding residues through the reaction vessels.

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 5-172828 (patent document 1) proposes an automatic analyzer that stores combinations of inspection items that may possibly remain, stores inspection items that have been analyzed in a reaction container last time as a history, and controls transfer of the reaction container so that combinations of inspection items that have been analyzed in a predetermined reaction container used before and after do not belong to combinations of inspection items that may possibly remain when a new analysis is performed.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Some automatic analyzers include a specimen dilution mechanism (an example of a specimen pretreatment mechanism) that performs pretreatment for diluting a specimen before dispensing the specimen into a reaction vessel. In general, the specimen diluting mechanism includes: a dilution container (an example of a pretreatment container) for accommodating a diluent (an example of a pretreatment liquid) and a specimen dispensed by a specimen dispensing mechanism; a diluted specimen dispensing mechanism (an example of a pretreatment specimen dispensing mechanism) for dispensing a diluted specimen (diluted specimen) from a dilution vessel into a reaction vessel; and a dilution container cleaning mechanism (an example of the pretreatment container cleaning mechanism) for cleaning a dilution container containing a dilution specimen remaining after completion of analysis, the dilution container being reusable.

in the automatic analyzer having such a specimen dilution mechanism, not only the reaction container but also the dilution container are repeatedly used, and therefore, there is a risk that not only the residue through the reaction container but also the residue through the dilution container is generated.

however, the automatic analyzer described in patent document 1 does not assume the inclusion of a specimen diluting mechanism, and patent document 1 does not specifically describe a method for avoiding a residue via a diluting container.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer including a specimen diluting mechanism, wherein the automatic analyzer can prevent a residue from being left via a diluting container.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object of the present invention, the present invention provides an automatic analyzer including: a test body table for holding a plurality of test body containers for accommodating test bodies; a pretreatment stage that holds a plurality of pretreatment containers that accommodate a pretreatment specimen obtained by pretreating the specimen; a reaction table for holding a plurality of reaction containers and allowing the pretreatment specimen and the reagent to react in the reaction containers; a reagent table that holds a plurality of reagent containers that contain the reagents; a specimen dispensing nozzle for transferring a specimen from a specimen container held on the specimen stage to a pretreatment container held on the pretreatment stage; a pretreatment specimen dispensing nozzle for transferring a pretreatment specimen from a pretreatment container held on the pretreatment stage to a reaction container held on the reaction stage; and a reagent dispensing nozzle for transferring a reagent from the reagent table to the reaction container, pretreating a specimen in the pretreatment container, reacting the obtained pretreated specimen with the reagent in the reaction container, and analyzing a component in the specimen, wherein the automatic analyzer comprises: an avoidance information storage unit that stores avoidance information including a condition required for avoiding remaining of the pretreatment container; a pretreatment container use history storage unit for storing information relating to a specimen dispensed into the pretreatment container in the past, the information including a type of a specimen material and a type of an inspection item requested to be analyzed; an analysis request information storage unit that stores information concerning a specimen for which analysis has been newly requested, the information including a type of a material of the specimen and a type of an inspection item for which analysis has been requested; an avoidance determination unit that determines whether avoidance is necessary and issues an avoidance command based on the avoidance information and information on the specimen dispensed before and after the specimen is dispensed into the pretreatment container intended to be dispensed into the specimen by the specimen dispensing nozzle, the information being stored in the pretreatment container usage history storage unit and the analysis request information storage unit; and an avoidance control unit that controls the specimen dispensing nozzle to suspend dispensing of the specimen from the specimen dispensing nozzle to the pretreatment container, in accordance with the avoidance command from the avoidance determination unit.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a dispensing nozzle cleaning mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of avoiding the residue through the dilution vessel in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a display example of the sticking avoidance setting screen in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of embodiment 2 of the present invention in the case of avoiding the residue through the dilution vessel.

Fig. 6 is a display example of a residual setting avoidance screen in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

fig. 7 is a display example of a residual setting avoidance screen in embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a part of a flowchart for explaining an operation in a case where the dilution vessel is not left through the dilution vessel in consideration of the washing history information of the dilution vessel in embodiment 4 of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

1. An automatic analysis device; 2. a measuring mechanism; 3. a control mechanism; 4. a reaction vessel; 5. a reaction turntable; 6. an inspection body container; 7. an inspection body turntable; 8. a dilution vessel; 9. a dilution turntable; 11. 1 st reagent turntable; 13. a 2 nd reagent turntable; 14. a test body dispensing mechanism; 17. a dilution test body dispensing mechanism; 20. a dilution vessel cleaning mechanism; 21. a separate injection nozzle cleaning mechanism; 27. a control unit; 28. an input section; 29. a test body concentration calculating section; 30. a display unit; 31. a storage unit; 32. an avoidance judging section; 33. avoiding residual setting pictures; 34. an avoidance information storage section; 35. a dilution container use history storage unit; 36. an analysis request information storage unit; 37. an analysis result storage unit; 38. a dilution container cleaning history storage unit.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 1 to 8. In the present specification and the drawings, members showing substantially the same constituent elements and the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

< Structure of automatic analyzer >

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic analyzer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the automatic analyzer 1 is roughly divided into a measuring unit 2 and a control unit 3, the measuring unit 2 measures the absorbance of the reaction solution by reacting a sample collected from a subject with a reagent, and the control unit 3 controls the operation of each part of the measuring unit 2 in units of a predetermined constant cycle time.

(measuring means 2)

The measuring mechanism 2 is configured such that, with a reaction turret 5 (an example of a reaction table) for transferring a reaction vessel 4 in which an object to be examined and a reagent are reacted as a center, around the reaction turntable 5, an inspection body turntable 7 (an example of an inspection body table) for transferring an inspection body container 6 accommodating an inspection body, a dilution turntable 9 (an example of a pretreatment table) for transferring a dilution container 8 accommodating a diluted inspection body, a 1 st reagent turntable 11 (an example of a reagent table) for transferring a 1 st reagent container 10 accommodating a 1 st reagent, and a 2 nd reagent turntable 13 (an example of a reagent table) for transferring a 2 nd reagent container 12 accommodating a 2 nd reagent are arranged, respectively, between the respective stages, 4 dispensing mechanisms, which will be described later, are disposed for transferring the specimen, the diluted specimen, the 1 st reagent, and the 2 nd reagent between the respective turn tables.

The reaction turret 5 disposed at the center repeats rotation and stop at a predetermined angle at a constant period (for example, 3-second cycle), and the peripheral dispensing mechanisms and the turrets are also operated in 3-second cycles in accordance with the cycle, respectively, so that operations such as dispensing can be performed on the reaction vessels 4 on the reaction turret 5.

The specimen dispensing mechanism 14 disposed between the specimen turret 7 and the dilution turret 9 sucks the specimen from the specimen container 6 transferred to the suction position with the rotation of the specimen turret 7 to a not-shown specimen dispensing nozzle provided in the specimen dispensing mechanism 14, and discharges the sucked specimen and the diluent supplied from the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 itself to the empty dilution vessel 8 transferred to the discharge position with the rotation of the dilution turret 9.

The dilution container 8 from which the diluent and the specimen are discharged is stopped at a position of a dilution stirring mechanism 15 disposed around the dilution turret 9 in the next cycle, and the dilution stirring mechanism 15 inserts a stirring piece, not shown, into the dilution container 8 containing the specimen and the diluent, and rotates the stirring piece to stir the specimen and the diluent therein. With this arrangement, the specimen is diluted to a concentration of a predetermined multiple in the dilution vessel 8, and a diluted specimen is prepared. After the dilution test body is stirred by the stirring blade, the stirring blade is cleaned by a stirring blade cleaning mechanism, not shown, disposed in the vicinity of the dilution stirring mechanism 15.

In a cycle similar to the cycle of stirring the diluted specimen by the dilution stirring mechanism 15, the 1 st reagent dispensing mechanism 16 disposed between the 1 st reagent turntable 11 and the reaction turntable 5 sucks the 1 st reagent from the 1 st reagent container 10 transferred to the suction position with the rotation of the 1 st reagent turntable 11 to the 1 st reagent dispensing nozzle, not shown, provided in the 1 st reagent dispensing mechanism 16, and discharges the sucked 1 st reagent to the empty reaction container 4 transferred to the discharge position with the rotation of the reaction turntable 5.

The dilution specimen dispensing mechanism 17 disposed between the dilution turret 9 and the reaction turret 5 sucks the dilution specimen stirred by the dilution stirring mechanism 15 from the dilution container 8 transferred to the suction position with the rotation of the dilution turret 9 to a dilution specimen dispensing nozzle (an example of a pretreatment specimen dispensing nozzle) not shown provided in the dilution specimen dispensing mechanism 17, and ejects the sucked dilution specimen to the reaction container 4 transferred to the ejection position with the rotation of the reaction turret 5, into which the 1 st reagent has been dispensed.

After the pre-reaction of the 1 st reagent and the diluted specimen in the reaction vessel 4, the 2 nd reagent dispensing mechanism 18 disposed between the 2 nd reagent turntable 13 and the reaction turntable 5 suctions the 2 nd reagent from the 2 nd reagent vessel 12 transferred to the suction position with the rotation of the 2 nd reagent turntable 13 to the 2 nd reagent dispensing nozzle, not shown, provided in the 2 nd reagent dispensing mechanism 18, and discharges the suctioned 2 nd reagent to the reaction vessel 4 containing the reaction liquid of the 1 st reagent and the diluted specimen transferred to the discharge position with the rotation of the reaction turntable 5. This causes the main reaction to start in the reaction vessel 4.

the reaction container 4 containing the reaction solution in which the specimen and the reagent are diluted passes through the photometric mechanism 19 disposed around the reaction turret 5 at a constant cycle by the rotation of the reaction turret 5. The photometry mechanism 19 includes a light source lamp 19a for irradiating the reaction container 4 with light and a multi-wavelength photometer 19b for measuring absorbance in the reaction container 4 irradiated with light, and the multi-wavelength photometer 19b measures absorbance in the reaction container 4 passing at a constant cycle and outputs the absorbance to the control mechanism 3. The control means 3 calculates the concentration of the test item contained in the specimen based on the absorbance of the reaction solution of the specimen and the reagent inputted from the light measuring means 19.

The dilution vessel cleaning mechanism 20 disposed around the dilution turret 9 includes a plurality of cleaning liquid discharge nozzles, not shown, for discharging a cleaning liquid such as water or detergent, and a plurality of suction nozzles, not shown, for sucking the diluted specimen and the cleaning liquid, and performs cleaning by sucking the diluted specimen by the suction nozzles, and then repeating the discharge and suction of the cleaning liquid after the dilution vessel 8 in which the diluted specimen has been analyzed and remains.

The dispensing nozzle cleaning mechanism 21 disposed in the vicinity of the test body dispensing mechanism 14, the 1 st reagent dispensing mechanism 16, the diluted test body dispensing mechanism 17, and the 2 nd reagent dispensing mechanism 18 is used for cleaning the dispensing nozzle, not shown, provided in each dispensing mechanism for dispensing a test body or a reagent.

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a dispensing nozzle cleaning mechanism 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the dispensing nozzle cleaning mechanism 21 includes a tub-shaped cleaning tank 22, a cleaning water supply unit 23 provided on the inner wall side of the side surface of the cleaning tank 22, and two cleaning liquid supply units 24a and 24b provided on the inner wall side of the bottom surface of the cleaning tank 22. The cleaning liquid supply units 24a and 24b are arranged on the movement trajectory 25 of the dispensing nozzle.

The cleaning water supply unit 23 is configured to discharge water to an outer wall of the dispensing nozzle transferred to a position facing the discharge port 26 of the cleaning water supply unit 23. The cleaning liquid supply portions 24a and 24b each have a cylindrical shape, and are configured to be able to suck a cleaning liquid by a dispensing nozzle that ejects the cleaning liquid such as an alkaline cleaning agent or an acidic cleaning agent from the upper ends of the cleaning liquid supply portions 24a and 24b and is moved to above the cleaning liquid supply portions 24a and 24 b. In this specification, the alkaline detergent is flushed from the detergent supply unit 24a, and the acidic detergent is flushed from the detergent supply unit 24 b.

(control means 3)

The control means 3 includes a control unit 27 (an example of an avoidance control unit) connected to the measurement means 2, and an input unit 28, an specimen concentration calculation unit 29, a display unit 30, a storage unit 31, and an avoidance determination unit 32, which are connected to the control unit 27.

The control unit 27 is constituted by a CPU or the like, and controls the remaining avoidance operation of the entire automatic analyzer 1 and the dilution vessel 8 including the respective parts of the measurement mechanism 2 and the control mechanism 3.

The input unit 28 receives information necessary for analysis of the test object and instruction information for an analysis operation, and outputs the information to the control unit 27. As the input unit 28, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or the like is used.

The specimen concentration calculating unit 29 calculates the concentration of the test item contained in the specimen based on the information on the absorbance of the reaction solution for diluting the specimen and the reagent, which is input from the light measuring mechanism 19 via the control unit 27.

The display unit 30 displays the concentration of the inspection item included in the inspection object calculated by the inspection object concentration calculation unit 29 as the analysis result. Further, a residual avoidance setting screen 33 for setting avoidance information including conditions required for avoiding residual and an avoidance method for the dilution container 8 is displayed. As the display unit 30, a display, a printer, a speaker, and the like are used.

The storage unit 31 is configured by a large-capacity recording device such as a hard disk, and stores information and the like input by the input unit 28. In addition, the storage unit 31 includes: an avoidance information storage unit 34 that stores avoidance information set on the avoidance residual setting screen 33; a dilution container use history storage unit 35 (an example of a pretreatment container use history storage unit) that stores information relating to a specimen dispensed into the dilution container 8 in the past, the information including the type of the specimen material and the type of the test item requested to be analyzed; an analysis request information storage unit 36 for storing information concerning the specimen to which analysis is newly requested, the information including the type of the specimen material and the type of the inspection item for which analysis is requested; an analysis result storage unit 37 that stores, as an analysis result, the concentration of the inspection item included in the inspection object calculated by the inspection object concentration calculation unit 29; and a dilution container cleaning history storage unit 38 (an example of a pretreatment container cleaning history storage unit) that stores information relating to the type of cleaning liquid dispensed to the dilution container 8 in the past.

The avoidance judging unit 32 judges whether or not the operation of avoiding the retention of the sample in the dilution vessel 8 is necessary based on the information on the sample dispensed before and after the sample is dispensed into the dilution vessel 8 in which the sample dispensing nozzle is scheduled to dispense the sample and the avoidance information set on the avoidance remaining setting screen 33.

next, an example of the operation of the automatic analyzer 1 configured as described above when the residue is avoided by the dilution vessel 8 will be described.

< embodiment 1 >

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for avoiding the residue caused by the dilution container 8 in embodiment 1 of the present invention, and fig. 4 is a view showing an example of the display of the residue avoidance setting screen 33 in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

the retention avoidance setting screen 33 shown in fig. 4 is an example of a screen for setting a combination of test body materials that may possibly remain as conditions required for the avoidance of retention, and the type 39 of the test body material that is affected by the retention and the type 40 of the test body material that is affected by the retention in the figure are configured so as to select 1 type from among the types of test body materials registered in advance.

Hereinafter, when the specimen material of the specimen dispensed before and after the dilution container 8 into which the specimen is dispensed by the specimen dispensing nozzle belongs to the combination of the specimen materials set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 (in the example of fig. 4, when the urine specimen is to be dispensed subsequently to the dilution container 8 into which the serum specimen is dispensed), the operation of avoiding the residual of the dilution container 8 will be described according to the steps shown in fig. 3.

First, a user requests analysis of a test object to be analyzed (hereinafter, referred to as a new test object) (step S101). Request information input by the user is stored in the analysis request information storage unit 36.

next, an instruction to start analysis relating to the new test subject is input by the user (step S102).

Next, in steps S103 to S105, it is determined whether or not the dilution container (N) transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 needs to be operated to avoid the residue. Specifically, it is determined whether or not a combination of the specimen material of the specimen dispensed to the dilution vessel (N) in the previous time (hereinafter referred to as a previous specimen) and the specimen material of the new specimen belongs to the avoidance information set on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 (step S103).

That is, the avoidance judging unit 32 reads out the information of the specimen material of the previous specimen of the dilution container (N) from the dilution container use history storage unit 35, and the avoidance judging unit 32 reads out the information of the specimen material of the new specimen from the analysis request information storage unit 36, and judges whether or not the combination of the specimen materials of the specimens dispensed before and after the dilution container (N) read out belongs to the combination of the specimen materials set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33.

As a result of the determination, when the combination of the specimen materials of the specimens dispensed before and after the dilution container (N) does not belong to the avoidance information (no in step S103), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance leaving operation for the dilution container (N) is not necessary, and the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 to dispense a new specimen into the dilution container (N) (step S104).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the combination of the test element materials of the test elements dispensed before and after the dilution vessel (N) belongs to the avoidance information (yes in step S103), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance residual operation needs to be performed on the dilution vessel (N), and issues an avoidance command to the control unit 27. Then, the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 to suspend dispensing of a new specimen into the dilution vessel (N) (step S105). That is, in the present cycle, the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 does not aspirate a new specimen, and does not prepare a diluted specimen of the new specimen.

When dispensing of a new specimen into the dilution container (N) is suspended in step S105, it is determined whether or not the operation for avoiding the residual is necessary for the dilution container (N +1) transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 in the next cycle, in the same manner as in steps S103 to S105.

In addition, in the dilution container (N) to which the new specimen is temporarily suspended in step S105, the dilution container (N) is continuously moved with the rotation of the dilution turret 9 while keeping an empty container, and is sequentially washed by the dilution container washing mechanism 20 after a predetermined time has elapsed.

In the above-described embodiment 1, the combination of the test object materials set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 is not dispensed into the same dilution vessel 8 from the front and back, and the residual caused by the dilution vessel 8 can be avoided. Then, the diluent container 8 to which the avoidance command is issued is not used for analysis but the diluent container cleaning mechanism 20 cleans the remaining previous specimen, and then a new specimen is dispensed to the diluent container 8 temporarily, and the diluent container 8 is moved on the dilution turret 9 while holding an empty container and is cleaned again by the diluent container cleaning mechanism 20, whereby the diluent container 8 is cleaned twice in total, and therefore the previous specimen remaining in the diluent container 8 is sufficiently cleaned.

< embodiment 2 >

fig. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of avoiding the carry-over caused by the dilution vessel 8 in embodiment 2 of the present invention, and fig. 6 is a view showing an example of the display of the carry-over avoidance setting screen 33 in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

The avoidance residual setting screen 33 shown in fig. 6 is an example of a screen for setting an inspection item that may possibly cause residual as a condition required for avoiding residual, and the inspection item name 41 in the figure is configured to select 1 from the pre-registered inspection items, the threshold value 42 is configured to input a numerical value for determining whether or not the analysis result value of the corresponding inspection item is strongly positive, and the avoidance condition 43 is configured to select one of "strongly positive" and "every time".

When an inspection item (hereinafter, referred to as a request item) for which analysis is requested to be performed on an inspection object dispensed in front of and behind a dilution container 8 into which the inspection object is dispensed by a predetermined object dispensing nozzle belongs to an inspection item set as avoidance information on an avoidance residual setting screen 33, if "strong positive" is selected in avoidance conditions 43 corresponding to the inspection item set as avoidance information, then when an analysis result value of the inspection item of the avoidance information of the previous inspection object belonging to the dilution container 8 exceeds a threshold value 42 set as avoidance information (in the example of fig. 6, if an analysis result value of an inspection item a of the previous inspection object exceeds 500), a residual avoidance operation is performed on the dilution container 8, and if "every time" is selected in the avoidance conditions 43, regardless of the analysis result value of the inspection item of the avoidance information of the previous inspection object belonging to the dilution container 8, the dilution vessel 8 is subjected to a residual avoidance operation.

Hereinafter, when a requested item of a test object to be dispensed into the dilution container 8 of a test object to be dispensed from the test object dispensing nozzle belongs to a test item set as avoidance information on the avoidance leaving setting screen 33, the operation of avoiding leaving of the dilution container will be described with reference to the steps shown in fig. 5.

First, as in steps S101 and S102 of embodiment 1, a user requests analysis of a new test subject (step S201), and inputs an instruction to start analysis of the new test subject (step S202).

Next, in steps S203 to S210, it is determined whether or not an operation for avoiding remaining is necessary for the dilution container (N) transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14. Specifically, first, it is determined whether or not an inspection item belonging to the avoidance information set on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 is included in the request item of the new inspection object (step S203).

That is, the avoidance judging unit 32 reads out the information of the requested item of the new examiner from the analysis request information storage unit 36, and judges whether or not the requested item of the new examiner includes an examination item set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33.

As a result of the determination, when the test item set as the avoidance information is not included in the requested item of the new test object (no in step S203), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance residual operation for the dilution container (N) is not necessary, and the control unit 27 controls the test object dispensing mechanism 14 to dispense the new test object into the dilution container (N) (step S204).

On the other hand, if the result of the determination is that an inspection item set as avoidance information is included in the request items of the new inspection object (yes in step S203), it is determined whether or not an inspection item set as the avoidance information is included in the request items of the previous inspection object of the dilution container (N) (step S205).

that is, the avoidance judging unit 32 reads out the requested item information of the previous specimen of the dilution container (N) from the dilution container use history storage unit 35, and judges whether or not the inspection item belonging to the avoidance information included in the requested item of the new specimen is included in the requested item of the previous specimen.

as a result of the determination, when the test item belonging to the avoidance information included in the request item of the new test object is not included in the request item of the previous test object of the dilution container (N) (no in step S205), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance leaving operation for the dilution container (N) is not necessary, and the control unit 27 controls the test object dispensing mechanism 14 to dispense the new test object into the dilution container (N) (step S206).

on the other hand, as a result of the determination, when the test item belonging to the avoidance information included in the request item of the new test object is included in the request item of the previous test object of the dilution container (N) (yes in step S205), it is confirmed whether or not the test item belonging to the avoidance information common to the request item of the previous test object of the dilution container (N) and the request item of the new test object is selected as "strong positive" or "every time" in the avoidance condition 43 of the avoidance residual setting screen 33 (step S207).

That is, the avoidance judging unit 32 checks which of the "strong positive" and the "every time" is selected as the avoidance condition 43 belonging to the test item of the avoidance information, which is common between the request item of the previous test subject and the request item of the new test subject of the dilution container (N) in the avoidance information storing unit 34.

As a result of the confirmation, when at least 1 inspection item having "every time" selected as the avoidance condition is included among the inspection items belonging to the avoidance information (in the case of "every time" in step S207), the avoidance judging unit 32 judges that the avoidance residual operation for the dilution container (N) is necessary, and issues an avoidance command to the control unit 27. Then, the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 to suspend dispensing of a new specimen into the dilution container (N) (step S208). That is, in the present cycle, the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 does not aspirate a new specimen, and does not prepare a diluted specimen of the new specimen.

On the other hand, if it is confirmed that "strong positive" is selected as the avoidance condition for all the test items belonging to the avoidance information (if "strong positive" in step S207), it is determined whether or not the analysis result value of the previous test object of the dilution container (N) is strong positive for all the test items belonging to the avoidance information that are common to the request item of the previous test object of the dilution container (N) and the request item of the new test object (step S209).

That is, the avoidance judging unit 32 reads, from the analysis result storage unit 37, the analysis result values of all the inspection items belonging to the avoidance information, which are common to the request item of the previous specimen and the request item of the new specimen, with respect to the previous specimen of the dilution container (N), and judges whether or not at least 1 of the analysis result values is included in the analysis result values and exceeds the threshold value 42 set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33.

if the result of the determination is that the analysis result values of all the test items belonging to the avoidance information of the previous test object of the dilution container (N) do not exceed the threshold value 42 (no in step S209), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance residual operation for the dilution container (N) is not necessary because the previous test object of the dilution container (N) is not a strong positive test object, and the control unit 27 controls the test object dispensing mechanism 14 to dispense the new test object into the dilution container (N) (step S210).

On the other hand, if it is determined that at least one of the analysis result values of the inspection items belonging to the avoidance information of the previous inspection object of the dilution container (N) exceeds the threshold value 42 as a result of the determination (yes in step S209), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance residual operation for the dilution container (N) is necessary and issues an avoidance command to the control unit 27, because the previous inspection object of the dilution container (N) is a strong positive inspection object. Then, the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 to suspend dispensing of a new specimen into the dilution container (N) (step S208). That is, in the present cycle, the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 does not aspirate a new specimen, and does not prepare a diluted specimen of the new specimen.

In step S208, when dispensing of a new specimen into the dilution container (N) is suspended, it is determined whether or not the operation for avoiding the residual is necessary for the dilution container (N +1) transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 in the next cycle, as in steps S205 to S210.

In step S208, the dilution container (N) to which the new specimen is temporarily suspended is kept empty and is sequentially cleaned by the dilution container cleaning mechanism 20 after a predetermined time has elapsed while the dilution turret 9 is continuously moved.

in step S209, when the analysis result value of the previous specimen of the dilution container (N) has not been calculated, the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 to dispense the new specimen into the dilution container (N) in order to avoid the determination unit 32 from being able to determine whether or not the previous specimen of the dilution container (N) is a strongly positive specimen. At this time, the control unit 27 also controls the display unit 30 to display an alarm for showing to the user that the analysis result value of the new specimen dispensed into the dilution vessel (N) may be affected by the residue from the previous specimen. The control unit 27 may give a flag to show the above to the user to the analysis result value of the new specimen.

With the above 2 nd embodiment, with respect to the diluent container 8 to which the test object whose test item set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 is the requested item or the test object determined to be strongly positive for the test item is dispensed, the test object whose analysis of the test item is requested is not dispensed, and the residual caused by the diluent container 8 can be avoided. Then, the diluent container 8 to which the avoidance command is issued is not used for analysis but the diluent container cleaning mechanism 20 cleans the remaining previous specimen, and then a new specimen is dispensed to the diluent container 8 temporarily, and the diluent container 8 is moved on the dilution turret 9 while holding an empty container and is cleaned again by the diluent container cleaning mechanism 20, whereby the diluent container 8 is cleaned twice in total, and therefore the previous specimen remaining in the diluent container 8 is sufficiently cleaned.

< embodiment 3 >

As a modification of the first and second embodiments 1 and 2, the avoidance judging unit 32 judges whether or not the operation of avoiding the retention of the dilution vessel 8 into which a new specimen is to be dispensed from the predetermined specimen dispensing nozzle is necessary based on the avoidance information, and as a result, when an avoidance command is issued to suspend the dispensing of a new specimen into the dilution vessel 8, a special cleaning liquid having a high cleaning capability is dispensed into the dilution vessel 8 and special cleaning is performed.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of the afterimage avoidance setting screen 33 according to embodiment 3 of the present invention, where fig. 7 (a) is a modification of the afterimage avoidance setting screen 33 according to embodiment 1, and fig. 7 (b) is a modification of the afterimage avoidance setting screen 33 according to embodiment 2.

The cleaning liquid number 44 shown in fig. 7 (a) and 7 (b) is configured such that a number associated with the type of cleaning liquid that can be supplied by the cleaning liquid supply unit 24 is input. The type of the cleaning liquid selected here is a type of a special cleaning liquid used for special cleaning of the dilution vessel 8 into which a new specimen is temporarily dispensed. In the present specification, as an example, an alkaline detergent is associated with cleaning liquid number 1, and an acidic detergent is associated with cleaning liquid number 2.

The following describes operations performed when the dilution container 8 into which a new specimen is temporarily dispensed is cleaned in particular.

After the avoidance judging unit 32 issues an avoidance command to the dilution container (N) transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 (step S105 in embodiment 1, step S208 in embodiment 2), first, the special cleaning liquid based on the avoidance information set on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply unit 24.

That is, the control unit 27 controls the cleaning liquid supply unit 24 (the cleaning liquid supply unit 24a in the case of the example shown by the condition number 1 in fig. 7 (a) and 7 (b), and the cleaning liquid supply unit 24b in the case of the example shown by the condition number 2 in fig. 7 (b)) so as to flush out the special cleaning liquid (the alkaline detergent in the case of the example shown by the condition number 1 in fig. 7 (a) and 7 (b), and the acidic detergent in the case of the example shown by the condition number 2 in fig. 7 (b)) associated with the set cleaning liquid number 44, based on the avoidance information.

Next, the specimen dispensing nozzle dispenses the special cleaning liquid based on the avoidance information from the cleaning liquid supply unit 24 to the dilution container (N) to which the avoidance command is issued. That is, the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 so that the specimen dispensing nozzle sucks the special cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid supply unit 24 that has gushed out the special cleaning liquid based on the avoidance information, and then discharges the sucked special cleaning liquid to the dilution container (N) that has been transferred to the discharge position by the rotation of the dilution turret 9 and that has issued the avoidance command.

then, as described in embodiment 1 and embodiment 2, it is determined whether or not the diluent container (N +1) next transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 needs to be operated to avoid the residue.

With embodiment 3 described above, not only the residual due to the dilution container 8 can be avoided, but also the pre-test object after dilution remaining in the dilution container 8 to which the avoidance command has been issued can be sufficiently cleaned.

In addition, when the test object dispensed in the dilution container 8, which is determined whether or not the operation for avoiding the residual is necessary, is applied to a plurality of conditions required for avoiding the residual set on the residual avoiding setting screen 33 and the types of the special cleaning liquids corresponding to the respective conditions are different, the dilution container 8 can be cleaned with all the selected special cleaning liquids.

For example, when all of the test material and request items of the test material dispensed in the dilution container 8, which is determined to be necessary to avoid the residual operation, belong to the condition number 1 in fig. 7 (a) and the condition numbers 1 and 2 in fig. 7 (b), the cleaning liquid number corresponding to each condition is 1 or 2, and the type of the corresponding special cleaning liquid differs.

Therefore, in such a case, according to the above-described operation, the alkaline detergent associated with the cleaning liquid number 1 is dispensed to the dilution container 8 to which the new specimen is temporarily dispensed. Then, the dilution vessel 8 to which the alkaline detergent is dispensed is continuously moved with the rotation of the dilution turret 9, and is sequentially cleaned by the dilution vessel cleaning mechanism 20 after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Then, when the dilution container 8 is next transferred to the discharge position of the specimen dispensing mechanism 14, the acidic detergent associated with the cleaning liquid number 2 is dispensed into the dilution container 8. Then, the dilution vessel 8 is washed by the dilution vessel washing mechanism 20 after a predetermined time has elapsed, as in the case where the alkaline detergent is dispensed. However, the order of the types of the special cleaning liquids dispensed into the dilution vessel 8 is not limited.

< embodiment 4 >

The automatic analyzer 1 according to embodiment 4 includes, as a modification of embodiment 3: a residual avoidance setting screen 33 on which a special cleaning liquid can be set as avoidance information on the residual avoidance setting screen 33; and a dilution container cleaning history storage unit 38 that stores information relating to the type of the cleaning liquid dispensed into the dilution container 8 in the past, wherein the avoidance judging unit 32 judges whether or not it is necessary to perform the avoidance operation of remaining in the dilution container 8 into which a new sample is dispensed from a predetermined sample dispensing nozzle, taking into account the cleaning history information relating to the dilution container 8 after the sample is dispensed before.

Fig. 8 is a part of a flowchart for explaining an operation in the case where the dilution vessel 8 is prevented from remaining by taking into account the washing history information of the dilution vessel 8 in embodiment 4 of the present invention, and fig. 8 shows the following operations: the operation in the case where it is determined whether or not the residual avoidance operation is necessary based on the type of the test body material of the test body dispensed before and after the dilution vessel 8 for dispensing the test body to the predetermined test body dispensing nozzle and the avoidance information (the same as in embodiment 1), and the operation in the case where it is determined whether or not the residual avoidance operation is necessary based on the type of the request item of the test body dispensed before and after and the avoidance information (the same as in embodiment 2) are the same.

In embodiment 4, the steps up to step S104 of embodiment 1 are common operations in the same case as embodiment 1, and the steps up to step S206 of embodiment 2 are common operations in the same case as embodiment 2, and the portions of the operations that overlap with the above-described embodiments are referred to, and the reference numerals of the operation steps in fig. 8 and the description in the present specification are omitted.

Hereinafter, operations for avoiding the residue caused by the dilution vessel 8 in consideration of the washing history information of the dilution vessel 8 will be described with reference to the steps shown in fig. 8.

In the same manner as in embodiment 1, after the combination of the specimen materials of the specimens dispensed before and after the dilution vessel (N) in which the specimen dispensing nozzle is scheduled to dispense the new specimen is determined to belong to the avoidance information (in the case of yes in step S103 in fig. 3), it is determined whether or not the special cleaning liquid set as the avoidance information is dispensed into the dilution vessel (N) after the specimen is dispensed (step S401). In the same manner as in embodiment 2, after determining that the test item belonging to the avoidance information included in the request item of the new test object is included in the request items of the previous test object of the dilution vessel (N) into which the test object dispensing nozzle is scheduled to dispense the new test object (in the case of yes in step S205 in fig. 8), it is determined whether or not the special cleaning liquid set as the avoidance information is dispensed into the dilution vessel (N) into which the previous test object is dispensed (step S401).

that is, the avoidance judging unit 32 reads the cleaning history information of the dilution container (N) from the dilution container cleaning history storage unit 38, and judges whether or not the history of the particular cleaning liquid set as the avoidance information on the avoidance residual setting screen 33 exists in the read history information, which is assigned to the dilution container (N) into which the pre-sample is dispensed.

As a result of the determination, when there is a history that a special cleaning liquid set as avoidance information is dispensed to the dilution container (N) after the test object before being dispensed (yes in step S401), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the dilution container (N) is sufficiently cleaned and that it is not necessary to perform the avoidance operation on the dilution container (N), and the control unit 27 controls the test object dispensing mechanism 14 to dispense a new test object to the dilution container (N) (step S402).

Steps S401 and S402 described above are common to the case of embodiment 1 and the case of embodiment 2.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when there is no history of dispensing the special cleaning liquid set as the avoidance information to the dilution container (N) after dispensing the pre-test body (no in step S401), the avoidance determining unit 32 determines that the avoidance remaining operation for the dilution container (N) is necessary and issues the avoidance command to the control unit 27 in the same manner as in embodiment 1. Then, the control unit 27 controls the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 to temporarily dispense a new specimen into the dilution vessel (N) (step S105 in fig. 3), that is, in this cycle, the specimen dispensing mechanism 14 does not aspirate the new specimen and does not prepare a diluted specimen of the new specimen.

similarly, in the same manner as in embodiment 2, it is next confirmed whether or not the "strong positive" or "every time" is selected as the avoidance condition 43 of the avoidance residual setting screen 33 for the test item belonging to the avoidance information common to the request item of the previous test subject and the request item of the new test subject of the dilution container (N) (step S207 in fig. 5), and the subsequent operations are performed in accordance with steps S207 to S210 in embodiment 2.

In the above-described embodiment 4, for example, in the dilution vessel 8 in which a new sample is dispensed from a sample dispensing nozzle, a maintenance operation including cleaning of the dilution vessel 8 is performed after a sample before being dispensed is analyzed, and when the dilution vessel 8 is sufficiently cleaned, even if the sample before being dispensed and the new sample belong to the avoidance information, dispensing of the new sample into the dilution vessel 8 is not unnecessarily suspended.