An apparatus that integrates the collection and detection of liquid samples

Abstract

Provided is an apparatus that integrates the collection and detection of a liquid sample. 【Solution means】The apparatus includes a rod-shaped case and a rod-shaped main body. A first liquid chamber is provided in the rod-shaped case, a sealing layer is provided at the opening of the first liquid chamber, a connection part 5 corresponding to the first liquid chamber is provided on the rod-shaped main body, a sampling head 6 is provided at the end of the connection part, and a reagent strip 4 communicating with the sampling head is provided inside the rod-shaped main body. The sampling head utilizes its capillary action to absorb the liquid specimen. The connection part corresponds to the first liquid chamber, and the sampling head that has absorbed the liquid specimen breaks through the sealing layer and is inserted into the first liquid chamber. The liquid specimen is mixed in the first liquid chamber, enters the reagent strip through the sampling head, and liquid mixing and detection are performed inside the apparatus. The operation procedure can be simplified, secondary contamination of the reagent can be prevented, and the detection accuracy can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of in vitro sample detection devices, and particularly to a device that integrates the collection and detection of liquid samples.

Background Art

[0002] Immunoassay is an analytical method for detecting various substances by utilizing the specific binding reaction between an antigen and an antibody, and it detects whether an analyte is present in a sample by using the principle of immunobinding reaction. Among them, the detection of liquid samples is widely applied in the field of in vitro diagnosis. Liquid detection in the prior art is mainly carried out by a two-step method of sample collection and sample detection. Using a specific transfer device to transfer the sample from the collection unit to the mixing container, dropping the mixed sample onto the detection device, and waiting for the detection device to display the result, the entire process of the test is completed.

[0003] In the detection of liquid samples, in the actual operation process, the transfer and mixing of the sample need to be carried out manually, and often the operator does not have professional knowledge. Therefore, due to confusion in the operation procedure, incorrect mixing of liquids, overflow of buffer solution, and other inappropriate operations, sample contamination or failure of the sample binding reaction may occur. As a result, there are problems that cause detection failure or inaccurate detection results.

[0004] For example, the "HIV rapid self-test kit" (publication number CN205506831U) published in the Chinese patent literature includes a box body, a workbench, a test tube, a sample buffer solution disposed in the test tube, an oral swab, and a test strip. The box body has a top-and-bottom cover structure and includes an upper cover and a lower box body. The workbench is fitted into the lower box body and has a cavity for accommodating the oral swab and the test strip between the two. On the workbench, there are provided a groove for horizontally accommodating the test tube, a fixing hole for vertically accommodating the test tube, a detection target area for attaching the reagent strip, and a positive / negative control device for contrasting with the reagent strip. However, in the above method, the operator needs to manually inject the buffer solution into the test tube, manually mix and react the sample and the buffer solution, and place the test strip on the buffer solution test tube after the reaction. There are many operation procedures, and all the reaction liquids are mixed outside the device. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation difficulty is high, operation errors and reagent contamination are likely to occur, and it has an adverse effect on the detection result.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention is for solving the problems of the device for collecting and detecting liquid samples in the prior art, that is, there are many operation procedures for sample transfer and mixing, and detection failure or inaccurate detection results are caused by inappropriate operations. The present invention provides a device that integrates the collection and detection of liquid samples. The mixing process and the detection process of the sample and the buffer solution are all completed inside the device, and the operator does not need to add the liquid sample and the buffer solution in a certain ratio. In addition, the operation procedures can be simplified, intermediate cross-contamination can be reduced, and the detection accuracy can be improved.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical means. The present invention is an apparatus that integrates the collection and detection of liquid samples, including a rod-shaped case and a rod-shaped body. A first liquid chamber is provided in the rod-shaped case, and a sealing layer is provided at the opening of the first liquid chamber. A connection part corresponding to the first liquid chamber is provided on the rod-shaped body, and a sampling head is provided at the end of the connection part. A reagent strip communicating with the sampling head is provided inside the rod-shaped body. The material of the sampling head has capillary action. One end of the sampling head protrudes outside the connection part, and the other end is fixed inside the connection part. The sampling head utilizes its capillary action to absorb the liquid sample. The connection part corresponds to the first liquid chamber and is designed such that the sampling head that has absorbed the liquid sample breaks through the sealing layer and is inserted into the first liquid chamber. The liquid sample is mixed in the first liquid chamber, enters the reagent strip through the sampling head, and liquid mixing and detection are performed inside the apparatus. Thereby, the operation procedure can be simplified, secondary contamination of the reagent can be prevented, and the detection accuracy and detection efficiency can be improved.

[0007] Preferably, a flexible material for absorbing liquid is provided in the first liquid chamber. By the flexible material absorbing the liquid, it is possible to prevent the liquid from aggregating in droplets in the first liquid chamber. Also, when the flexible material is not compressed, there is no formed liquid in the first liquid chamber, and it is only necessary to let the flexible material absorb the liquid, without the need to fill the first liquid chamber with liquid. Thereby, the effect of reducing the usage amount of the buffer solution can be obtained. At the same time, liquid overflow can be reduced.

[0008] Furthermore, the flexible material may be a sponge body made of a rubber-plastic foaming material.

[0009] Preferably, the liquid absorbed by the flexible material is a buffer solution. The buffer solution has the effect of diluting the sample. After the connection part is inserted into the first liquid chamber, the sampling head comes into contact with the flexible material and absorbs the buffer solution.

[0010] Preferably, a rod-shaped case lid is provided outside the sealing layer, and a guiding device is provided on the rod-shaped case lid. The guiding device is installed along the axial direction of the first liquid chamber, and a sealing ring is provided inside the rod-shaped case lid. The rod-shaped case lid is fitted outside the first liquid chamber and serves to protect the sealing layer. Further, the connecting portion is inserted into the first liquid chamber along the guiding device, and the guiding device has a guiding function for guiding the insertion direction of the connecting portion. The sealing ring enhances the sealing performance between the rod-shaped case lid and the connecting portion, and even when the device is in an inclined, inverted, or other forms, the sampling head always remains in contact with the flexible material. This enables the sampling head to absorb the buffer solution uniformly.

[0011] Preferably, the rod-shaped case is further provided with a cavity corresponding to the connecting portion, and the depth of the cavity is set to be equal to or greater than the sum of the lengths of the connecting portion and the sampling head. By fitting the cavity outside the connecting portion, the sampling head can be protected, preventing it from being contaminated or damaged.

[0012] Preferably, the rod-shaped body includes an upper plate and a lower plate fitted to the upper plate, and the reagent strip is installed between the upper plate and the lower plate. After the sample mixture flows in and enters the rod-shaped body, it is controlled to move in only one determined direction.

[0013] Preferably, a sampling observation window is provided at a position on the connecting portion facing the sampling head. The sampling observation window is used to observe the sample absorption situation of the sampling head and to monitor and judge the sampling process.

[0014] Preferably, a color development observation window is provided at a position on the upper plate facing the color development portion of the reagent strip. The observation window is used to observe the color development situation of the reagent strip, or to observe the color of the reagent strip using a specific color developing material, and to judge the detection process to obtain the detection result.

[0015] In summary, the present invention has the following beneficial effects. (1) It uses a flexible material to absorb liquid and prevent the liquid from aggregating in droplets in the first liquid chamber. When the sponge body is not compressed, there is no liquid formed in the first liquid chamber, and it only needs to let the sponge body absorb the liquid, without the need to fill the first liquid chamber with liquid. This has the effect of reducing the usage amount of the buffer solution. At the same time, it can reduce the overflow of the liquid. (2) The guiding device provided outside the sealing layer has a guiding function for guiding the insertion direction of the connecting part. The sealing ring enhances the sealing performance between the rod-shaped case lid and the connecting part. Even when the device is in an inclined, inverted, or other forms, the sampling head always maintains contact with the flexible material. This enables the sampling head to absorb the buffer solution uniformly. (3) Due to the corresponding structure of the rod-shaped case and the rod-shaped body, in the present invention, liquid mixing and detection are carried out inside the device, which simplifies the operation procedure, prevents secondary contamination of the reagent, and can improve the detection accuracy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

[0018] Example The integrated liquid sample collection and detection device shown in FIG. 1 includes a rod-shaped body 1 and a rod-shaped case 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the rod-shaped body 1 includes an upper plate 2 and a lower plate 3 that fits into the upper plate 2, with a reagent strip 4 disposed between the lower plate 3 and the upper plate 2. A connector 5 is provided at one end of the rod-shaped body 1, and one end of a sampling head 6 is fixed inside the connector 5, while the other end protrudes outside the connector 5, with one end of the sampling head 6 in close contact with the reagent strip 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper plate 2 is provided with a color observation window 8 facing the colored portion of the reagent strip. The color observation window 8 is used to observe the color development of the reagent strip, and the connector 5 is provided with a sampling observation window 7 facing the sampling head. The sampling observation window 7 is used to observe the sample adsorption by the sampling head 6, thereby determining the progress of sampling.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 4 , the rod-shaped case 9 includes a first liquid chamber 10 corresponding to the connecting portion 5 and a cavity 14. The first liquid chamber 10 and the cavity 14 are arranged back-to-back, and the depth of the cavity 14 is equal to or greater than the combined length of the connecting portion 5 and the sampling head 6. A sponge mass 13 absorbing buffer solution is provided inside the first liquid chamber 10, and a sealing layer 11 seals the opening of the first liquid chamber 10. A rod-shaped case lid 12 is fitted to the outside of the sealing layer 11 along the outer axial direction of the first liquid chamber, and a guide device 16 is provided on the rod-shaped case lid 12. A seal ring is provided inside the rod-shaped case lid. The rod-shaped case lid protects the sealing layer 11, and the connecting portion is inserted into the first liquid chamber along the guide device 16. The guide device 16 guides the insertion direction of the connecting portion, and the seal ring 15 improves the seal between the rod-shaped case lid 12 and the connecting portion 5.

[0020] The operation procedure when using this invention is as follows. Insert the sampling head 6 into the liquid sample. The material of the sampling head 6 has capillary action, and the sampling head 6 utilizes this capillary action to absorb the liquid sample. Observe the sample absorption status of the sampling head 6 through the sampling observation window 7. After the absorption of the liquid sample is completed, the sampling head 6 is inserted into the rod-shaped case along the guiding device 16 and inserted into the first liquid chamber 10 by breaking through the sealing layer 11 of the rod-shaped case 9. After the connecting part 5 is inserted into the first liquid chamber 10, as shown in Fig. 5, the sampling head 6 compresses the sponge body 13 to squeeze out the buffer solution absorbed by the sponge body 13. The buffer solution passes through the sampling head 6 and is mixed with the sample on the sampling head 6, and the mixed sample flows to the reagent strip 4. Start the test of the reagent strip 4, observe the color reaction of the reagent strip 4 through the color observation window 8, and the detection result can be obtained.

[0021] In this embodiment, the sponge body 13 is used to absorb the buffer solution to prevent the buffer solution from aggregating in a droplet shape inside the first liquid chamber 10. Also, when the sponge body 13 is not compressed, there is no buffer solution formed inside the first liquid chamber 10, and it is only necessary to let the sponge body 13 absorb the buffer solution, and there is no need to fill the first liquid chamber 10 with the buffer solution. Thereby, it has the effect of reducing the usage amount of the buffer solution. At the same time, it can reduce the overflow of the buffer solution. The guiding device 16 has a guiding function for guiding the insertion direction of the connecting part, and the sealing ring 15 enhances the sealing performance between the rod-shaped case lid 12 and the connecting part 5. Even when the device is in a tilted, inverted, or other forms, the sampling head always maintains contact with the sponge body 13 so that the sampling head 6 can uniformly absorb the buffer solution. Overall, this invention performs liquid mixing and detection inside the device, simplifies the operation procedure, prevents secondary contamination of the reagent, and improves the detection accuracy.

[0022] The specific embodiments described in this specification are for exemplifying the gist of the present invention. Those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present invention can make various modifications, supplements, or substitutions by similar methods to the described specific embodiments. However, those changes do not deviate from the gist of the present invention or exceed the technical scope defined in the claims.

[0023] In this specification, terms such as rod-shaped case, rod-shaped body, first liquid chamber, cavity, etc. are frequently used, but the possibility of using other terms is not excluded. These terms are used to explain and interpret the essence of the present invention more clearly, and interpreting them restrictively is contrary to the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0024] 1 Rod-shaped body 2 Upper plate 3 Lower plate 4 Reagent strip 5 Connection part 6 Sampling head 7 Sampling observation window 8 Color development observation window 9 Rod-shaped case 10 First liquid chamber 11 Sealing layer 12 Rod-shaped case lid 13 Sponge body 14 Cavity 15 Sealing ring 16 Guide device

Claims

1. An apparatus that integrates the collection and detection of a liquid sample, comprising a rod-shaped case and a rod-shaped body, wherein a first liquid chamber is provided in the rod-shaped case, a sealing layer is provided at the opening of the first liquid chamber, a connecting portion corresponding to the first liquid chamber is provided on the rod-shaped body, a sampling head is provided at the end of the connecting portion, and a reagent strip communicating with the sampling head is provided inside the rod-shaped body. An apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample, characterized by the above.

2. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 1, wherein a flexible material for absorbing liquid is provided in the first liquid chamber.

3. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 2, wherein the liquid absorbed by the flexible material is a buffer solution.

4. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 3, wherein a rod-shaped case lid is provided outside the sealing layer, a guiding device is provided on the rod-shaped case lid, the guiding device is installed along the axial direction of the first liquid chamber, and a sealing ring is provided inside the rod-shaped case lid.

5. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 1, wherein the rod-shaped case is further provided with a cavity corresponding to the connecting portion, and the depth of the cavity is a length equal to or greater than the sum of the lengths of the connecting portion and the sampling head.

6. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 2, wherein the rod-shaped body includes an upper plate and a lower plate fitted to the upper plate, and the reagent strip is installed between the upper plate and the lower plate.

7. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 3, wherein a sampling observation window is provided at a position on the connecting portion facing the sampling head.

8. The apparatus for integrating the collection and detection of a liquid sample according to claim 6, wherein a color development observation window is provided at a position on the upper plate facing the color development portion of the reagent strip.

Images