Sample separation system and sample separation device

Abstract

To provide a sample separation system and sample separation device that have a simple configuration, cause little damage or stress to the sample, can rapidly separate the sample from the dispersion or washing solution, minimizes sample recovery loss, and can rapidly discharge the dispersion or washing solution from the separation container. [Solution] A sample separation device 100 having a contact absorbent material 140 for extracting a dispersion liquid S from a suspension P in a separation container 130, a holding member 120 for holding the separation container 130, and a main body 110 provided with a housing section 126 for placing the contact absorbent material 140, wherein a permeable separator 133 is provided on the bottom surface 131 of the separation container 130, the contact absorbent material 140 is configured to be in contact with the permeable separator 133, the permeable separator 133 is configured to allow the dispersion liquid S to permeate to the contact absorbent material 140 side via a permeable channel when in contact with the contact absorbent material 140, and the holding member 120 is configured to move back and forth from above relative to the contact absorbent material 140.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a separation container that holds a suspension in which a sample is suspended in a dispersion liquid, and a sample separation system and a sample separation device that extract the dispersion liquid from the suspension in the separation container.

[0002] Conventionally, as a sample separation system for separating a sample dispersed in a dispersion liquid in the fields of pharmaceuticals, chemistry, biology, etc., for example, a sample separation device (cell processing device 1) using the sample separation system described in Patent Document 1 is known.

[0003] This sample separation device (cell processing device 1) known from Patent Document 1 includes a separation container (container body 2) that holds a suspension (cell suspension A) in which a sample (cell group C) is suspended in a dispersion liquid (supernatant B), a discharge suction tube 3 having a discharge suction port 3a, a supernatant suction tube 4 having a suction port 4a disposed at a position axially separated from the discharge suction port 3a, an umbrella-shaped partitioning member 5 configured to be movable back and forth from the bottom surface (bottom portion 2a) of the separation container (container body 2), and a coil spring 6 that biases the partitioning member 5 in a direction away from the bottom surface (bottom portion 2a). The suspension (cell suspension A) in the separation container is separated into a dispersion liquid (supernatant B) and a sample (cell group C) by centrifugation, the supernatant B is sucked by the supernatant suction tube 4, and a cleaning liquid is injected from the discharge suction port 3a. The suspension into which the cleaning liquid has been injected is further separated into a dispersion liquid and a sample by centrifugation after the cleaning liquid has been injected again, and then the supernatant B is sucked by the supernatant suction tube 4, so that a sample with a sufficiently suppressed concentration of unnecessary components remaining after cell washing can be retained in the separation container.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, the sample separation systems and devices known from the above-mentioned patent documents still had room for improvement.

[0006] In other words, since the sample separation apparatus known in Patent Document 1, etc. separates the sample from the dispersion or washing solution by centrifugation, there was a risk that the sample would be damaged or stressed by the force of centrifugation, which could cause strong force to be applied to the sample or heat it. Furthermore, when aspirating the dispersion or washing solution separated from the sample, there was a risk of aspirating some of the sample as well, potentially resulting in insufficient sample remaining. Furthermore, if the goal was to leave as much of the sample as possible in the separation container, there was a risk that a large amount of the dispersion and washing solution would be collected along with the sample when it was retrieved, as it would not be possible to adequately aspirate the dispersion and washing solution beforehand.

[0007] Furthermore, the centrifugation and dispersion aspiration processes themselves were time-consuming, potentially increasing the overall time required to collect the samples. Furthermore, the equipment required for centrifugal separation is large, and operators need to be thoroughly familiar with the complex operation methods of the centrifugal separation equipment itself, which could increase the cost of training the operators.

[0008] The present invention aims to solve these problems and provide a sample separation system and sample separation device that has a simple configuration, minimizes damage and stress to the sample, can quickly separate the sample from the dispersion or washing solution, minimizes sample recovery loss, and can quickly discharge the dispersion or washing solution from the separation container. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention provides a sample separation system comprising a separation container for holding a suspension in which a sample is suspended in a dispersion, and a contact absorbent for extracting the dispersion from the suspension in the separation container, wherein the separation container has a bottom portion and a cylindrical portion extending upward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion, the bottom portion is provided with a permeable separation body having numerous fine permeable channels, the contact absorbent is configured to be able to contact the permeable separation body from the outside of the bottom portion, and when the permeable separation body comes into contact with the contact absorbent, it is configured to be able to permeate the dispersion in the separation container to the contact absorbent side through the permeable channels, thereby solving the aforementioned problem. The present invention provides a sample separation apparatus comprising: a separation container for holding a suspension in which a sample is suspended in a dispersion; a contact absorbent material for extracting the dispersion from the suspension in the separation container; a holding member provided with a holding mechanism for holding the separation container; and a main body to which a housing provided with a housing for placing the contact absorbent material is attached. The separation container has a bottom surface and a cylindrical portion extending upward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom surface, the bottom surface is provided with a permeable separation body having numerous fine permeable channels, the contact absorbent material is configured to be able to contact the permeable separation body from the outside of the bottom surface, the permeable separation body is configured to be able to permeate the dispersion in the separation container to the contact absorbent material side via the permeable channels when in contact with the contact absorbent material, and the holding member is configured to be able to move the held separation container back and forth from above relative to the contact absorbent material in the housing. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The sample separation system according to claim 1 is provided with a permeable separator having numerous fine permeable channels at the bottom of the separation container, and the contact absorbent material is configured to be able to come into contact with the permeable separator from the outside of the bottom, and when the permeable separator comes into contact with the contact absorbent material, the dispersion liquid in the separation container is able to permeate to the contact absorbent material side through the permeable channels, so that by simply bringing the contact absorbent material into contact with the permeable separator, only the dispersion liquid can be quickly and reliably discharged out of the separation container without separating the suspension into the sample and the dispersion liquid by an operation such as centrifugation, and only the sample liquid can be left in the separation container. Furthermore, since the dispersion can be discharged without inserting a pipette or similar device into the separation container to aspirate the dispersion, there is no risk of accidentally aspirating a sample from the separation container when discharging the dispersion, thus preventing the sample from being discharged. Furthermore, since the sample can be separated from the dispersion without centrifugation of the suspension, damage and stress to the sample can be minimized. Furthermore, since the washing solution can be added to the separation container from which the dispersion has been discharged using a simple procedure to further wash the sample, impurities other than the sample in the separation container can be easily reduced by rapidly repeating the absorption of water by the contact absorbent material via the permeable separator and washing with the washing solution. Furthermore, since the dispersion and sample can be separated by a simple operation of bringing the contact absorbent material into contact with the permeable separator, the cost of training operators can be reduced.

[0011] According to the configuration described in claim 2, the bottom portion has a bottom outer edge at the connection point with the cylindrical portion, and the permeable separator is connected to the inner edge of the bottom outer edge. For example, when recovering a sample together with a recovery liquid after injecting the recovery liquid into a separation container, the sample can be recovered without damaging the permeable separator by bringing the tip of the pipette into contact with the bottom outer edge of the separation container. According to the configuration described in claim 3, since the permeable separator is composed of a membrane filter having a large number of fine permeable channels, by designing a membrane filter having permeable channels of a predetermined pore size, the dispersion can be reliably held in the separation container without passing through the fine pores by utilizing the surface tension of the dispersion, and the dispersion can be absorbed towards the contact absorbent by bringing the contact absorbent into contact with the dispersion in the fine pores by bringing the contact absorbent into contact with the membrane filter. Furthermore, if the sample is particulate, designing the membrane filter with a permeation channel having a pore size smaller than the particle size of the sample can further prevent the sample from being discharged from the permeation channel.

[0012] According to the configuration described in claim 4, since the pore size of the permeation channel provided in the permeation separator is 0.01 μm to 20.00 μm, the dispersion can be more reliably retained in the separation container when the contact absorbent is not in contact with the permeation separator, and when the contact absorbent is in contact with the permeation separator, the dispersion can be absorbed to the contact absorbent even more quickly without the sample entering the permeation channel. According to the configuration described in claim 5, since the contact absorbent material is made of absorbent cotton, when the contact absorbent material is brought into contact with the permeate separator, the fibers of the absorbent cotton can quickly enter the permeate channel and come into contact with the dispersion, and the dispersion can be quickly and reliably absorbed to the contact absorbent material side by capillary action.

[0013] According to the configuration described in claim 6, since the contact absorbent is placed in the housing of the housing which is open at the top, even if the dispersion absorbed by the contact absorbent cannot be retained within the contact absorbent and leaks out, the dispersion will accumulate in the housing, thus preventing contamination of the surroundings. According to the configuration described in claim 7, multiple containment sections are arranged side by side within the containment section, and the contact absorbent material is placed in multiple containment sections. For example, when repeatedly washing a sample in a separation container, the contact absorbent material placed in the multiple containment sections in advance can be used in sequence to maintain good water absorption capacity for the dispersion liquid at all times, and the sample washing operation can be carried out quickly. Furthermore, by avoiding the use of contact absorbent materials that have absorbed the dispersion, the dispersion or washing solution absorbed by the contact absorbent material will not come into contact with the separation container, allowing for hygienic sample washing.

[0014] The specimen separation apparatus according to claim 8 is provided with a permeable separator having numerous fine permeable channels at the bottom of the separation container, and the contact absorbent material is configured to be able to contact the permeable separator from the outside of the bottom, and when the permeable separator comes into contact with the contact absorbent material, the dispersion liquid in the separation container is able to permeate to the contact absorbent material side through the permeable channels, so that by simply bringing the contact absorbent material into contact with the permeable separator, only the dispersion liquid can be quickly and reliably discharged out of the separation container without separating the suspension into specimen and dispersion liquid by an operation such as centrifugation, and only the specimen liquid can be left in the separation container. Furthermore, since the dispersion can be discharged without inserting a pipette or similar device into the separation container to aspirate the dispersion, there is no risk of accidentally aspirating a sample from the separation container when discharging the dispersion, thus preventing the sample from being discharged. Furthermore, since the sample can be separated from the dispersion without centrifugation of the suspension, damage and stress to the sample can be minimized. Furthermore, since the washing solution can be added to the separation container from which the dispersion has been discharged using a simple procedure to further wash the sample, impurities other than the sample in the separation container can be easily reduced by rapidly repeating the absorption of water by the contact absorbent material via the permeable separator and washing with the washing solution. Furthermore, since the holding member is configured to move forward and backward from above relative to the contact absorbent material in the containment section while the holding member is holding the separation container, the operator can quickly and easily bring the contact absorbent material into contact with the permeable separator in the containment section with only an extremely simple procedure of moving the holding member downward while the separation container is held by the holding member, thereby easily separating the dispersion liquid and the sample, and thus reducing the cost of training operators. Furthermore, since the contact absorbent material is placed in the container section of the container which is open at the top, even if the dispersion absorbed by the contact absorbent material cannot be retained within the material and leaks out, the dispersion will accumulate in the container section, preventing contamination of the surrounding area.

[0015] According to the configuration described in claim 9, multiple containment sections are provided within the containment section, and the holding member is configured to move the separation container held by the holding mechanism above the multiple containment sections. For example, by moving the holding member so that it is positioned sequentially above the contact absorbent material that has been placed in the multiple containment sections in advance, the water absorption capacity of the dispersion can always be maintained well when repeatedly washing the sample in the separation container, and the sample washing operation can be carried out quickly. Furthermore, even if an operator temporarily leaves the sample separation device during the process or if an operator is replaced, the number of times the sample has been washed can be visually determined simply by looking at the positional relationship between the holding member and the storage unit. According to the configuration described in claim 10, the holding member has a plurality of holding mechanisms, the container has a plurality of accommodating portions, and the plurality of holding mechanisms and the plurality of accommodating portions are arranged to face each other in the vertical direction. Therefore, the operator can make the holding mechanism move forward and backward, and can simultaneously bring the plurality of separation containers into contact with the contact water-absorbing material in the plurality of accommodating portions to separate the dispersion liquid and the specimen, thereby improving the working efficiency.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016] [Figure 1] Perspective view showing the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Perspective view showing the state of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention before attaching the holding member 120. [Figure 3] Perspective view showing the state of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention before holding the separation container 130. [Figure 4] Front sectional view and bottom view of the separation container 130 of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] Perspective view showing the state of the specimen separation device 100 in separation procedure 1 of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] Perspective view showing the state of the separation container 130 and the accommodating portion 126 in separation procedure 1 of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] Perspective view showing the state of the specimen separation device 100 in separation procedure 2 of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] Perspective view showing the state of the separation container 130 and the accommodating portion 126 in separation procedure 2 of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] Top view and side view of the tablet-shaped absorbent cotton 140a, 140b used as the contact water-absorbing material 140 of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] Perspective view showing the state of the specimen separation device 100 at the end of the separation procedure of the specimen separation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11]A front cross-sectional view showing the procedure for removing a sample from a separation container using a sample separation device 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] A perspective view showing a sample separation device 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention, with a sheet-shaped absorbent cotton 142 placed as a contact absorbent material. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0017] A sample separation device 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0018] As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the sample separation device 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 110, a holding member 120 capable of holding a separation container 130 that holds a suspension P in which a sample M is suspended in a dispersion liquid S, and a housing 125 provided with a housing section 126 on which a contact absorbent material 140 for extracting the dispersion liquid S from the suspension in the separation container 130 is placed.

[0019] A housing 125 is attached to the upper surface of the main body 110, and a retaining groove 111 is provided on the side of the main body 110 through which the engaging rod 121, described later, can pass. The retaining groove 111 has a horizontally moving groove 112 extending horizontally, and a vertically moving groove 113 and a standby groove 114 extending downward from the horizontally moving groove 112, the standby groove 114 being shorter than the vertically moving groove 113. The lifting and lowering groove 113 has a first lifting and lowering groove 113a, a second lifting and lowering groove 113b, a third lifting and lowering groove 113c, a fourth lifting and lowering groove 113d, and a fifth lifting and lowering groove 113e, corresponding to the position of the housing section 126, which will be described later.

[0020] The retaining member 120 includes an engaging rod 121 that is inserted into the retaining groove 111 and can move horizontally and vertically within the retaining groove 111, a pair of support rods 122 that extend upward from both ends of the engaging rod 121, and a connecting plate 123 that connects the upper parts of the pair of support rods 122. The connecting plate 123 is provided with five retaining holes 124, which are retaining mechanisms, corresponding to the positions of the housing section 126, which will be described later. The retaining holes 124 are formed to be small enough to allow the insertion of the cylindrical section 134 of the separation container 130, which will be described later, and to be smaller than the outer diameter of the upper enlarged section 135.

[0021] The separation container 130 has a bottom portion 131, a cylindrical portion 134 extending upward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion 131, and an upper enlarged diameter portion 135 provided at the top of the cylindrical portion 134, with the outer diameter of the upper enlarged diameter portion 135 being larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 134. The bottom portion 131 has a bottom outer peripheral edge portion 132 that connects to the cylindrical portion 134, and a permeable separator 133 which is a flexible membrane filter provided inside the bottom outer peripheral edge portion 132. The permeation separator 133 is provided with numerous fine permeation channels (not shown), which are at least smaller than the sample M and are formed to a predetermined size that prevents the dispersion S or washing solution C from passing through naturally due to their surface tension.

[0022] The contact absorbent material 140 is placed in the storage section 126 of the storage body 125, which is arranged in a 5x5 grid, and is made of absorbent cotton.

[0023] Next, the washing and separation procedure for sample M from suspension P and the procedure for removing sample M using the sample separation device 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to Figures 1 to 10.

[0024] First, as shown in Figure 1, the separation container 130 containing the suspension P is set in the holding hole 124 of the holding member 120, with the engaging rod 121 engaged in the waiting groove 114. Next, as shown in Figure 5, when the engaging rod 121 is moved from the waiting groove 114 to the first lifting groove 113a via the horizontal movement groove 112, the separation containers 130 set in the holding holes 124 move to a position where the contact water-absorbing material 140 in the housing section 126 faces directly below each of them, as shown in Figure 6.

[0025] From this state, as shown in Figure 7, by moving the engaging rod 121 to the lower end of the first lifting groove 113a, the separation container 130 set in the holding hole 124 presses its bottom surface 131 against the contact water-absorbing material 140, as shown in Figure 8. At this time, the flexible permeable separator 132 elastically deforms as it is pressed against the contact absorbent material 140, and some of the fibers of the contact absorbent material 140, which is made of absorbent cotton, enter the permeable channel of the permeable separator 132 and come into contact with the dispersion liquid S. This weakens the surface tension of the dispersion S, allowing the dispersion S to move quickly and reliably to the contact absorbent material 140 side by capillary action and be absorbed.

[0026] As shown in Figure 9, when a tablet-type absorbent cotton 140a compressed into a tablet shape is used, the directionality of the fibers of the tablet-type absorbent cotton 140a is suitable for water absorption when it comes into contact with the permeable separator 132, so that the dispersion S can be diffused more rapidly throughout the tablet-type absorbent cotton 140a. Furthermore, while the upper surface 140a of the tablet-type absorbent cotton 140a is formed as a uniform flat surface, by forming it in a stone-like or bullet-like shape, as with the upper surface 141b of the tablet-type absorbent cotton 140b, the upper surface 141b that contacts the permeable separator 132 becomes a convex surface that is highest in the center and gradually slopes outward in the radial direction. As a result, when the permeable separator 132 is brought into contact with the stone-shaped or bullet-shaped upper surface 141b compared to the flat upper surface 141a, the permeable separator 132 deforms along the shape of the stone-shaped or bullet-shaped upper surface 141b as it makes contact, which makes it easier for the fibers of the tablet-shaped absorbent cotton 140b to reach the dispersion S quickly, and further enables the dispersion S to be absorbed even more rapidly.

[0027] Furthermore, since the permeable channel (not shown) is formed with a channel smaller than the sample M, while the separation container 130 is pressed against the contact absorbent material 140, only the dispersion S can be reliably moved to and absorbed by the contact absorbent material 140, thus preventing any portion of the sample M from being discharged outside the separation container. Furthermore, since there is no need to aspirate the sample M from the separation container 130 when discharging the dispersion S, and the sample M can be separated from the dispersion S without centrifugation of the suspension P, damage and stress to the sample M can be minimized.

[0028] When washing sample M is to be repeated, the engaging rod 121 is moved to the standby groove 114, and then each time washing solution is injected into the separation container 130, the engaging rod 121 of the holding member 120 is moved to the second lifting movement groove 113b, the third lifting movement groove 113c, the fourth lifting movement groove 113d, and the fifth lifting movement groove 113e, and the separation container 130 is pressed against the contact water absorbent material 140 at each position, thereby quickly and reliably separating sample M and washing solution C, and enabling quick and easy washing of sample M.

[0029] Furthermore, since the dispersion S and washing solution C in the separation container 130 are always absorbed by a fresh contact absorbent material 140, the water absorption capacity of the dispersion S and washing solution C can always be maintained well, even when the sample in the separation container 130 is repeatedly washed, and the washing of the sample M can be carried out quickly. Furthermore, even if the operator temporarily leaves the sample separation device 100 during the process or if the operator is replaced, the number of times the sample M has been washed can be visually determined simply by looking at the positional relationship between the holding member 120 and the storage section 125 and the degree of wetness of the contact absorbent material 140.

[0030] As shown in Figure 10, after repeated washing, the sample M can be almost entirely recovered from the separation container 130 by injecting the recovery solution C into the separation container 130 and aspirating the sample M together with the recovery solution C using a pipette Pt, as shown in Figure 11. Furthermore, since a bottom peripheral edge 132 is formed on the bottom surface 131, the sample M can be collected without damaging the permeation separator 133 by applying the tip of the pipette Pt to the bottom peripheral edge 132 and aspirating the sample M.

[0031] As described above, the sample separation device 100 of one embodiment of the present invention can quickly and easily separate the sample M in the suspension P from the dispersion S and washing solution C without using large equipment such as a centrifuge, thereby reducing damage and stress to the sample M. Furthermore, since the holding member 120 is configured to move back and forth along the vertical movement groove 113 from above with respect to the contact absorbent material 140 set in the housing section 126 within the housing 125, the operator can quickly and easily bring the contact absorbent material 140 into contact with the permeable separator 130 with only an extremely simple procedure of moving the holding member 120 downward while the separation container 130 is held by the holding member 120, thereby easily separating the dispersion liquid S and the sample M, and reducing the cost of training operators.

[0032] Furthermore, since the contact absorbent material 140 is placed in the housing section 126 of the housing body 125 which is open at the top, even if the dispersion liquid S absorbed by the contact absorbent material 140 cannot be retained within the contact absorbent material 140 and leaks out, the dispersion liquid S remains in the housing section 126, so it does not contaminate the surrounding area. Furthermore, by increasing the number of separation containers 130 that can be simultaneously held by the holding member 120, the separation of the sample M and dispersion S in a desired number of separation containers 130 can be performed simultaneously.

[0033] Furthermore, by unitizing the housing section 126, it is possible to quickly replace it with a housing section 126 that has a new contact water-absorbing material 140 installed. Furthermore, the permeation separator 133 can be designed with a permeation channel (not shown) of a predetermined pore size to match the size of the sample M. In particular, setting the pore size of the permeation channel to 0.01 μm to 20.00 μm allows for more rapid absorption of the dispersion liquid to the contact absorbent material 140.

[0034] For example, if the pore size of the permeation channel is less than 0.01 μm, the rate at which the dispersion S permeates may be too slow, potentially increasing the working time. Furthermore, for example, if the pore size of the permeation channel is larger than 20.00 μm, there is a risk that the sample M may enter the permeation channel and block it, or that it may pass through the permeation channel and be discharged outside the separation container 130 together with the dispersion S.

[0035] Furthermore, the contact absorbent material 140 does not necessarily need to be provided separately for each housing section 126. For example, the roll-shaped contact absorbent material 140 may be rotated each time it is pressed against the separation container 130 to change the position of the contact absorbent material 140 at the contact point with the separation container 130. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 12, a sheet-shaped absorbent cotton 142, integrally molded so that multiple tablet-shaped protrusions 140c, such as tablet-shaped absorbent cotton of a corresponding size, are regularly arranged on the separation container 130, may be directly placed on the main body 110. Furthermore, while the specific specifications of sample M are not particularly limited, as long as it is not dissolved in the dispersion S, such as cells or particulate powder, it can be easily separated from the dispersion S by the sample separation device 100.

[0036] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design modifications can be made without departing from the present invention as described in the claims.

[0037] In the embodiments described above, the sample separation device was described as having a main body, a holding member that can move along a holding groove provided in the main body, and a container placed on top of the main body. However, the configuration of the sample separation device is not limited to this. For example, the holding member may be configured separately from the main body, or the separation container may be held directly by hand and pressed against the water-absorbing material. Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment was explained as having a horizontal movement groove, a plurality of vertical movement grooves, and a standby groove, the configuration of the holding groove is not limited to this, and for example, the standby groove may be omitted.

[0038] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment was explained as having a storage section with 5 rows and 5 columns, the configuration of the storage section is not limited to this. For example, it may have only one storage section, or it may have a storage section with 3 rows and 7 columns. Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment explained that the contact absorbent material is made of absorbent cotton, the composition of the contact absorbent material is not limited to this. For example, it may be made of a porous sponge, filter paper, pulp, or a sheet having fine needle-like protrusions that can enter the permeate channel.

[0039] In the embodiments described above, the holding mechanism was described as being formed as a holding hole, but the configuration of the holding mechanism is not limited to this, and for example, it may be configured as a clip that grips the separation container. Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the tablet-type absorbent cotton was described as having a uniform flat surface, a stone-like shape, or a bullet-shaped surface. However, the configuration of the upper surface of the tablet-type absorbent cotton is not limited to these, and for example, it may have a textured surface or wrinkles, or it may be formed in a truncated cone shape. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 100 ··· Sample separation device 110 ··· Main body 111... Retaining groove 112... Horizontal movement groove 113 ··· Lifting and lowering groove 113a ··· First lifting / lowering groove 113b ··· Second lifting / lowering groove 113c ··· Third lifting / lowering groove 113d ··· 4th lifting / moving groove 113e ··· Fifth lifting / lowering groove 114 ··· Waiting groove 120 ··· Retaining member 121 ··· Engaging rod 122... Support rod 123... Connecting plate 124... Retention mechanism (retention hole) 125 ··· Containment 126 ··· Storage Unit 130... Separation container 131 ... bottom part 132 ··· Bottom outer edge 133 ... permeation separator 134 · · Cylinder part 135... Upper enlarged diameter part 140... Contact water absorbing material 140a, 140b... Tablet-type absorbent cotton 140c ··· Tablet-shaped protrusion 141a, 141b...Top surface 142 ··· Sheet-type absorbent cotton M ··· specimen P ··· suspension S...Dispersion liquid C ··· Cleaning solution (recovery solution) Pt... Pipette

Claims

1. A sample separation system comprising a separation container for holding a suspension in which a sample is suspended in a dispersion, and a contact absorbent for removing the dispersion from the suspension in the separation container, The separation container has a bottom portion and a cylindrical portion extending upward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion. The bottom portion is provided with a permeation separator having numerous fine permeation channels, The aforementioned contact absorbent material is configured to be able to contact the permeable separator from the outside of the bottom surface, A sample separation system characterized in that the permeate separator is configured to allow the dispersion liquid in the separation container to permeate to the contact absorbent material through the permeate channel when it comes into contact with the contact absorbent material.

2. The bottom portion has an outer peripheral edge portion at the connection point with the cylindrical portion. The specimen separation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the permeable separator is connected to the inner periphery of the outer periphery of the bottom surface.

3. The sample separation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the permeation separator is composed of a membrane filter having a large number of fine pore-shaped permeation channels.

4. The sample separation system according to claim 3, characterized in that the pore size of the permeation channel provided in the permeation separator is 0.01 μm to 20.00 μm.

5. The specimen separation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact absorbent material is made of absorbent cotton.

6. The specimen separation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact water-absorbing material is placed in the housing portion of a housing that has an open top.

7. The aforementioned housing sections are arranged in a row within the housing body. The specimen separation system according to claim 6, characterized in that the contact water-absorbing material is placed in a plurality of the containment sections.

8. A specimen separation device comprising: a separation container for holding a suspension in which a specimen is suspended in a dispersion; a contact absorbent for extracting the dispersion from the suspension in the separation container; a holding member provided with a holding mechanism for holding the separation container; and a main body to which a container provided with a storage section for placing the contact absorbent is attached, The separation container has a bottom portion and a cylindrical portion extending upward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion. The bottom portion is provided with a permeation separator having numerous fine permeation channels, The aforementioned contact absorbent material is configured to be able to contact the permeable separator from the outside of the bottom surface, The permeable separator is configured to allow the dispersion liquid in the separation container to permeate to the contact absorbent material when it comes into contact with the contact absorbent material. The specimen separation device is characterized in that the holding member is configured to allow the held separation container to move forward and backward from above relative to the contact water-absorbing material in the housing.

9. The aforementioned housing section is provided in multiple locations within the housing body. The specimen separation apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the holding member is configured to be able to move the separation container held by the holding mechanism above a plurality of storage sections.

10. The retaining member has a plurality of the retaining mechanisms, The aforementioned housing has a plurality of housing sections, The specimen separation apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the plurality of holding mechanisms and the plurality of housing sections are arranged to face each other in the vertical direction.

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