Liquid Container Loss Detection in Automatic Analyzers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automatic analyzers face disruptions and high maintenance costs due to the loss of liquid containers during transportation, leading to unnecessary user intervention and reduced throughput, as they require immediate action even for empty containers, causing false contamination alarms.
Innovation Solution
Implement a method to monitor liquid container transport using sensors, determining if a lost container is filled with liquid, and only marking adjacent containers as potentially contaminated if it is, allowing uninterrupted measurement processing and enabling selective evaluation of results for potential errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a loss of liquid container is detected during transport operation, then measurement safety is improved by stopping all measurements, but analyzer throughput deteriorates due to unnecessary interruptions for empty containers
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different response actions based on the local condition of the lost container. When a container is lost, the system checks whether it contained liquid using sensor data and database information. If liquid was present, all measurements are stopped to prevent contamination. If the container was empty, measurements continue without interruption. This localized quality approach resolves the contradiction by making the safety response proportional to the actual risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter (measurement continuation or interruption) based on the detected state of the lost container. By evaluating parameters such as container filling status, liquid type, and contamination risk, the system dynamically adjusts whether to stop measurements or allow them to continue, thereby optimizing both safety and throughput.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If all measurements are stopped upon detecting a lost container, then contamination prevention is improved, but maintenance costs increase due to required user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-evaluation of the contamination risk by automatically checking whether the lost container contained liquid and assessing the potential impact on other containers. This self-service capability eliminates the need for immediate user intervention in low-risk scenarios (empty containers), reducing maintenance costs while maintaining contamination prevention through automated risk assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from sensors and database information to determine the appropriate response to a lost container. By continuously monitoring container status, liquid presence, and potential contamination pathways, the system provides feedback-driven decision-making that prevents unnecessary user interventions while maintaining adequate contamination prevention.
3Reliability
If user intervention is required for every lost container incident, then measurement safety is ensured, but time loss increases due to delayed analyzer resumption
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of the lost container's contents and contamination risk before determining the appropriate response. By pre-evaluating whether the container contained liquid and assessing the potential impact on measurements, the system can immediately continue operations in low-risk cases without waiting for user intervention, thereby reducing time loss while maintaining measurement safety through prior risk evaluation.
4Reliability
If continuous monitoring of transport operations is implemented, then loss detection is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional sensors and control logic
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multi-functional sensors and control units that serve multiple purposes. The same sensors used for general container detection are also used for determining liquid presence and container status. The control unit integrates loss detection, contamination risk assessment, and measurement control functions, reducing the need for separate dedicated components and thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces maintenance costs and ensures timely user intervention only when contamination risk is present, increasing analyzer throughput and providing early measurement results with high safety, requiring retesting only when necessary.
Implementation Method 1
various sensor systems are known to be used for the detection of a loss of a liquid container, such as Hall sensor systems to the gripping devices, photoelectric systems in host locations for the liquid container or cameras
Implementation Method 2
Many of the methods used in such automatically operating analyzers based on optical methods. are particularly common measurement systems based on photometric (turbidimetric example, nephelometric, fluorometric or luminometric) or radiometric measurement principles are based
Implementation Method 3
fluorometric or luminometric
Implementation Method 4
fluorometric or luminometric
Implementation Method 5
an aliquot of a body fluid is set thereby a biochemical reaction that a measurable change in an optical property causes the test mixture
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The present invention lies in the field of automatic analytical devices (1) and relates to an automatic warning system for potentially erroneous measurement results that may be caused by the loss of a liquid container during a transport process.