Automatic Analyzer Sample Priority Control for Emergency Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic analyzers face challenges in efficiently managing the dispensing order of samples, particularly when emergency samples need priority analysis, leading to increased analysis times and difficulties in responding to various operational environments.
Innovation Solution
An automatic analyzer and control method that allows flexible sample disk configuration without predefined installation positions, enabling dynamic priority setting and dispensing orders based on emergency, quality control, and general samples, with options to interrupt standard solutions or quality control samples to prioritize emergency samples.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a fixed dispensing priority order is set (standard solution → emergency sample → quality control sample → general sample), then the system structure is simple and easy to operate, but the analysis time increases when emergency samples need to be prioritized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic priority assignment where the control unit can change the dispensing priority of samples based on real-time operational needs. When an emergency sample is detected, the system dynamically adjusts its priority to be higher than standard solutions and quality control samples, allowing flexible response to different operational scenarios while maintaining a structured control framework
2Loss of time
If emergency samples are always given highest priority, then emergency sample analysis is rapid, but standard solution measurement may be delayed causing invalid calibration curves
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of emergency samples and proactively manages the dispensing sequence. When an emergency sample is detected, the control unit preemptively adjusts the priority before dispensing begins, ensuring rapid response while the system simultaneously checks whether standard solutions have been recently measured to maintain calibration validity
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit changes the priority parameter of samples dynamically based on sample type and operational context. The priority is not fixed but can be adjusted in real-time, allowing the system to optimize between emergency response speed and calibration maintenance by changing the dispensing priority parameter according to current needs
3Device complexity
If predefined installation positions are used on the sample disk, then the device structure is simple, but the system cannot adapt to various operational environments and sample types
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a barcode reader to dynamically identify sample types and automatically determines the optimal dispensing priority based on the detected sample information. This dynamic identification and priority assignment system allows the analyzer to adapt to various operational environments and sample types without requiring complex predefined position configurations or manual setup
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided an automatic analyzer and a control method of the automatic analyzer capable of coping with various operational environments. A storage unit 127 of an automatic analyzer 101 stores information on a priority of dispensing among various samples and information on a constraint condition of the priority of dispensing of the various samples. A control unit 128 controls, based on the information on the priority and the information on the constraint condition, an operation of a sample disk 102 and a sample dispensing mechanism 104 such that the samples are sequentially dispensed from a sample of a type having a highest priority while following the constraint condition.