Sample pretreatment device

Abstract

A sample pretreatment device (10) including a reagent supply mechanism (14) for sucking a reagent from a reagent container (120) and supplying the reagent to a sample is provided with: a planned suction amount acquisition unit (21) that acquires a planned suction amount, which is a planned value of the amount of the reagent to be sucked by the reagent supply mechanism (14) from the reagent container (120); a mounting table mass measurement mechanism (13) that is provided on a mounting table on which the reagent container (120) is to be mounted to measure the mass of an object on the mounting table; an estimated suction amount acquisition unit (24) that acquires, on the basis of the difference between the masses of the reagent container on the mounting table, as measured by the mounting table mass measurement mechanism (13), before and after the suction by the reagent supply mechanism (14) , an estimated suction amount that is an estimated value of the amount of the reagent sucked from the reagent container (120); and a determination unit (25) that determines that the operation of the reagent supply mechanism (14) is normal when the difference between the planned suction amount and the estimated suction amount is equal to or less than a predetermined allowable error, and determines that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the reagent supply mechanism (14) or the mounting table mass measurement mechanism (13) when the difference exceeds the allowable error.

Description

Sample Pretreatment Device

[0001] The present invention relates to a pretreatment device that performs a process of adding a reagent before inspecting and analyzing a sample.

[0002] For example, when performing a biochemical test, a bacterial test, etc. on a sample composed of blood, a pretreatment of adding a reagent according to the content of the test is performed on the sample. In Patent Document 1, when performing species identification by a mass spectrometry method using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) on a blood culture specimen (corresponding to the sample) obtained by culturing blood infected with bacteria, it is described that a hemolytic reagent for lysing blood cells is added to the blood culture specimen.

[0003] Such pretreatment is usually automatically performed by a device called a pretreatment device with little human intervention. As an example of such a pretreatment device, Patent Document 2 describes one having a specimen container rack and a reagent bottle rack that respectively hold a specimen container and a reagent bottle, and a reagent supply mechanism (referred to as a "nozzle mechanism" in the same document). The reagent supply mechanism has a nozzle, a moving mechanism that moves the nozzle between the specimen container and the reagent bottle and also moves it up and down (between the inside and outside of the specimen container and the reagent bottle), and a suction / discharge mechanism that sucks and discharges the reagent by the nozzle. This reagent supply mechanism moves the tip of the nozzle into the reagent bottle by the moving mechanism, sucks the reagent in the reagent bottle by the suction / discharge mechanism, then moves the tip of the nozzle into the specimen container by the moving mechanism, and discharges the reagent in the nozzle by the suction / discharge mechanism to supply the reagent to the specimen (sample) in the specimen container.

[0004] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2024-104883, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-235076

[0005] The suction and dispensing mechanism used in sample preparation comprises, for example, a cylinder, a piston that moves within the cylinder, and a motor that moves the piston. In such a suction and dispensing mechanism, the amount of reagent aspirated and dispensed can be precisely controlled based on the rotation angle of the motor, so if it is operating correctly, a predetermined amount of reagent can be accurately supplied to the sample container. However, if, for example, the amount of reagent remaining in the reagent bottle is insufficient, air may be aspirated instead of reagent, and the correct amount of reagent cannot be supplied to the sample container. As a result, there is a risk that the user may perform the test and analysis of the sample without realizing that the correct amount of reagent has not been supplied.

[0006] The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a sample pretreatment device that can confirm whether or not the correct amount of reagent is supplied during sample pretreatment.

[0007] The present invention, made to solve the above problems, is a sample pretreatment device equipped with a reagent supply mechanism that aspirates a reagent from a reagent container and supplies it to a sample, comprising: an aspiration amount acquisition unit that acquires an aspiration amount which is a predetermined value of the amount of reagent that the reagent supply mechanism will aspirate from the reagent container; a platform mass measuring mechanism provided on a platform on which the reagent container is placed, which measures the mass of an object on the platform; an aspiration amount estimate acquisition unit that acquires an aspiration amount which is an estimated value of the amount of reagent aspirated from the reagent container, based on the difference in mass of the reagent container on the platform before and after aspiration by the reagent supply mechanism, as measured by the platform mass measuring mechanism; and a determination unit that determines that the operation of the reagent supply mechanism is normal when the difference between the aspiration amount and the aspiration amount is less than or equal to a predetermined tolerance error, and determines that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the reagent supply mechanism or the platform mass measuring mechanism when the difference exceeds the tolerance error.

[0008] In the sample pretreatment device according to the present invention, when supplying a reagent to a sample, the reagent supply mechanism aspirates a predetermined amount of reagent from the reagent container. Simultaneously, the mounting stage mass measuring mechanism measures the mass of the reagent container placed on the mounting stage before and after aspirating the reagent (here, the measurement after aspirating is usually performed after multiple aspirating processes, but it may also be performed after each aspirating process), and the difference between the two is obtained as the estimated aspirated amount. Note that the "amount" in the estimated aspirated amount and the planned aspirated amount obtained by the planned aspirated amount acquisition unit may be the mass of the reagent, or it may be a quantity other than mass, such as the volume of the reagent.

[0009] If both the reagent supply mechanism and the platform mass measurement mechanism are functioning correctly, both the planned suction volume and the estimated suction volume will fall below their respective tolerances from the true suction volume, and therefore the difference between the planned suction volume and the estimated suction volume will also be below the tolerance. However, as mentioned above, the reagent supply mechanism may malfunction due to air intake, and the platform mass measurement mechanism may also malfunction for various reasons. For example, if a load cell is used in the platform mass measurement mechanism, changes in the operating environment such as temperature, or creep deformation of the load cell due to continuous use over a long period, may result in measurement errors exceeding the tolerance range. Note that the value obtained by the suction estimate acquisition unit may have measurement errors, and is therefore called the suction estimate, not the confirmed suction volume. If a malfunction occurs in either the reagent supply mechanism or the platform mass measurement mechanism, the difference between the planned suction volume and the estimated suction volume will exceed the tolerance, and the judgment unit will determine that a malfunction has occurred in either the reagent supply mechanism or the platform mass measurement mechanism.

[0010] As described above, with the sample pretreatment device according to the present invention, when an inaccurate amount of reagent is aspirated due to a malfunction in the reagent supply mechanism, the difference between the planned aspiration amount and the estimated aspiration amount exceeds a predetermined value, and the determination unit determines that there is an abnormality. Therefore, it is possible to prevent pretreatment from being performed with such an inaccurate amount of reagent aspirated.

[0011] Furthermore, if there is an abnormality in the operation of the mounting platform mass measurement mechanism, the judgment unit will determine that there is an abnormality, even if the reagent supply mechanism is operating normally. However, this is a so-called safety-side operation and does not affect the prevention of pretreatment being performed with an inaccurate amount of reagent aspirated.

[0012] A schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the sample pretreatment apparatus according to the present invention. A schematic diagram showing the reagent aspiration and dispensing mechanism used in the pretreatment apparatus of this embodiment. A flowchart showing the operation of the pretreatment apparatus of this embodiment. A graph showing an example of the operation of a load cell used in a general pretreatment apparatus.

[0013] An embodiment of the sample pretreatment device according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the "sample pretreatment device," omitting "sample pretreatment device") will be described using Figures 1 to 4.

[0014] (1) Configuration of the pre-processing apparatus of this embodiment The pre-processing apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes a sample container holding unit 11, a reagent container mounting platform 12, a mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13, a reagent suction and dispensing mechanism 141, a robot arm 142, a control unit 20, an input unit 30, a display unit 40, etc. The reagent supply mechanism 14 is formed by combining the reagent suction and dispensing mechanism 141 and the robot arm 142. The robot arm 142 is used not only as part of the reagent supply mechanism 14, but also when loading and unloading sample containers, reagent containers, etc. to and from the pre-processing apparatus 10.

[0015] The sample container holding unit 11 is a rack that holds multiple (tens to hundreds) sample containers 110 containing samples. In the sample container holding unit 11, individual sample containers 110 may be loaded and unloaded from the outside into racks that are permanently positioned, or the entire rack may be loaded and unloaded from the outside. Examples of samples contained in the sample containers 110 include blood culture specimens that are the subject of tests such as biochemical tests and bacteriological tests.

[0016] The reagent container stand 12 is designed to hold one or more reagent containers 120 containing reagents. Each reagent container 120 contains enough reagents for multiple samples (sample containers 110) so that reagents can be supplied to multiple samples without needing to be refilled. When multiple reagent containers 120 are placed on the stand, each container 120 is typically filled with different reagents so that the appropriate reagent is used for each application. Examples of reagents contained in the reagent containers 120 include hemolytic reagents used to dissolve blood cells contained in samples consisting of blood culture specimens.

[0017] The mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 measures the mass of the reagent containers 120 placed on the reagent container mounting platform 12, including the reagents contained within the reagent containers 120. When multiple reagent containers 120 are placed on the reagent container mounting platform 12, the mass of each reagent container 120 may be measured individually, or the mass of multiple reagent containers 120 may be measured together. In this embodiment, the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 uses a scale equipped with a load cell. Load cells have the advantage of being less expensive and requiring less installation space than other mass measuring devices such as capacitive type scales.

[0018] As shown in the schematic diagram of Figure 2, the reagent aspiration and dispensing mechanism 141 includes a main body 1411, a nozzle portion 1412 protruding from the main body 1411, a pipette tip 1413 detachably attached to the tip of the nozzle portion 1412, and an aspiration and dispensing device 1414 provided inside the main body 1411. The aspiration and dispensing device 1414 includes a cylinder, a piston that moves within the cylinder, and a stepping motor that moves the piston (details of these are not shown). The pretreatment device 10 also includes a pipette tip storage section 151 for storing unused pipette tips 1413 and a pipette tip disposal box 152 for storing used pipette tips 1413. Each time the reagent supplied to the sample is changed, the robotic arm 142 moves the reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism 141 to the pipette tip disposal box 152, discards the used pipette tip 1413, then moves it to the pipette tip storage section 151, and installs an unused pipette tip 1413. The aspiration / dispensing device 1414 moves a piston by rotating the stepping motor while the pipette tip 1413 is immersed in the reagent in the reagent container 120, thereby drawing a volume of reagent corresponding to the rotation angle of the stepping motor into the pipette tip 1413. Furthermore, the aspiration / dispensing device 1414 can supply the reagent in the pipette tip 1413 to the sample in the sample container 110 by rotating the stepping motor in the reverse direction and moving the piston in the reverse direction. As long as the reagent supply mechanism 14 is functioning correctly, the exact amount of reagent can be supplied to the sample by drawing the reagent using the stepping motor in this manner.

[0019] As described above, the robot arm 142 is part of the reagent supply mechanism 14 and moves between the reagent container 120 and the sample container 110 in conjunction with the reagent suction and dispensing mechanism 141. In addition, the robot arm 142 also has the role of moving the sample container 110 and the reagent container 120. When moving the sample container 110 and the reagent container 120, the reagent suction and dispensing mechanism 141 may be housed in the reagent suction and dispensing mechanism housing section 140 within the pretreatment device 10. Furthermore, the robot arm 142 may be able to grasp the sample container 110 and the reagent container 120 at a position lower than the tip of the reagent suction and dispensing mechanism 141.

[0020] The control unit 20 controls each part of the preprocessing device 10 and is realized by a CPU, memory and storage devices such as hard disks, other hardware and software that operates that hardware. The control unit 20 has functional blocks such as a planned suction amount acquisition unit 21, a mass acquisition unit on the mounting platform 22, a reagent supply processing execution unit 23, an estimated suction amount acquisition unit 24, a determination unit 25, and a determination result notification processing unit 26.

[0021] The planned aspiration volume acquisition unit 21 performs the process of acquiring the planned aspiration volume, which is the planned mass of reagent to be aspirated by the reagent supply mechanism 14 from the reagent container 120. Normally, the mass or volume of reagent to be supplied for one sample is a predetermined value for each reagent, so the planned aspiration volume acquisition unit 21 can acquire the planned aspiration volume by reading these predetermined values ​​that have been stored in the storage device of the control unit 20 in advance, or by having the user input these predetermined values ​​using the input unit 30. If the planned aspiration volume is defined by volume, the planned aspiration volume can be defined by mass by taking the product of the specific gravity of the reagent and the volume.

[0022] The mounting platform mass acquisition unit 22 reads the mass value signal output by the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 and performs the process of acquiring the measured mass of the object on the reagent container mounting platform 12 (i.e., the reagent container 120 in which the reagent is stored). The timing at which the mounting platform mass acquisition unit 22 acquires the measured mass is before the reagent supply mechanism 14 starts supplying reagent to the sample (before reagent aspiration) and after the reagent has been supplied a predetermined number of times (after reagent aspiration).

[0023] The suction estimate acquisition unit 24 processes the difference between the mass values ​​acquired by the platform mass acquisition unit 22 before and after reagent aspiration, respectively, and uses this difference as the suction estimate, which is the estimated mass of the reagent aspirationd from the reagent container 120 on the reagent container platform 12. Note that the mass of the reagent container 120 itself does not change before and after aspiration, so it is subtracted when calculating the difference in mass values ​​of the reagent container 120 before and after aspiration. Therefore, the mass of the reagent container 120 itself does not need to be known. The reason why the value obtained by the suction estimate acquisition unit 24 is called an "estimated value" rather than a definitive value of the reagent mass is that, as described later, there is a possibility that the correct value may not be obtained due to an abnormality in the operation of the platform mass measurement mechanism 13.

[0024] The determination unit 25 performs a process to determine whether the reagent supply mechanism 14 has operated correctly. Specifically, the determination unit 25 first obtains the planned aspiration amount from the planned aspiration amount acquisition unit 21 and the estimated aspiration amount from the estimated aspiration amount acquisition unit 24, and then calculates the difference between the two. If this difference is less than or equal to a predetermined tolerance error, the determination unit 25 determines that the reagent supply mechanism 14 (and the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13) is operating normally. On the other hand, if the difference between the planned aspiration amount and the estimated aspiration amount exceeds the tolerance error, the determination unit 25 determines that there is an abnormality in the operation of the reagent supply mechanism 14 or the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13. Alternatively, the volumes of the estimated aspiration amount and the planned aspiration amount may be determined using the estimated aspiration amount, the planned aspiration amount, and the specific gravity of the target reagent, and the difference between these volumes may be calculated.

[0025] The judgment result notification processing unit 26 executes a process to notify the user of the preprocessor 10 of the result of the judgment made by the judgment unit 25 in a predetermined manner. Methods for notifying the user of the judgment result include displaying the judgment result on the display unit 40 or emitting a warning sound when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred.

[0026] The input unit 30 is a device for the user to input predetermined information. A keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc., can be used for the input unit 30. The display unit 40 is a display that shows the judgment results described above and other information related to the operation of the preprocessing device 10.

[0027] In addition, the pretreatment device 10 may be equipped with a temperature control mechanism (not shown) for maintaining the temperature of the sample in the sample container 110 within a predetermined temperature range, and a device (centrifuge 16 in the example shown in Figure 1) for shaking or centrifuging the sample to which the reagent has been added.

[0028] (2) The operation of the preprocessor 10 of this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart of the operation diagram 3 of the preprocessor of this embodiment. Prior to this, sample containers 110 containing samples are brought into the sample container holding section 11, reagent containers 120 containing reagents are brought into the reagent container mounting section 12, and unused pipette tips 1413 are brought into the pipette tip storage section 151, either by an automatic transport device provided outside the preprocessor 10 or by the user.

[0029] When the user operates the input unit 30 to perform a predetermined start process, the planned aspiration amount acquisition unit 21 acquires the planned aspiration amount from information previously stored in the storage device of the control unit 20 or from information entered by the user through the input unit 30 (step 1). The planned aspiration amount acquired here is the mass of reagent to be aspirated in one aspiration operation (i.e., supplied to one sample).

[0030] At the same time, the mounting platform mass acquisition unit 22 acquires the initial mass value (mass value before reagent aspiration) of the reagent container 120 on the reagent container mounting platform 12 from the mounting platform mass measurement mechanism 13 (step 2).

[0031] Next, the reagent supply processing execution unit 23 controls the robot arm 142 as follows to perform the operation of supplying the reagent in the reagent container 120 to the sample in the sample container 110 (step 3). First, the robot arm 142 moves to the reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism housing 140 and grasps the reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism 141 housed in the reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism housing 140. Next, the robot arm 142 moves to the pipette tip housing 151 and attaches one of the pipette tips 1413 housed in the pipette tip housing 151 to the nozzle portion 1412 of the reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism 141. Next, the robot arm 142 moves to the reagent container stand 12 and inserts the tip of the pipette tip 1413 into the reagent container 120 that contains the reagent predetermined by user input, etc., from among the multiple reagent containers 120 placed on the reagent container stand 12, and aspirates the reagent from the reagent container 120. The mass or volume of reagent aspirated at this time is a predetermined value, which is set by the reagent supply processing execution unit 23 obtaining a value recorded in the storage device or by the user inputting it from the input unit 30. Subsequently, the robot arm 142 moves to the sample container holding unit 11, inserts the tip of the pipette tip 1413 into one of the multiple sample containers 110 held in the sample container holding unit 11, and dispenses the reagent from the pipette tip 1413. Through the operations described so far, reagent is supplied to the sample in one of the sample containers 110.

[0032] Subsequently, the robot arm 142 moves to the reagent container stand 12, aspirates the reagent from the reagent container 120, then moves to the sample container holding unit 11, and dispenses the reagent into another sample container 110, repeating this operation. While using the same reagent, the same pipette tip 1413 can be used repeatedly. On the other hand, if the reagent needs to be changed midway through, the robot arm 142 moves to the pipette tip disposal box 152 to discard the used pipette tip 1413, moves to the pipette tip storage unit 151 to attach a new, unused pipette tip 1413 to the nozzle unit 1412, and then performs the operation to supply the changed reagent.

[0033] After supplying a predetermined number of samples with reagents through the operations in Step 3, the mounting stage mass acquisition unit 22 acquires the current mass (mass value after reagent aspiration) of the reagent container 120 on the reagent container mounting stage 12 from the mounting stage mass measurement mechanism 13 (Step 4). The "predetermined number" here may be the total number of samples to be injected with reagents, but it is preferable that it be less than the total number of samples. This allows the process to confirm the normal operation of the pretreatment device 10, as described below, to be performed at multiple timings until reagents are injected into all samples, thereby reducing the number of samples that cannot be analyzed (and must be discarded) due to the injection of reagents with inaccurate masses.

[0034] After step 4 above, the aspiration estimate acquisition unit 24 calculates the difference between the mass value of the reagent before aspiration and the mass value of the reagent after aspiration, which was acquired by the mounting platform mass acquisition unit 22, as the aspiration estimate (step 5).

[0035] Next, the determination unit 25 calculates the difference between the total planned aspiration amount from the start of the operation to the present time, which is the value obtained by multiplying the planned aspiration amount per aspiration operation by the predetermined number, as acquired by the planned aspiration amount acquisition unit 21 in step 1, and the estimated aspiration amount obtained by the estimated aspiration amount acquisition unit 24. Then, the determination unit 25 determines whether this difference is less than or equal to a predetermined tolerance error (step 6). Here, the tolerance error can be defined as the sum of the tolerance error that may occur in the reagent supply mechanism 14 and the tolerance error that may occur in the mounting stage mass measuring mechanism 13.

[0036] If the result of the determination in step 6 is "YES," that is, if the difference between the planned aspiration volume and the estimated aspiration volume is less than or equal to the allowable error, the determination unit 25 determines that the reagent supply mechanism 14 (and the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13) is operating normally (step 7), and displays this determination result on the display unit 40 (step 9). On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step 6 is "NO," that is, if the difference between the planned aspiration volume and the estimated aspiration volume exceeds the allowable error, the determination unit 25 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of either the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 or the reagent supply mechanism 14 (step 8), and displays this determination result on the display unit 40 (step 9). With the above operations, the series of operations is completed.

[0037] When the reagent supply mechanism 14 is determined to be operating normally, it is preferable to specify the planned aspiration amount (the planned aspiration amount per aspiration multiplied by the number of aspirations (= the predetermined number)) as the actual amount of reagent used, rather than the estimated aspiration amount. This is because, generally, when both the platform mass measuring mechanism 13 and the reagent supply mechanism 14 are operating normally, the mass controlled by the reagent supply mechanism 14 using a stepping motor is more accurate than the mass measured by the platform mass measuring mechanism 13 using a load cell. From this amount of reagent used and the amount of reagent in the reagent container 120 at the initial point, the amount of reagent remaining in the reagent container 120 at the present time can be determined. In this way, the pretreatment device 10 of this embodiment contributes to reagent management.

[0038] On the other hand, when an abnormal result is displayed on the display unit 40, the user should take the following actions. First, any sample that has undergone reagent injection before the result is displayed should be discarded, as it may not have received the correct amount of reagent, which could prevent proper analysis. At the same time, the user should check whether the abnormality is in the mounting platform mass measurement mechanism 13 or the reagent supply mechanism 14, as described below.

[0039] When using a mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 equipped with a load cell, as in this embodiment, there is a higher possibility of malfunctions occurring due to a shift in the zero point of the load cell than to malfunctions in the reagent supply mechanism 14. Here, "shift in the zero point" refers to the phenomenon where the load cell (or the strain gauge attached to it) shows a value other than 0, even when no load is applied, due to creep deformation of the load cell caused by repeated use over a long period of time. When such creep deformation occurs, as shown in Figure 4, the measurement value of the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 deviates more and more from the true mass of the reagent container 120 as time passes and the measurement value decreases due to the consumption of reagents. In addition to creep deformation, errors can also occur in the load cell due to differences in the temperature of the operating environment. Therefore, first, the reagent container 120 is removed from the reagent container mounting platform 12, and then it is checked whether the measurement value of the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 becomes 0. If a shift in the zero point occurs in this measurement value, zero point correction is performed so that the measurement value at the current time (with the reagent container 120 removed) becomes 0.

[0040] In this way, when performing zero-point correction, it is necessary to remove the reagent container 120 from the reagent container mounting stage 12. Therefore, if zero-point correction is performed frequently, the pre-processing is interrupted each time. In contrast, with the pre-processing device 10 of this embodiment, zero-point correction is only required when the determination unit 25 determines that there is an abnormality. This reduces the frequency of interruptions to pre-processing, allowing for efficient pre-processing of many samples.

[0041] On the other hand, if the measurement value of the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 after removing the reagent container 120 is 0, other causes other than zero point shift should be considered. For example, other possible causes of abnormality in the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13 include a malfunction in the temperature control mechanism, which caused a temperature change and altered the measurement value of the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism 13. Also, possible abnormalities in the reagent supply mechanism 14 include the stepping motor running idly, or the amount of reagent in the reagent container 120 decreasing more than expected due to some reason (e.g., damage to the reagent container 120), causing air to be accidentally drawn in.

[0042] As described above, when an abnormality is determined by the determination unit 25, the cause of the abnormality is not necessarily due to the reagent supply mechanism 14. However, when an abnormality occurs in the reagent supply mechanism 14, the determination unit 25 will surely determine it as an abnormality. Therefore, according to the pretreatment apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent an inaccurate amount of reagent from being aspirated and supplied to the sample, and thereby prevent incorrect pretreatment from being performed.

[0043] As described above, an embodiment of the sample pretreatment apparatus according to the present invention has been described. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible.

[0044] [Aspect] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the above-described exemplary embodiments are specific examples of the following aspects.

[0045] (Item 1) One aspect of the present invention is a sample pretreatment apparatus including a reagent supply mechanism that aspirates a reagent from a reagent container and supplies it to a sample. An aspiration estimated amount acquisition unit that acquires an estimated aspiration amount, which is a planned value of the mass of aspirating a reagent from the reagent container, by the reagent supply mechanism; A stage mass measurement mechanism provided on a stage on which the reagent container is placed, for measuring the mass of an object on the stage; An aspiration estimated amount acquisition unit that acquires an estimated amount of aspirated reagent, which is an estimated value of the mass of the reagent aspirated from the reagent container, based on the difference in the mass of the reagent container on the stage before and after aspiration by the reagent supply mechanism measured by the stage mass measurement mechanism; And a determination unit that determines that the operation of the reagent supply mechanism is normal when the difference between the aspiration estimated amount and the aspiration estimated amount is within a predetermined allowable error, and determines that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the reagent supply mechanism or the stage mass measurement mechanism when the difference exceeds the allowable error.

[0046] According to the sample pretreatment apparatus according to Item 1, when an inaccurate amount of reagent is aspirated due to an abnormality of the reagent supply mechanism, the difference between the aspiration estimated amount and the aspiration estimated amount exceeds a predetermined value, and thereby the determination unit determines it as an abnormality. Therefore, it is possible to prevent pretreatment from being performed in a state where such an inaccurate amount of reagent is aspirated. <动

[0047] Note that the "quantity" in the estimated suction quantity and the estimated suction amount may be the mass of the reagent, or a quantity other than mass, such as the volume of the reagent.

[0048] (Second paragraph) The sample pretreatment apparatus according to the second paragraph is the apparatus according to the first paragraph, wherein the mounting table mass measurement mechanism includes a load cell.

[0049] The load cell has the feature that it can be cheaper and require less installation space than other mass measurement devices such as a capacitance type.

[0050] On the other hand, since the load cell also has the drawback that the zero point shifts due to creep deformation when repeatedly used for a long period of time, etc., and a measurement error occurs, even if the measurement error is within the allowable range, the accuracy is lower than the suction amount obtained based on the estimated suction quantity of the reagent supply mechanism. However, in the sample pretreatment apparatus according to the second paragraph, since the load cell is used not to obtain the suction amount but to confirm the presence or absence of an abnormality in the reagent supply mechanism, the suction amount can be accurately obtained based on the estimated suction quantity of the reagent supply mechanism confirmed to be normal.

[0051] (Third paragraph) The sample pretreatment apparatus according to the third paragraph is the apparatus according to the first or second paragraph, further including notification means for notifying the user of the result determined by the determination unit.

[0052] According to the sample pretreatment apparatus according to the third paragraph, since the determination result by the determination unit is notified to the user by the notification means, the user can immediately determine the presence or absence of an abnormality.

[0053] For the notification means, for example, a configuration for displaying the determination result on a display, corresponding to the determination result notification processing unit 26 and the display unit 40 of the above embodiment, can be used. Alternatively, a warning sound may be emitted or a warning lamp may be lit when the determination unit determines an abnormality.

[0054] 10...Pre-processing device 11...Sample container holder 110...Sample container 12...Reagent container stand 120...Reagent container 13...Stand mass measurement mechanism 14...Reagent supply mechanism 140...Reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism housing 141...Reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism 1411...Main body of reagent aspiration / dispensing mechanism 1412...Nozzle part 1413...Pipette tip 1414...Aspiration / dispensing device 142...Robot arm 151...Pipette tip housing 152...Pipette tip waste box 16...Centrifuge 20...Control unit 21...Aspiration planned amount acquisition unit 22...Stand mass acquisition unit 23...Reagent supply processing execution unit 24...Aspiration estimated amount acquisition unit 25...Determination unit 26...Determination result notification processing unit 30...Input unit 40...Display unit

Claims

1. A sample pretreatment device equipped with a reagent supply mechanism for aspirating a reagent from a reagent container and supplying it to a sample, comprising: an aspiration amount acquisition unit that acquires an aspiration amount which is a predetermined value of the amount of reagent to be aspirated by the reagent supply mechanism from the reagent container; a platform mass measuring mechanism provided on a platform on which the reagent container is placed, for measuring the mass of an object on the platform; an aspiration estimate acquisition unit that acquires an aspiration estimate which is an estimated value of the amount of reagent aspirated from the reagent container based on the difference in mass of the reagent container on the platform before and after aspiration by the reagent supply mechanism, as measured by the platform mass measuring mechanism; and a determination unit that determines that the operation of the reagent supply mechanism is normal when the difference between the aspiration amount and the aspiration estimate is less than or equal to a predetermined tolerance error, and determines that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the reagent supply mechanism or the platform mass measuring mechanism when the difference exceeds the tolerance error.

2. The sample pretreatment device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting platform mass measuring mechanism includes a load cell.

3. The sample preprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notification means for notifying the user of the result determined by the determination unit.

Images