Automated analyzer

Abstract

The purpose of the present disclosure is, in an automatic analysis device (1) having two or more processing units, to easily manage a liquid supplied to each processing unit. An automatic analysis device according to the present disclosure includes a first container (131) that accommodates a first liquid, the first container being configured so as to be capable of supplying the first liquid to a first processing unit (11) and a second processing unit (12), respectively, by being connected to the first processing unit and the second processing unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an automatic analysis device for analyzing a sample. Background Art

[0002] Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) generally has a pretreatment unit and an analysis unit. As a typical pretreatment, the pretreatment unit adds a solvent to the sample. The analysis unit performs mass spectrometry analysis on the basis of separating the sample. The pretreatment unit and the analysis unit are generally configured as independent devices, or even if they are configured as one, they are also configured separately inside.

[0003] Patent Document 1 has the technical problem of "providing a blood analyzer that can measure the concentrations of both glucose and glycated hemoglobin with high accuracy at a cost-effective manner without increasing the size of the device, and that can reduce the operation and maintenance burden on the user", and describes a technology such as "the blood analyzer X is configured to measure the concentrations of glucose and glycated hemoglobin by sampling blood 13 once. Preferably, the blood analyzer X is configured to simultaneously prepare samples for measuring the concentrations of glucose and glycated hemoglobin by preparing the sample once. The blood analyzer X may also be configured to dilute the blood sample for measuring glycated hemoglobin and the blood sample for measuring glucose using the same diluent" (see abstract). Prior art literature Patent Literature

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-095715 Summary of the invention Technical problem to be solved by the invention

[0005] Since the pretreatment section and the analysis section are independent of each other, the flow path for supplying the solvent from the solvent storage section to these devices is separately configured for each supply target device. At the same time, the solvent stored in the solvent storage section is managed separately for each supply target device. For example, even if the same solvent is supplied to the pretreatment section and the analysis section, a container for storing the solvent supplied to the pretreatment section and a container for storing the solvent supplied to the analysis section are separately provided.

[0006] In this way, if the same solvent is stored repeatedly, the management of the solvent may become complicated. For example, the measurement needs to be interrupted just because the solvent provided to one of the pretreatment unit and the analysis unit is insufficient. In the prior art such as Patent Document 1, the technical problems caused by the repeated storage of the solvent between the pretreatment unit and the analysis unit are not fully considered.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to facilitate management of liquid supplied to each processing unit in an automatic analyzer having two or more processing units. Technical means for solving technical problems

[0008] The automatic analyzer according to the present disclosure includes a first container for storing a first liquid, wherein the first container is configured to be connected to a first processing unit and a second processing unit, respectively, so as to supply the first liquid to the first processing unit and the second processing unit, respectively. Effects of the Invention

[0009] According to the automatic analyzer of the present disclosure, in an automatic analyzer having two or more processing units, liquid supplied to each processing unit can be easily managed. Other features, advantages, structures, etc. of the present disclosure will become clear by referring to the detailed description below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 This is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the automatic analyzer 1 according to the first embodiment. Figure 2 This is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an automatic analyzer 1 according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] <Embodiment 1: Device structure> Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing the overall structure of an automatic analyzer 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. The automatic analyzer 1 is a device for analyzing a sample by liquid chromatography, and includes a pretreatment unit 11 (first treatment unit), an analysis unit 12 (second treatment unit), a solvent storage unit 13, a conveying mechanism 14, and flow paths 151, 152, 153, and 154.

[0012] The solvent storage unit 13 includes a first reservoir 131 (equivalent to the first container in this embodiment), a first auxiliary pump 132, a first solvent bottle 133 (first liquid storage unit), a second reservoir 134 (second container), a second auxiliary pump 135, and a second solvent bottle 136. The first solvent bottle 133 stores a first solvent, and the second solvent bottle 136 stores a second solvent. The first solvent and the second solvent may be the same solvent or different solvents. The first auxiliary pump 132 takes out the first solvent from the first solvent bottle 133 and introduces it into the first reservoir 131. The second auxiliary pump 135 takes out the second solvent from the second solvent bottle 136 and introduces it into the second reservoir 134.

[0013] When the solvent is reduced with use, the user needs to refill the solvent bottle or replace the solvent bottle itself. Therefore, the first solvent bottle 133 and the second solvent bottle 136 are arranged in a place where the user can easily access. This place is sometimes not suitable for the automatic analysis device 1 to transfer the solvent within the device. Therefore, in this embodiment, the solvent bottle is connected to the supply target (in Figure 1 A reservoir is provided between the pretreatment unit 11 and the analysis unit 12, and the solvent supplied to the supply target is always ensured to be in the reservoir.

[0014] The pretreatment section 11 is a device for performing pretreatment on a sample. As a pretreatment, for example, a treatment of adding a solvent to a reaction container 2 containing a sample can be cited. The pretreatment section 11 includes dispensing sections 111 and 113, a syringe 112 (a first adjustment mechanism), and a syringe 114. The dispensing section 111 dispenses a first solvent provided by a first reservoir 131 into the reaction container 2. The syringe 112 takes out the first solvent from the first reservoir 131 and supplies it to the dispensing section 111. The dispensing section 113 dispenses a second solvent provided by a second reservoir 134 into the reaction container 2. The syringe 114 takes out the second solvent from the second reservoir 134 and supplies it to the dispensing section 113. In this example, the pretreatment performed by the pretreatment section 11 is to dispense the first solvent and the second solvent into the reaction container 2 containing the sample.

[0015] The analysis unit 12 is configured as an LC-MS device, receives the sample in the reaction container 2, performs separation processing by liquid chromatography, and performs mass spectrometry analysis on this basis. The analysis unit 12 includes a sample suction unit 121, a syringe 122, a liquid delivery pump 123 (a second adjustment mechanism), a liquid delivery pump 124, a sample injection unit 125, a separation column 126, and a detection unit 127. The sample suction unit 121 and the syringe 122 suction the sample from the reaction container 2 pretreated by the pretreatment unit 11, and supply it to the sample injection unit 125. The liquid delivery pump 123 takes out the first solvent from the first reservoir 131 and supplies it to the sample injection unit 125. The liquid delivery pump 124 takes out the second solvent from the second reservoir 134 and supplies it to the sample injection unit 125. The sample injection unit 125 supplies the sample and each solvent to the separation column 126. The separation column 126 performs separation processing, and the detection unit 127 performs mass spectrometry analysis.

[0016] The syringes 112 and 114 and the liquid-feeding pumps 123 and 124 can be operated independently of each other. Therefore, the amount of solvent supplied to each treatment unit by these can be adjusted independently of each other.

[0017] The amount of each solvent provided by the syringes 112 and 114 to the pretreatment unit 11 may be the same as or different from the amount of each solvent provided by the liquid delivery pumps 123 and 124 to the analysis unit 12. The amount of the first solvent provided by the syringe 112 and the amount of the second solvent provided by the syringe 114 may be the same or different. The amount of the first solvent provided by the liquid delivery pump 123 and the amount of the second solvent provided by the liquid delivery pump 124 may be the same or different. The amount of the first solvent provided by the syringe 112 and the amount of the first solvent provided by the liquid delivery pump 123 may be the same or different. The amount of the second solvent provided by the syringe 114 and the amount of the second solvent provided by the liquid delivery pump 124 may be the same or different. That is, the amount of each liquid of the first solvent and the second solvent used in the pretreatment unit 11 may be the same as or different from the amount of each liquid of the first solvent and the second solvent used in the analysis unit 12. These liquid amounts can be adjusted individually according to the analysis items, the types of each liquid, etc.

[0018] The transport mechanism 14 transports the reaction container 2 in the order of (a) the position where the dispensing unit 111 can access the reaction container 2, (b) the position where the dispensing unit 113 can access the reaction container 2, and (c) the position where the sample suction unit 121 can access the reaction container 2, following each treatment step in the pretreatment unit 11. When the dispensing unit 111 dispenses the first solvent into the reaction container 2, the reaction container 2 is moved to the position (a), when the dispensing unit 113 dispenses the second solvent into the reaction container 2, the reaction container 2 is moved to the position (b), and when the sample suction unit 121 suctions the sample from the reaction container 2, the reaction container is moved to the position (c).

[0019] The flow paths 151 and 153 transfer the first solvent from the first reservoir 131 to the supply destination. The flow path 151 connects the first reservoir 131 to the pretreatment unit 11 (syringe 112), and the flow path 153 connects the first reservoir 131 to the analysis unit 12 (liquid delivery pump 123). The flow paths 152 and 154 transfer the second solvent from the second reservoir 134 to the supply destination. The flow path 152 connects the second reservoir 134 to the pretreatment unit 11 (syringe 114), and the flow path 154 connects the second reservoir 134 to the analysis unit 12 (liquid delivery pump 124).

[0020] <Implementation 1: Summary> In the automatic analyzer 1 involved in the present embodiment 1, the first reservoir 131 is connected to the pretreatment unit 11 and the analysis unit 12, respectively, so that the first solvent can be provided to the pretreatment unit 11 and the analysis unit 12, respectively. The same is true for the second solvent. Thus, the solvent management can be simplified. For example, in the case where the pretreatment unit 11 and the analysis unit 12 are separately configured with solvent containers, if the solvent in any solvent container is insufficient, it is necessary to stop the analysis process. In contrast, in the present embodiment 1, since the solvent is provided in parallel to each processing unit from a common reservoir, such an undesirable situation can be suppressed.

[0021] In the automatic analyzer 1 according to the first embodiment, the first solvent bottle 133 and the second solvent bottle 136 are arranged at a place that can be easily accessed by the user. For example, each solvent bottle can be arranged at a relatively low position in the automatic analyzer 1. Each solvent is provided to each processing unit from each reservoir, and the user does not directly access the reservoir, so there is no restriction on the position of the reservoir in terms of layout. Therefore, it is possible to alleviate the restrictions on the layout of each component of the automatic analyzer 1.

[0022] In the automatic analyzer 1 according to the first embodiment, the solvent is supplied from the reservoir to each processing unit. Therefore, even when the user replaces the solvent bottle or replenishes the solvent bottle, the solvent can continue to be supplied from the reservoir to each processing unit, and there is no need to stop the measurement operation.

[0023] <Implementation method 2> Figure 2 1 is a diagram showing the overall structure of the automatic analyzer 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. Unlike Embodiment 1, in Embodiment 2, there is no first reservoir 131 and second reservoir 134. Instead, the first solvent is directly supplied to the pretreatment unit 11 and the analysis unit 12 from the first solvent bottle 133 (equivalent to the first container in this embodiment), and the second solvent is directly supplied to the pretreatment unit 11 and the analysis unit 12 from the second solvent bottle 136.

[0024] exist Figure 2 In the structure of , since each solvent is directly supplied from each solvent bottle to each processing unit, a reservoir is not required. Therefore, the structure of the automatic analyzer 1 can be simplified. However, when the user replaces the solvent bottle or replenishes the solvent to the solvent bottle, since the solvent cannot be supplied to each processing unit, the measurement operation needs to be stopped.

[0025] <About Modifications of the Present Disclosure> The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-mentioned embodiments are detailed descriptions for the purpose of explaining the present disclosure in an understandable manner, and are not necessarily limited to including all the structures described. In addition, a part of a certain embodiment may be replaced with a structure of another embodiment. In addition, a structure of another embodiment may be added to a structure of a certain embodiment. In addition, for a part of the structure of each embodiment, a part of the structure of another embodiment may be added, deleted, or replaced.

[0026] In the above embodiment, the automatic analyzer 1 uses two solvents (a first solvent and a second solvent) and the solvent storage unit 13 stores the two solvents. However, the number of solvent types is not limited thereto, and the present disclosure can be applied when any type of solvent is used. For example, even when only the first solvent is used, by supplying the first solvent from the first reservoir 131 or the first solvent bottle 133 to each processing unit, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be achieved. Description of symbols

[0027] 1: Automatic analysis device 11: Pre-processing unit 12: Analysis Department 13: Solvent storage department.

Claims

1. An automatic analysis device for analyzing a sample, characterized in that: include: a first container containing a first liquid; a first processing unit that performs a first processing on the sample in the reaction container using the first liquid; a second processing unit that uses the first liquid to perform a second processing on the sample that has been subjected to the first processing; as well as a conveying mechanism that delivers the sample from the first processing section to the second processing section by conveying the reaction container from the first processing section to the second processing section, The first container is configured to be connected to the first processing section and the second processing section, respectively, so as to supply the first liquid to the first processing section and the second processing section, respectively.

2. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1, characterized in that The automatic analysis device also includes: a first flow path connecting the first container and the first processing unit; and a second flow path connecting the first container and the second processing unit, The first container is configured to be capable of supplying the first liquid to the first processing section via the first flow path, and to be capable of supplying the first liquid to the second processing section via the second flow path.

3. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1, characterized in that The automatic analysis device further comprises a second container, wherein the second container contains a second liquid. The first processing section is configured to process the sample using the first liquid and then process the sample using the second liquid in the first processing. The second processing section is configured to process the sample using the first liquid and the second liquid in the second processing. The transport mechanism transports the reaction container from a first position where the first processing unit processes the sample using the first liquid to a second position where the first processing unit processes the sample using the second liquid. The transport mechanism transports the reaction container from the second position to the second processing section.

4. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1, characterized in that The automatic analysis device further includes a first adjustment mechanism for adjusting the amount of the first liquid provided to the first processing unit. The automatic analysis device further includes a second adjustment mechanism for adjusting the amount of the first liquid provided to the second processing unit. The first adjustment mechanism and the second adjustment mechanism supply the first liquid to the first processing section and the second processing section independently of each other, thereby individually supplying the first liquid to the first processing section and the second processing section from the common first container.

5. The automatic analysis device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The automatic analysis device further includes a first adjustment mechanism for adjusting the amount of the first liquid and the second liquid provided to the first processing unit. The automatic analyzer further includes a second adjustment mechanism for adjusting the amount of the first liquid and the second liquid provided to the second processing unit. The liquid amounts of the first liquid and the second liquid provided by the first adjustment mechanism and the second adjustment mechanism to the first processing unit and the second processing unit respectively satisfy at least any one of the following two conditions: an amount of the first liquid provided by the first adjustment mechanism to the first processing unit is different from an amount of the first liquid provided by the first adjustment mechanism to the second processing unit; and The amount of the second liquid provided by the first adjustment mechanism to the first processing unit is different from the amount of the second liquid provided by the first adjustment mechanism to the second processing unit.

6. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1, characterized in that The first processing section is configured as a pre-processing section that performs pre-processing on the sample by dispensing the first liquid into the reaction container containing the sample before the second processing section processes the sample. The second processing unit is configured as an analysis unit that receives the sample in the reaction container, performs separation processing by liquid chromatography, and performs mass spectrometry analysis on the basis of the separation processing.

7. The automatic analysis device according to claim 4, characterized in that The first processing section is configured as a pre-processing section that performs pre-processing on the sample by dispensing the first liquid into the reaction container containing the sample before the second processing section processes the sample. The second processing unit is configured as an analysis unit that receives the sample in the reaction container, performs separation processing by liquid chromatography, and performs mass spectrometry analysis on the basis of the separation processing. The first adjustment mechanism adjusts the amount of the first liquid dispensed by the first processing unit into the reaction container and supplied to the first processing unit. The second adjustment mechanism adjusts the amount of the first liquid used in the second processing section supplied to the second processing section.

8. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1, characterized in that The automatic analysis device also includes: a first liquid receiving portion for receiving the first liquid; and a pump that delivers the first liquid from the first liquid storage portion to the first container, The first liquid storage section is configured so that a user can replenish the first container with the first liquid by replenishing the first liquid in the first liquid storage section or replacing the first liquid storage section.

9. The automatic analysis device according to claim 8, characterized in that The first liquid storage part and the first container are configured so that the first liquid can be supplied from the first container to the first processing part or the second processing part even when the first liquid storage part is replenished with the first liquid or the first liquid storage part is replaced.

10. The automatic analysis device according to claim 1, wherein: The first container is configured so that a user can refill the first container with the first liquid or replace the first container.

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