Sample processing module and sample processing method

Abstract

The invention discloses a sample processing module and a sample processing method.The sample processing module comprises a shell, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, and a sample bearing part comprises a first placement position and a second placement position; the sample container in the first placement position hinders the controller to determine whether the sample container exists in the second placement position or not through the image information; the image acquisition device executes first shooting operation, determines whether a sample container exists in the first placement position or not based on the first shooting operation, controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container out of the first placement position when the sample container exists in the first placement position, and controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container out of the first placement position when at least part of the sample container in the first placement position is moved out of the first placement position. And then controlling the image acquisition device to execute a second shooting operation, and determining whether the sample container exists in the second placement position based on the second shooting operation. Whether the sample container exists in the second placement position or not can be successfully determined through the image acquisition device, and normal transfer of the transfer mechanism is guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of medical equipment, and in particular to a sample processing module and a sample processing method. Background Art

[0002] In the sample processing module, the user places the tray and other sample-carrying components into the input-output module. The input-output module transfers the test tubes to the track through the manipulator, and then the track transports them to the subsequent workstations. The test tubes on the tray are usually not placed in a fixed order, and the manipulator needs to grab them in a fixed order, so it is inevitable that there will be empty grabs, which affects efficiency. Based on this, there is currently a sample processing module that sets a camera in the input-output module, uses the camera to identify the presence of test tubes on the tray, and then controls the manipulator to perform targeted grabbing to improve efficiency. However, sample containers at the edge of the field of view may not be recognized, affecting the grabbing of the manipulator. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention provides a sample processing module, which can determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position to ensure the normal transfer of the transfer mechanism.

[0004] The invention also provides a sample processing method.

[0005] According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the sample processing module comprises a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein:

[0006] The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container in the first placement position prevents the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position through the image information;

[0007] The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container;

[0008] The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer;

[0009] The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform a first shooting operation to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position; when there is a sample container in the first placement position and the image information obtained by the first shooting operation cannot determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position, control the transfer mechanism to move at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position out of the first placement position, and then control the image acquisition device to perform a second shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

[0010] The sample processing module according to the embodiment of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0011] The present invention determines whether there is a sample container at the first placement position through a first shooting operation, and when the sample container exists at the first placement position, at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position are moved out, and then a second shooting operation is performed, so that the obstruction of the sample container in the first placement position to the second placement position can be eliminated, so that the controller can successfully determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position through an image acquisition device, thereby ensuring the normal transfer of the transfer mechanism.

[0012] In other embodiments of the present invention, the controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform the second shooting operation after all the sample containers in the first placement positions are moved out.

[0013] In other embodiments of the present invention, the drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be processed. When the sample container containing the samples to be processed exists in the second placement position, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the samples to be processed out of the second placement position based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

[0014] In other embodiments of the present invention, the processing module also includes a track device, which is used to transport the sample container containing the sample to be processed transferred by the drawer, wherein, when the sample container containing the sample to be processed exists in the first placement position, the controller is configured to control the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be processed in the first placement position to the track device based on the image information obtained by the first shooting operation, and / or, when the sample container containing the sample to be processed exists in the second placement position, the controller is configured to control the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be processed in the second placement position to the track device based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

[0015] In other embodiments of the present invention, the drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be recovered, and when the second placement position is vacant, the controller is configured to control the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be recovered to the vacant second placement position based on the image information acquired by the second shooting operation.

[0016] In other embodiments of the present invention, the controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform the first shooting operation to acquire image information of all placement positions of the drawer.

[0017] In other embodiments of the present invention, the controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform the first shooting operation during the process of the drawer moving from the open position to the closed position and / or after moving from the open position to the closed position.

[0018] In other embodiments of the present invention, the first placement position is a preset placement position;

[0019] Alternatively, the first placement position is a placement position selected by the controller based on image information acquired by the first shooting operation.

[0020] In other embodiments of the present invention, the first shooting operation includes multiple shooting operations performed by the image acquisition device in the process of moving along the length direction of the drawer, and the image acquisition device acquires image information of multiple placement positions arranged in a matrix during each shooting operation, wherein the second placement position is located on a side of the first placement position away from the center of the matrix;

[0021] Alternatively, the first photographing operation includes multiple photographing operations performed when the image acquisition device moves along the length direction of the drawer, and the controlling the image acquisition device to perform the second photographing operation includes: controlling the image acquisition device to move along the length direction of the drawer to a stroke end or to a position close to the stroke end to perform the second photographing operation;

[0022] Alternatively, the image acquisition device is capable of moving along the length direction of the drawer, and the controlling the image acquisition device to perform a first shooting operation includes: controlling the image acquisition device to move along the length direction of the drawer to the end point of the stroke or to a position close to the end point of the stroke to perform the first shooting operation; the controlling the image acquisition device to perform a second shooting operation includes: controlling the image acquisition device to move along the length direction of the drawer to the end point of the stroke or to a position close to the end point of the stroke to perform the second shooting operation.

[0023] In other embodiments of the present invention, when the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation is performed, the controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to acquire first image information and second image information, and form the image information acquired by the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation based on the first image information and the second image information, wherein the exposure of the first image information is higher than that of the second image information.

[0024] In other embodiments of the present invention, the controller is configured to respectively identify valid information in the first image information and the second image information, and fuse the valid information in the first image information and the second image information to form the image information acquired by the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation.

[0025] The sample processing module according to the second embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein:

[0026] The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container at the first placement position may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container at the second placement position through the image information;

[0027] The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container;

[0028] The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer;

[0029] The controller is configured to, when there is a sample container at the first placement position, control the transfer mechanism to move at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position out of the first placement position, then control the image acquisition device to perform a shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position based on image information acquired by the shooting operation.

[0030] In other embodiments of the present invention, the drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be processed. When the sample container containing the samples to be processed exists in the second placement position, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the samples to be processed out of the second placement position based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation.

[0031] In other embodiments of the present invention, the drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be recovered. When the second placement position is vacant, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be recovered to the vacant second placement position based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation.

[0032] The sample processing module according to the third embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device, a track device and a controller, wherein:

[0033] The drawer can be moved between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples to be processed, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container at the first placement position may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container at the second placement position through the image information;

[0034] The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container;

[0035] The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer;

[0036] The track device is used to transport the sample container transferred by the drawer;

[0037] The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform a shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container at the first placement position based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation. When there is a sample container at the first placement position, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to perform a sample container grabbing operation at each of the second placement positions, and if a sample container is grabbed, the grabbed sample container is transferred to the track device.

[0038] The sample processing method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a sample processing module, wherein the sample processing module includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein:

[0039] The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container in the first placement position prevents the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position through the image information;

[0040] The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container;

[0041] The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer;

[0042] The sample processing method comprises the following steps:

[0043] Performing a first photographing operation by the image acquisition device to determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position;

[0044] When there is a sample container at the first placement position and the image information obtained by the first shooting operation cannot determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position, at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position are moved out of the first placement position by the transfer mechanism;

[0045] After at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position are moved out of the first placement position, a second shooting operation is performed by the image acquisition device, and it is determined whether there is a sample container in the second placement position based on image information acquired by the second shooting operation.

[0046] The sample processing method according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a sample processing module, wherein the sample processing module includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein:

[0047] The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container in the first placement position prevents the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position through the image information;

[0048] The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container;

[0049] The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer;

[0050] The sample processing method comprises the following steps:

[0051] When there are sample containers at the first placement position, at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position are moved out of the first placement position by the transfer mechanism;

[0052] After at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position are moved out from the first placement position, a photographing operation is performed by the image acquisition device, and it is determined whether there is a sample container in the second placement position based on image information acquired by the photographing operation.

[0053] The sample processing method according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a sample processing module, wherein the sample processing module includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device, a track device and a controller, wherein:

[0054] The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples to be processed, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container in the first placement position prevents the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position through the image information;

[0055] The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container;

[0056] The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer;

[0057] The track device is used to transport the sample containers to be processed transferred from the drawer;

[0058] The sample processing method comprises the following steps:

[0059] Performing a photographing operation by the image acquisition device, and determining whether there is a sample container at the first placement position based on image information acquired by the photographing operation;

[0060] When there is a sample container at the first placement position, the transfer mechanism performs a sample container grabbing operation at each of the second placement positions, and if a sample container is grabbed, the grabbed sample container is transferred to the track device.

[0061] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description and in part will be obvious from the following description, or will be learned through practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, wherein:

[0063] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a sample processing module in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0064] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a sample container at a first placement position causing obstruction to a sample container at a second placement position according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0065] Figure 3 A top view showing a distribution position of a first placement position and a second placement position on a sample supporting component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0066] Figure 4 A top view showing another distribution position of the first placement position and the second placement position on the sample supporting component according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0067] Reference numerals:

[0068] Housing 100;

[0069] Drawer 200;

[0070] Transfer mechanism 300;

[0071] Image acquisition device 400;

[0072] Sample carrying component 500, first placement position 510, second placement position 520, and third placement position 530. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention, and cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0074] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that descriptions involving orientations, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., and orientations or positional relationships indicated are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0075] In the description of the present invention, "several" means more than one, "many" means more than two, "greater than", "less than", "exceed", etc. are understood to exclude the number itself, and "above", "below", "within", etc. are understood to include the number itself. If there is a description of "first" or "second", it is only used for the purpose of distinguishing the technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0076] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, terms such as setting, installing, connecting, etc. should be understood in a broad sense, and technicians in the relevant technical field can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific content of the technical solution.

[0077] In the description of the present invention, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "illustrative embodiments", "examples", "specific examples", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0078] The sample processing module is used for processing samples before analysis, and includes a sample management module. The sample management module is used to receive sample containers containing samples to be processed transferred by an operator (for ease of explanation, it is named as containers to be processed), and the containers to be processed can be further transferred to the sample analysis module for analysis after corresponding processing operations. In addition, the sample management module can also be used to receive sample containers containing samples to be recovered (for ease of explanation, it is named as containers to be recovered) transferred by a track device, and the operator can take the containers to be recovered from the sample management module. In some embodiments, the sample processing module also includes other functional modules such as a decapping module and a centrifugal module. After the containers to be processed are sent out from the sample management module, they can perform processing operations such as centrifugation operations in the centrifugal module and decapping operations in the decapping module, and then be transferred to the sample analysis module for analysis.

[0079] A typical sample management module includes a housing, a drawer and a transfer mechanism, both of which are connected to the housing 100. The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the housing. When in the closed position, the drawer is located inside the housing. When in the open position, the drawer extends from the housing and is in a position that is convenient for operators to take and place sample containers. The drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers. The transfer mechanism is used to transfer sample containers. The actual use scenario of the sample management module is as follows: when the operator needs to put in a container to be processed, the drawer extends from the housing, the operator places the container to be processed in the placement position of the sample carrying component, and then the drawer is reset to the closed position, and the transfer mechanism transfers the container to be processed to the track device, and the track device further transports it to other modules for subsequent processing. After the container to be processed is analyzed by the sample analysis module, it is transported back to the sample management module by the track device, and the transfer mechanism transfers the container to be recovered on the track device to the sample carrying component in the drawer. When the operator needs to take away the container to be recovered, the drawer extends from the housing, and the operator takes away the container to be recovered from the placement position. In actual operation, it is difficult for operators to place the containers to be processed in a fixed order, resulting in irregular distribution of sample containers on the sample carrying component. Some sample management modules use a transfer mechanism to perform transfer actions on all placement positions in a fixed order, but this method has the problem of empty grasping, which affects efficiency. In order to facilitate the transfer mechanism to accurately grasp the containers to be processed, some sample management modules also include an image acquisition device, which can obtain image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer. The controller identifies whether there are sample containers in each placement position on the sample carrying component through the image information, and then controls the transfer mechanism to perform the corresponding transfer action.

[0080] However, the inventor discovered during use that when the image acquisition device shoots from above the sample carrier, the sample container at the edge of the field of view may not be recognized, affecting the transfer mechanism to perform the transfer action. Based on this, the present invention proposes a sample processing module that can improve the problem of sample containers at the edge of the field of view not being able to be recognized, which is described below in conjunction with specific embodiments and drawings.

[0081] Reference Figure 1 , shows a sample processing module in the first embodiment of the present invention, the sample processing module includes a housing 100, a drawer 200, a transfer mechanism 300, an image acquisition device 400 and a controller. The housing 100, the drawer 200 and the transfer mechanism 300 in this embodiment can be understood as described above.

[0082] The sample processing module may include a plurality of drawers 200. In some embodiments, some of the drawers 200 are used to receive containers to be processed, and other drawers 200 are used to receive containers to be recycled.

[0083] The drawer 200 can hold multiple sample carriers 500 along the length direction. The sample carrier 500 has multiple placement positions, Figure 2 Among the multiple placement positions of the sample carrier 500, a first placement position 510 and a second placement position 520 can be further distinguished. When the sample carrier 500 is placed in the drawer 200, the sample container in the first placement position 510 may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 through image information, wherein hindering the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 through image information includes: the sample container in the first placement position 510 directly blocks the second placement position 520, resulting in the image acquisition device 400 being unable to obtain image information of the second placement position 520, or, although the image acquisition device 400 can obtain image information of the second placement position 520, the sample container in the first placement position 510 blocks the light, resulting in a lower image brightness in the second placement position 520, and the controller cannot make a judgment through the image information. The reasons for the obstruction include but are not limited to the sample container in the first placement position 510 being higher than the sample container in the second placement position 520.

[0084] It should be noted that, affected by factors such as the field of view of the image acquisition device 400, the shooting height, the height of the sample container in the placement position, the brightness during shooting, etc., the number and position of the first placement position 510 and the second placement position 520 in different scenes may vary, so this embodiment does not limit the number and position of the first placement position 510 and the second placement position 520. In addition, there are some placement positions among the multiple placement positions of the sample carrier 500, which will neither hinder the controller from determining whether there are sample containers in other placement positions nor be hindered by other placement positions. For the convenience of description, this type of placement position is named the third placement position 530.

[0085] The controller of this embodiment is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform two shooting operations, and combine with the moving-out operation of the transfer mechanism to eliminate the obstruction of the sample container in the first placement position 510 to the second placement position 520. Specifically, the image acquisition device 400 first performs a first shooting operation. The purpose of performing the first shooting operation is to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520. Under normal circumstances, when there is no sample container in the first placement position 510, or the sample container in the first placement position 510 will not cause obstruction to the sample container in the second placement position 510, the controller can determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 based on the image information obtained by the first shooting operation. When the aforementioned situation occurs, that is, there is a sample container in the first placement position 510 and the sample container may make it impossible to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 based on the image information obtained by the first shooting operation, the controller controls the transfer mechanism 300 to move the sample container out of the first placement position 510, and after at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 are moved out of the first placement position 510, the controller controls the image acquisition device 400 to perform the second shooting operation, and determines whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation. Since at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 have been moved out of the first placement position 510 before the second shooting operation is performed, the obstruction of the sample container in the first placement position 510 can be eliminated, and the controller can successfully identify whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520.

[0086] It should be noted that the aforementioned “at least some of the first placement positions 510” should not be understood as limiting the number of the first placement positions 510, and the first placement position 510 can be at least one. When the sample supporting component has multiple first placement positions 510, the sample containers in the multiple first placement positions 510 will jointly hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520, and as the sample containers in the first placement positions 510 are removed, the shooting environment of the second placement position 520 will gradually improve, for example, the brightness will gradually increase, so in some scenes, only some of the sample containers in the first placement positions 510 need to be removed to eliminate the obstruction.

[0087] It should also be noted that the "moving out" or "moving out operation" referred to in the present invention refers to moving the sample container out of the current placement position, so that the current placement position changes from a state where the sample container exists to a state where the sample container does not exist. After being moved out, the sample container can be further transferred to a track device or other placement position, which will be specifically described in subsequent embodiments. The "moving in" referred to in the present invention refers to placing the sample container in an empty placement position, so that the placement position changes from a state where the sample container does not exist to a state where the sample container exists.

[0088] Based on the first embodiment, Figure 2 , Figure 3 The distribution of a first placement position 510 and a second placement position 520 in a typical sample supporting component is described. The sample supporting component 500 includes a plurality of placement positions, and the plurality of placement positions are divided into a plurality of rows along the length direction of the sample supporting component 500. In the illustrated embodiment, the sample supporting component 500 includes 50 placement positions, and the plurality of placement positions are divided into 10 rows along the length direction of the sample supporting component 500, with a total of 5 placement positions in each row, that is, the plurality of placement positions are distributed in a 5X10 matrix.

[0089] In this embodiment, the first shooting operation includes multiple shooting operations performed by the image acquisition device 400 in the process of moving along the length direction of the drawer 200. The image acquisition device 400 acquires image information of multiple placement positions arranged in a matrix during each shooting operation. Specifically, the image acquisition device 400 is located above the center of the matrix during each shooting. The second placement position 520 is located on the side of the first placement position 510 away from the center of the matrix. It can be understood that the placement position farther from the center of the matrix is ​​more likely to be blocked by other placement positions.

[0090] by Figure 3 As shown in the example, the image acquisition device 400 acquires image information of 5 rows of placement positions during each shooting operation, that is, acquires image information of 25 placement positions arranged in a 5X5 matrix. In other words, for each sample supporting component 500, the image acquisition device 400 needs to perform two shooting operations. Based on this, the second placement position 520 is the placement position of the outermost circle of the 5X5 matrix, and the first placement position 510 is the placement position of the second outer circle of the 5X5 matrix. It should be noted that when the height of the sample container in the first placement position 510 is relatively high, the second placement position 520 can also be the placement position of the outermost circle and the second outer circle of the 5X5 matrix.

[0091] In this embodiment, the first photographing operation includes multiple photographing operations performed during the movement along the length direction of the drawer 200 , which can reduce the requirements on the field of view of the image acquisition device 400 .

[0092] Based on the first embodiment, Figure 2 , Figure 4 The distribution of the first placement position 510 and the second placement position 520 in another typical sample supporting component is described. The sample supporting component 500 includes a plurality of placement positions, and the plurality of placement positions are divided into a plurality of rows along the length direction of the sample supporting component 500. In the illustrated embodiment, the sample supporting component 500 includes 50 placement positions, and the plurality of placement positions are divided into 10 rows along the length direction of the sample supporting component 500, with a total of 5 placement positions in each row, that is, the plurality of placement positions are distributed in a 5X10 matrix.

[0093] In this embodiment, the first shooting operation includes multiple shooting operations performed during the movement of the image acquisition device 400 along the length direction of the drawer 200. For ease of explanation, the end of the sample supporting component 500 facing the starting point of the stroke of the image acquisition device 400 is the front end, and the end facing the starting point of the stroke of the image acquisition device 400 is the rear end. The image acquisition device 400 acquires image information of multiple placement positions arranged in a matrix or a single row of placement positions during each shooting operation. The aforementioned "controlling the image acquisition device to perform the second shooting operation" specifically refers to: controlling the image acquisition device 400 to perform the second shooting operation when the image acquisition device 400 moves to the end of the stroke or to a position close to the end of the stroke along the length direction. For the "position close to the end of the stroke" here, this embodiment does not limit the specific distance between this position and the end of the stroke. Overall, this position is closer to the end of the stroke relative to the starting point of the stroke, and the image acquisition device 400 can obtain a clear image of the second placement position 520 at this position.

[0094] This embodiment is applicable to the case where the internal space of the housing 100 is limited, resulting in a limited travel of the image acquisition device 400. When the image acquisition device 400 moves to the end of the travel, it cannot capture the image information of the last placement position of the sample support component 500 at the best shooting position, resulting in an obstruction of the adjacent placement position. Figure 2 As shown, the image acquisition device 400 is connected to the side of the transfer mechanism 300 toward the starting point of the stroke. Figure 4 When the lower end of the sample carrier 500 moves toward the upper end to the end of the stroke, the transfer mechanism 300 cannot continue to move due to the obstruction of the shell and other structures, and the image acquisition device 400 cannot capture the image information of the top row of placement positions of the sample carrier 500 at the best shooting position, resulting in the sample containers in the next row of placement positions being blocked. At this time, the top row of placement positions of the sample carrier 500 is the second placement position 520, the row of placement positions adjacent to the second placement position 520 is the first placement position 510, and the other placement positions are the third placement positions 530. That is, the second placement position 520 of this embodiment is located on the side of the first placement position 510 close to the end of the stroke. It can be understood that, according to the stroke of the image acquisition device 400, the top two rows of placement positions of the sample carrier 500 may also be the second placement position 520, and the row of placement positions adjacent to the second placement position 520 may be the first placement position 510.

[0095] In other embodiments, the image acquisition device 400 can also move along the length direction of the drawer 200. The difference between this embodiment and the aforementioned embodiment is that the image acquisition device 400 in the aforementioned embodiment performs a first shooting operation during the movement along the length direction, so that it can traverse and shoot all sample-carrying components 500 on the drawer 200. The image acquisition device 400 in this embodiment performs a first shooting operation when it moves to the end of the stroke or to a position close to the end of the stroke along the length direction. The first shooting operation is mainly used to identify whether there is a sample container in the first placement position 510. For the "position close to the end of the stroke" here, this embodiment does not limit the specific distance between the position and the end of the stroke. Overall, the position is closer to the end of the stroke relative to the starting point of the stroke, and the image acquisition device 400 can obtain a clear image of the first placement position 510 at this position. In this embodiment, the image acquisition device 400 also performs a second shooting operation when it moves to the end of the stroke or to a position close to the end of the stroke along the length direction of the drawer 200. For the "position close to the end of the stroke" here, this embodiment does not limit the specific distance between this position and the end of the stroke. Overall, this position is closer to the end of the stroke relative to the starting point of the stroke, and the image acquisition device 400 can obtain a clear image of the second placement position 520 at this position.

[0096] In addition, in some specific embodiments, reference Figure 3 , the multiple placement positions of the sample supporting component are arranged in a matrix, and the image acquisition device 400 can obtain image information of the multiple placement positions arranged in a matrix during each shooting operation, and the total number of placement positions of the sample supporting component 500 is N times the total number of placement positions photographed by the image acquisition device 400 during each shooting operation, wherein N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and the image acquisition device 400 is located above the center of the matrix during each shooting. In this way, the image acquisition device 400 only needs to move within the length of the drawer 200 when performing the first shooting operation on the drawer 200, which is suitable for scenarios where the internal space of the shell 100 is limited.

[0097] Based on the first embodiment, in some embodiments, the first placement position 510 and the second placement position 520 are arranged adjacent to each other, for example Figure 3 The placement positions in the outermost circle of the matrix and the adjacent settings in the second outer circle.

[0098] On the basis of the first embodiment, in some embodiments, the image acquisition device 400 and the transfer mechanism 300 can move synchronously, so that the number of driving mechanisms can be reduced. Figure 2 , the image acquisition device 400 is connected to one side of the transfer mechanism 300 .

[0099] Based on the first embodiment, the controller in some embodiments is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform a second shooting operation after all sample containers in the first placement positions 510 are moved out, thereby completely eliminating the obstruction of the sample containers in the first placement positions 510 to the second placement positions 520.

[0100] Based on the first embodiment, the drawer 200 in some embodiments is used to store containers to be processed. When the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 through image information obtained by the second shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed out of the second placement position 520 based on the image information.

[0101] In some specific embodiments, the processing module further includes a track device, which is used to transport the containers to be processed transferred from the drawer 200, for example, to transfer the containers to be processed to the centrifugal module. When the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the first placement position 510 through the image information obtained by the first shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed in the first placement position 510 to the track device based on the image information of the first shooting operation. In other words, in this embodiment, moving the container to be processed in the first placement position 510 out means moving it out to the track device. It should be noted that when the sample carrying component stores the containers to be processed, all the containers to be processed therein will be transferred to the track device by the transfer mechanism 300. In this embodiment, by adjusting the transfer order, the containers to be processed in the first placement position 510 are preferentially moved out to the track device, which can eliminate the obstruction of the containers to be processed in the first placement position 510 to the second placement position 520 without adding additional transfer steps.

[0102] In other specific embodiments, the processing module further includes a track device, and the track device is used to transport the container to be processed transferred from the drawer 200, for example, to transfer the container to be processed to the centrifuge module. When the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 through the image information obtained by the second shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed in the second placement position 520 out to the track device based on the image information. In other words, the removal operation of the container to be processed in the second placement position 520 in this embodiment refers to moving it out to the track device.

[0103] It should be noted that the aforementioned embodiments can be combined. For example, when the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the first placement position 510 through image information obtained by the first shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed in the first placement position 510 to the track device based on the image information of the first shooting operation. When the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 through image information obtained by the second shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed in the second placement position 520 to the track device based on the image information, thereby realizing the transfer of all containers to be processed to the track device.

[0104] On the basis of the first embodiment, the drawer 200 in some embodiments is used to store containers to be recycled. When the operator takes away the containers to be recycled, there is a situation where not all of them are taken away, resulting in sample containers still existing in some placement positions after resetting. After resetting, there are still containers to be recycled in the first placement position 510, which hinder the controller from determining whether there are containers to be recycled in the second placement position 520, thereby affecting the transfer mechanism 300 to transfer the containers to be recycled to the sample carrying component 500. Based on this, after the controller of this embodiment moves the containers to be recycled in the first placement position 510 out through the transfer mechanism 300, it determines whether there are containers to be recycled in the second placement position 520 through the image information obtained by the second shooting operation. When at least one second placement position 520 is vacant, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the containers to be recycled into the vacant second placement position 520 based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

[0105] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, moving the recycling container in the first placement position 510 out means moving it out to other placement positions in the same drawer 200, such as the aforementioned third placement position, or moving it out to other drawers 200 for placing recycling containers.

[0106] On the basis of the first embodiment, the controller in some embodiments is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform a first shooting operation to obtain image information of all placement positions of the drawer 200. In this way, the first shooting operation can successfully determine whether there are sample containers in most of the placement positions. For the few that cannot be determined, the transfer mechanism 300 performs a removal operation and then performs a second shooting operation for targeted identification, which is beneficial to improving efficiency.

[0107] Specifically, as mentioned above, the first shooting operation includes multiple shooting operations performed by the image acquisition device 400 in the process of moving along the length direction of the drawer 200. When the controller controls the image acquisition device 400 to perform a certain shooting operation or some shooting operations and fails to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 in the corresponding area according to the corresponding image information, the image acquisition device 400 can directly move to the shooting position corresponding to the undetermined area to shoot when performing the second shooting operation, thereby reducing the time of the second shooting operation. Figure 1 , Figure 3 Taking the example shown, the drawer 200 can hold three sample carriers, each of which has 50 placement positions distributed in a 5X10 matrix. The image acquisition device 400 can photograph 25 placement positions distributed in a 5X5 matrix in a single shooting operation. When the image acquisition device 400 performs the first shooting operation, it can move five times along the length direction of the drawer 200 to photograph all the placement positions in the drawer 200. If it is not possible to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 in the corresponding area when performing the first shooting operation, the image acquisition device 400 can directly move to the shooting position corresponding to the undetermined area for shooting when performing the second shooting operation.

[0108] On the basis of the first embodiment, the controller in some embodiments is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform a first shooting operation during the process of the drawer 200 moving from the open position to the closed position. In other specific embodiments, the controller is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform the first shooting operation after the drawer 200 moves from the open position to the closed position. As mentioned above, after the drawer moves to the open position, the operator may put in the container to be processed or take away the container to be recycled, so that the information whether there is a sample container in the placement position changes, and during or after the drawer moves from the open position to the closed position, the number and position of the sample containers in the drawer 200 will be fixed, and performing the first shooting operation at this time can obtain accurate information on the presence or absence of the sample containers. In addition, the image acquisition device 400 performs shooting based on the movement of the drawer 200, which can realize automatic control and avoid omissions.

[0109] On the basis of the first embodiment, the first placement position 510 in some embodiments is a preset placement position. For example, it is possible to record which placement positions of the sample carrier components in common inspection scenarios in the department are likely to cause obstructions to other placement positions, and then define these placement positions that are likely to cause obstructions as the first placement position 510 and preset them in the controller. When transfer is required, the control transfer mechanism 300 is used to move out the preset first placement position 510. It can be understood that the second placement position 520 can also be preset in the same way. This embodiment can reduce the computing workload of the controller.

[0110] On the basis of the first embodiment, the first placement position 510 in other embodiments is a placement position selected by the controller based on the image information obtained by the first shooting operation. The difference from the above-mentioned embodiment is that the first placement position 510 in the above-mentioned embodiment is fixed, while the first placement position 510 in this embodiment is generated in real time based on the image information obtained by each first shooting operation. Specifically, the controller identifies the placement position where it is not possible to determine whether there is a sample container based on the image information of the first shooting operation, defines it as the second placement position 520, and then infers the placement position that causes obstacles to it, and defines it as the first placement position 510. When transfer is required, the transfer mechanism 300 is controlled to move out the defined first placement position 510. This embodiment can identify the first placement position 510 more accurately.

[0111] The image acquisition device 400 needs to be illuminated by a light source when shooting. The light source is usually a ring light source, and its central axis is coaxial with the central axis of the camera. Similar to the camera, when the light source is illuminating, the higher the brightness is near the center of the light source, and the lower the brightness is far from the center of the light source. The camera needs to be at a suitable brightness to capture an effective image. Therefore, when the ambient brightness is high, the camera will reduce the exposure, and when the ambient brightness is low, the camera will increase the exposure. Due to the uneven illumination of the light source, if the camera lowers the exposure to ensure the imaging effect near the center of the light source, the position far from the center of the light source will be too dark and cannot be effectively imaged. If the camera increases the exposure to ensure the imaging effect far from the center of the light source, the position near the center of the light source will be too bright and cannot be effectively imaged. Based on this, the image acquisition device 400 in some embodiments will respectively obtain the first image information and the second image information when performing the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation, and form the image information obtained by the first shooting operation or the image information obtained by the second shooting operation based on the first image information and the second image information, wherein the exposure of the first image information is higher than the second image information, thereby ensuring the overall imaging effect.

[0112] In some specific embodiments, the controller is configured to respectively identify valid information in the first image information and the second image information, and fuse the valid information in the first image information and the second image information to form image information acquired by the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation. For example, the first image information is an image taken by the camera under high exposure, and the image near the center of the light source is too bright, while the image far from the center of the light source is relatively clear. The second image information is an image taken by the camera under low exposure, and the image near the center of the light source is relatively clear, while the image far from the center of the light source is too dark. Therefore, the image near the center of the light source in the first image information and the image far from the center of the light source in the second image information can be used as valid information, and the two can be fused to form image information that can be clearly identified.

[0113] The second embodiment of the present invention further proposes a sample processing module, including a shell 100, a drawer 200, a transfer mechanism 300, an image acquisition device 400 and a controller. The shell 100, the drawer 200 and the transfer mechanism 300 of this embodiment can be understood with reference to the first embodiment.

[0114] The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment includes: in the first embodiment, the image acquisition device 400 needs to perform two shots, and the transfer mechanism 300 controls the transfer mechanism 300 to transfer the sample container of the second placement position 520 based on the information obtained by the second shooting, while the first shooting operation can be omitted in this embodiment. Specifically, the first placement position 510 in this embodiment is a preset placement position. When there is a sample container in the first placement position 510, the controller controls the transfer mechanism 300 to move at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 out of the first placement position 510, and then controls the image acquisition device 400 to perform the shooting operation, and determines whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation. Compared with the first embodiment, this embodiment omits the step of determining whether there is a sample container in the first placement position 510 through the image acquisition device 400. When the vacancy ratio of the first placement position 510 is low, its efficiency will be further improved compared with the first embodiment, and the calculation workload of the controller can be reduced, simplifying the control.

[0115] In some specific embodiments, the controller can obtain whether there is a sample container in the first placement position 510 and the position of the sample container by other means besides visual shooting. For example, when the transfer mechanism 300 moves the sample container into the first placement position 510, the controller switches the state of the first placement position 510 from an idle state to a placement state. In this way, by calling the status information in the system, it can be known whether there is a sample container in the first placement position 510 and the position of the sample container.

[0116] Based on the second embodiment, the controller in some embodiments is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform a shooting operation to obtain image information of all placement positions of the drawer 200. For example, the image information of all placement positions of the drawer 200 can be obtained by referring to the aforementioned method of multiple shooting operations.

[0117] On the basis of the second embodiment, the drawer 200 in some embodiments is used to store containers to be processed. When the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 through image information obtained by the shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed out of the second placement position 520 based on the image information.

[0118] In some specific embodiments, the processing module further includes a track device, which is used to transport the container to be processed transferred from the drawer 200, for example, to transfer the container to be processed to the centrifuge module. When the controller determines that there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 through the image information obtained by the shooting operation, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the container to be processed in the second placement position 520 to the track device based on the image information. In other words, the removal operation of the container to be processed in the second placement position 520 in this embodiment refers to moving it out to the track device.

[0119] On the basis of the second embodiment, the drawer 200 in some embodiments is used to store containers to be recycled. After the controller moves the containers to be recycled in the first placement position 510 out through the transfer mechanism 300, it determines whether there are containers to be recycled in the second placement position 520 through the image information obtained by the shooting operation. When at least one second placement position 520 is vacant, the controller can further control the transfer mechanism 300 to move the containers to be recycled into the vacant second placement position 520 based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation. It should be noted that in this embodiment, moving the containers to be recycled in the first placement position 510 out means moving them out to other placement positions of the same drawer 200, such as the aforementioned third placement position 530, or moving them out to other drawers 200 for placing containers to be recycled.

[0120] The third embodiment of the present invention proposes a sample processing module, including a housing 100, a drawer 200, a transfer mechanism 300, an image acquisition device 400, a track device and a controller. The housing 100, the drawer 200, the transfer mechanism 300 and the track device of this embodiment can be understood with reference to the first embodiment. Specifically, the controller in this embodiment is configured to control the image acquisition device 400 to perform a shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container in the first placement position 510 based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation. When there is a sample container in the first placement position 510, the transfer mechanism 300 is controlled to perform a sample container grabbing operation in each second placement position 520. If a sample container is grabbed, the grabbed sample container is transferred to the track device.

[0121] The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment includes: in the first embodiment, the image acquisition device 400 needs to perform two shots, and the transfer mechanism 300 controls the transfer mechanism 300 to transfer the sample container of the second placement position 520 based on the information obtained by the second shooting, while the second shooting operation can be omitted in this embodiment. The difference between this embodiment and the second embodiment includes: in the second embodiment, the sample container in the first placement position 510 is directly removed; in this embodiment, when there is a sample container in the first placement position 510, regardless of whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520, the grabbing operation is directly performed on all the second placement positions 520, so there is no need to consider the obstruction of the sample container in the first placement position 510 to the second placement position 520.

[0122] Compared with the first embodiment, this embodiment omits the step of determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 through the image acquisition device 400. When the vacancy rate of the second placement position 520 is low, its efficiency is further improved compared with the first embodiment, and the computing workload of the controller can be reduced, simplifying the control.

[0123] It should be noted that the "sample container grabbing operation" in this embodiment refers to the operation performed by the transfer mechanism 300, and has nothing to do with whether there is actually a sample container in the second placement position 520. That is, in this embodiment, there is no need to pre-obtain whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520, but the "blind grabbing" method is used for transfer, so there is a situation where the sample container is grabbed empty. However, the number of second placement positions 520 is usually small, and the second placement position 520 of this embodiment is used to place the containers to be processed. The containers to be processed themselves need to be transferred. Therefore, the time increased by grabbing empty is also reduced. Combined with the time reduced by omitting a shooting operation, it can still ensure the overall transfer efficiency.

[0124] Based on the third embodiment, the second placement position 520 may be a preset placement position, or a placement position selected based on a shooting operation.

[0125] The fourth embodiment of the present invention provides a sample processing method, which uses the sample processing module of the first embodiment, and includes the following steps:

[0126] A first shooting operation is performed by the image acquisition device 400 to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520. In other words, if no abnormal state as involved in the first embodiment occurs, the image obtained by the first shooting operation can be used to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 in a conventional manner.

[0127] When there is a sample container in the first placement position 510 and an abnormal state such as that in the first embodiment occurs, causing the sample container in the first placement position 510 to make the image information obtained by the first shooting operation unable to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520, the transfer mechanism 300 moves at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 out of the first placement position 510, wherein when the sample container in the first placement position 510 is a container to be processed, it can be moved out to the track device, and when the sample container in the first placement position 510 is a container to be recycled, it can be moved out to other placement positions in the same drawer 200, or moved out to other drawers 200 for placing containers to be recycled.

[0128] After at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 are moved out of the first placement position 510 , the image acquisition device 400 performs a second photographing operation, and determines whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 based on the image information acquired by the second photographing operation.

[0129] Based on the fourth embodiment, when the second placement position 520 is used to place the container to be processed and there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 , the sample processing method of some embodiments further includes the step of moving the container to be processed out of the second placement position 520 .

[0130] The fifth embodiment of the present invention provides a sample processing method, which uses the sample processing module of the second embodiment, and includes the following steps:

[0131] When there are sample containers in the first placement position 510, at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 are moved out from the first placement position 510 through the transfer mechanism 300. When the sample containers in the first placement position 510 are containers to be processed, they can be moved out to the track device. When the sample containers in the first placement position 510 are containers to be recycled, they can be moved out to other placement positions in the same drawer 200, or moved out to other drawers 200 for placing containers to be recycled.

[0132] After at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position 510 are moved out of the first placement position 510 , a photographing operation is performed by the image acquisition device 400 , and it is determined whether there is a sample container in the second placement position 520 based on image information acquired by the photographing operation.

[0133] Based on the fifth embodiment, when the second placement position 520 is used to place the container to be processed and there is a container to be processed in the second placement position 520 , the sample processing method of some embodiments further includes the step of moving the container to be processed out of the second placement position 520 .

[0134] The sixth embodiment of the present invention provides a sample processing method, which uses the sample processing module of the third embodiment, and includes the following steps:

[0135] A photographing operation is performed by the image acquisition device 400 , and it is determined whether there is a sample container at the first placement position 510 based on image information acquired by the photographing operation.

[0136] When there is a sample container at the first placement position 510 , the transfer mechanism 300 performs a sample container grabbing operation at each second placement position 520 . If a sample container is grabbed, the grabbed sample container is transferred to the track device.

[0137] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes can be made within the knowledge of ordinary technicians in the relevant technical field without departing from the purpose of the present invention. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

Claims

1. Sample processing module, characterized in that: It includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein: The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the housing, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position; The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container; The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer; The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform a first shooting operation to determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position; when there is a sample container in the first placement position and the image information obtained by the first shooting operation cannot determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position, control the transfer mechanism to move at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position out of the first placement position, and then control the image acquisition device to perform a second shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container in the second placement position based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

2. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform the second shooting operation after all the sample containers in the first placement positions are moved out.

3. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be processed. When the sample container containing the samples to be processed exists in the second placement position, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the samples to be processed out of the second placement position based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

4. The sample processing module according to claim 3, characterized in that: It also includes a track device, which is used to transport the sample container containing the sample to be processed transferred by the drawer, wherein, when the sample container containing the sample to be processed exists in the first placement position, the controller is configured to control the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be processed in the first placement position to the track device based on the image information obtained by the first shooting operation, and / or, when the sample container containing the sample to be processed exists in the second placement position, the controller is configured to control the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be processed in the second placement position to the track device based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

5. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be recovered. When the second placement position is empty, the controller is configured to control the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the sample to be recovered to the empty second placement position based on the image information obtained by the second shooting operation.

6. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform the first shooting operation to acquire image information of all placement positions of the drawer.

7. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform the first shooting operation during the process of the drawer moving from the open position to the closed position and / or after the drawer moves from the open position to the closed position.

8. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first placement position is a preset placement position; Alternatively, the first placement position is a placement position selected by the controller based on image information acquired by the first shooting operation.

9. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first shooting operation includes multiple shooting operations performed by the image acquisition device in the process of moving along the length direction of the drawer, and the image acquisition device acquires image information of multiple placement positions arranged in a matrix during each shooting operation, wherein the second placement position is located on a side of the first placement position away from the center of the matrix; Alternatively, the first photographing operation includes multiple photographing operations performed by the image acquisition device in the process of moving along the length direction of the drawer, and the controlling the image acquisition device to perform the second photographing operation includes: controlling the image acquisition device to perform the second photographing operation when it moves along the length direction of the drawer to an end of the stroke or to a position close to the end of the stroke; Alternatively, the image acquisition device is capable of moving along the length direction of the drawer, and the controlling the image acquisition device to perform a first shooting operation includes: controlling the image acquisition device to move along the length direction of the drawer to the end point of the stroke or to a position close to the end point of the stroke to perform the first shooting operation; the controlling the image acquisition device to perform a second shooting operation includes: controlling the image acquisition device to move along the length direction of the drawer to the end point of the stroke or to a position close to the end point of the stroke to perform the second shooting operation.

10. The sample processing module according to claim 1, characterized in that: When performing the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation, the controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to acquire first image information and second image information, and form the image information acquired by the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation based on the first image information and the second image information, wherein the exposure of the first image information is higher than that of the second image information.

11. The sample processing module according to claim 10, characterized in that: The controller is configured to respectively identify valid information in the first image information and the second image information, and fuse the valid information in the first image information and the second image information to form the image information acquired by the first shooting operation or the second shooting operation.

12. The sample processing module is characterized in that: It includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein: The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container at the first placement position may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container at the second placement position through the image information; The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container; The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer; The controller is configured to, when there is a sample container at the first placement position, control the transfer mechanism to move at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position out of the first placement position, then control the image acquisition device to perform a shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position based on image information acquired by the shooting operation.

13. The sample processing module according to claim 12, characterized in that: The drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be processed. When the sample container containing the samples to be processed exists in the second placement position, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the samples to be processed out of the second placement position based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation.

14. The sample processing module according to claim 12, characterized in that: The drawer is used to store sample containers containing samples to be recovered. When the second placement position is empty, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to move the sample container containing the samples to be recovered to the empty second placement position based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation.

15. The sample processing module is characterized in that: It includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device, a track device and a controller, wherein: The drawer can be moved between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples to be processed, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container at the first placement position may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container at the second placement position through the image information; The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container; The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer; The track device is used to transport the sample container transferred by the drawer; The controller is configured to control the image acquisition device to perform a shooting operation, and determine whether there is a sample container at the first placement position based on the image information obtained by the shooting operation. When there is a sample container at the first placement position, the controller controls the transfer mechanism to perform a sample container grabbing operation at each of the second placement positions, and if a sample container is grabbed, the grabbed sample container is transferred to the track device.

16. A sample processing method, characterized in that: Applied to a sample processing module, the sample processing module includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein: The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the housing, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position; The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container; The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer; The sample processing method comprises the following steps: Performing a first photographing operation by the image acquisition device to determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position; When there is a sample container at the first placement position and the image information obtained by the first shooting operation cannot determine whether there is a sample container at the second placement position, at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position are moved out of the first placement position by the transfer mechanism; After at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position are moved out of the first placement position, a second shooting operation is performed by the image acquisition device, and it is determined whether there is a sample container in the second placement position based on image information acquired by the second shooting operation.

17. A sample processing method, characterized in that: Applied to a sample processing module, the sample processing module includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device and a controller, wherein: The drawer can move between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container in the first placement position may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position through the image information; The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container; The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer; The sample processing method comprises the following steps: When there are sample containers at the first placement position, at least part of the sample containers at the first placement position are moved out of the first placement position by the transfer mechanism; After at least part of the sample containers in the first placement position are moved out from the first placement position, a photographing operation is performed by the image acquisition device, and it is determined whether there is a sample container in the second placement position based on image information acquired by the photographing operation.

18. A sample processing method, characterized in that: Applied to a sample processing module, the sample processing module includes a housing, a drawer, a transfer mechanism, an image acquisition device, a track device and a controller, wherein: The drawer can be moved between an open position and a closed position relative to the shell, and the drawer is used to place a sample carrying component, and the sample carrying component has a plurality of placement positions for storing sample containers, and the sample containers are used to hold samples to be processed, and the plurality of placement positions include a first placement position and a second placement position, and the sample container in the first placement position may hinder the controller from determining whether there is a sample container in the second placement position through the image information; The transfer mechanism is used to transfer the sample container; The image acquisition device is used to acquire image information of the sample carrying component in the drawer; The track device is used to transport the sample containers to be processed transferred from the drawer; The sample processing method comprises the following steps: Performing a photographing operation by the image acquisition device, and determining whether there is a sample container at the first placement position based on image information acquired by the photographing operation; When there is a sample container at the first placement position, the transfer mechanism performs a sample container grabbing operation at each of the second placement positions, and if a sample container is grabbed, the grabbed sample container is transferred to the track device.

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