Apparatus for multiple automatic analysis of biosamples, method for autoanalysis, and reaction cuvette
| Title: | Apparatus for multiple automatic analysis of biosamples, method for autoanalysis, and reaction cuvette |
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| Patent Number: | 9,341,640 |
| Publication Date: | May 17, 2016 |
| Appl. No: | 11/910408 |
| Application Filed: | April 03, 2006 |
| Abstract: | A biosample autoanalyzer including: a sample supply unit having a plurality of biosamples; a first measuring unit fitted with a first optical measuring device; a sample transport capable of transporting the biosamples from the sample supply unit to the reaction cuvettes on the first measuring unit; a second measuring unit fitted with a second optical measuring device; a cuvette transfer device capable of transferring the reaction cuvettes to the second measuring unit; a reagent supply unit having reagents; and (7) a reagent transport device capable of transporting reaction reagents to the reaction cuvettes. The analyzer is operated wherein the reaction cuvettes on the second measuring unit are dispensed with the biosamples on the first measuring unit, subsequently transferred from the first measuring unit to the second measuring unit by the cuvette transfer device, such that different measurements are carried out by the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit. |
| Inventors: | Shintani, Etsurou (Tokyo, JP); Goukura, Akira (Tokyo, JP); Yokota, Kenichi (Tokyo, JP); Ogura, Minoru (Tokyo, JP) |
| Assignees: | MITSUBISHI KAGAKU IATRON, INC. (Tokyo, JP) |
| Claim: | 1. A reaction cuvette having: a main part comprising parallel flat side walls, a rounded portion of an inner bottom, a recess with a rounded wall surface extending into an outer bottom face of the main part toward the inner bottom, and a slot extending from the center of the recess and further towards the inner bottom than the recess, the slot configured to receive a tip of a stirring rod, wherein the rounded portion has a hemispherical or elliptic hemispherical bottom face, and wherein the rounded wall surface is hemispherical, elliptical hemispherical, circular conical, or truncated conical. |
| Claim: | 2. The reaction cuvette according to claim 1 , further having a mounting projection protruding from an upper sidewall of the cuvette main part, the mounting projection having an arc-shaped form. |
| Claim: | 3. The reaction cuvette according to claim 2 , further comprising a fixing projection protruding downward from an undersurface of the mounting projection. |
| Claim: | 4. The reaction cuvette according to claim 1 , wherein the parallel flat side walls of the main part of the cuvette comprise four parallel flat side walls. |
| Claim: | 5. The reaction cuvette according claim 1 , wherein the slot does not extend through the main part. |
| Claim: | 6. The reaction cuvette according claim 1 , wherein the center of the recess is the furthest portion of the recesses towards the inner bottom. |
| Claim: | 7. A combination comprising the reaction cuvette according to claim 1 and a stirring device. |
| Claim: | 8. An apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples comprising a sample supply unit configured to hold a plurality of biosamples; a first measuring unit fitted with a first optical measuring means, said first measuring unit being capable of detachably holding, in mutually independent manner, a plurality of reaction cuvettes independent from each other; a sample transport means capable of transporting the biosamples from the sample supply unit to one of the plurality of reaction cuvettes on the first measuring unit; a second measuring unit fitted with a second optical measuring means, said second measuring unit being capable of receiving a reaction cuvette transferred from the first measuring unit and detachably holding, in a mutually independent manner, a plurality of reaction cuvettes independent from each other; a reagent supply unit configured to hold reagents for use in a measurement by the first measuring unit and in a measurement by the second measuring unit; and a reagent transport means capable of transporting reaction reagents, in a mutually independent manner, from the reagent supply unit to one of the plurality of reaction cuvettes on at least one of the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit, wherein the plurality of the reaction cuvettes on the second measuring unit are dispensed with the biosamples on the first measuring unit, and wherein the plurality of the reaction cuvettes are subsequently transferred from the first measuring unit to the second measuring unit by the cuvette transfer means to stand thereon; wherein at least one of the plurality of the reaction cuvettes is the reaction cuvette of claim 1 ; and wherein different measurements are carried out by the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit. |
| Claim: | 9. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein the measurement by the first measuring unit and the measurement by the second measuring unit are different from each other with respect to a measuring principle or a detection mode. |
| Claim: | 10. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein the measurement carried out by the second measuring unit has a sensitivity or an accuracy higher than that of the measurement carried out by the first measuring unit. |
| Claim: | 11. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein the measurement carried out by the first measuring unit is a biochemical or latex agglutination measurement, and the measurement carried out by the second measuring unit is an enzymatic immunoassay. |
| Claim: | 12. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein each of the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit is a rotatable disc having a mounting zone capable of transporting the reaction cuvettes in a direction of rotation, in a peripheral region thereof, or a reciprocatable plate having a mounting zone capable of transporting the reaction cuvettes in a direction of reciprocation. |
| Claim: | 13. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , further comprising one or more additional measuring units fitted with an optical measuring means, and capable of detachably holding, in a mutually independent manner, a plurality of reaction cuvettes independent from each other, wherein a measurement different from those carried out by the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit is carried out thereby. |
| Claim: | 14. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 13 , wherein the reaction cuvettes on the additional measuring unit are dispensed with the biosamples on the first measuring unit, and subsequently transferred from the first measuring unit to the additional measuring unit to stand thereon. |
| Claim: | 15. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 13 , wherein the additional measuring unit is a rotatable disc having a mounting zone capable of transporting the reaction cuvettes in a direction of rotation, in a peripheral region thereof, or a reciprocatable plate having a mounting zone capable of transporting the reaction cuvettes in a direction of reciprocation. |
| Claim: | 16. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples, according to claim 13 , wherein the first measuring unit includes a first optical detector that is configured for a colorimetric or nephelometric measurement, the second measuring unit includes a second optical detector that is configured for a chemiluminescent measurement, and the additional measuring unit includes a third optical detector that is configured for a blood coagulation time measurement, and wherein the first, second and third optical detectors differ from one another. |
| Claim: | 17. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 13 , wherein the first optical measuring means in the first measuring unit, the second optical measuring means in the second measuring unit, and one or more optical measuring means in one or more additional measuring units are optical detectors different from each other. |
| Claim: | 18. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 17 , wherein the first optical measuring means in the first measuring unit, the second optical measuring means in the second measuring unit, and one of the optical measuring means in the one or more additional measuring units are optical detectors different from each other, and each of the detectors is any one of (1) an optical detector containing a light emission diode and a diode array, (2) an optical detector containing a lamp unit and a spectrometer, and (3) an optical detector containing a photomultiplier as a photodetector. |
| Claim: | 19. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 13 , wherein the reagent supply unit further comprises a concentric ring reagent storing lane in which reagents to be supplied to the reaction cuvettes on one or more additional measuring units are stored. |
| Claim: | 20. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , further comprising one or more independent measuring units wherein the biosamples are supplied directly from the sample supply unit, and the measurement thereon can be conducted without a supply of any reagents from the reagent supply unit. |
| Claim: | 21. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 20 , wherein the independent measuring unit includes an ion detector and is configured to measure body fluid electrolytes. |
| Claim: | 22. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 20 , wherein at least one of the first measuring unit, the second measuring unit, and the one or more independent measuring units contains a means for detecting an abnormal sample. |
| Claim: | 23. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 20 , wherein at least one of the first measuring unit, the second measuring unit, and the one or more additional measuring units contains a means for detecting an abnormal sample. |
| Claim: | 24. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 20 , wherein the reagent supply unit further comprises a concentric ring reagent storing lane in which reagents to be supplied to the reaction cuvettes on one or more independent measuring units are stored. |
| Claim: | 25. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein the reagent supply unit contains a plurality of concentric ring reagent storing lanes which are independently rotatable in a same or counter directions and stoppable, and reagents to be supplied to the reaction cuvettes on the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit are stored in each of the concentric ring reagent storing lanes, respectively. |
| Claim: | 26. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein the reaction cuvette used has an arc-shaped mounting projection protruding from an upper sidewall of a cuvette main part. |
| Claim: | 27. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 26 , wherein the reaction cuvette has a fixing projection protruding downward from an undersurface of the mounting projection. |
| Claim: | 28. The apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples according to claim 8 , wherein the parallel flat side walls of the main part of the cuvette comprise four parallel flat side walls. |
| Claim: | 29. The apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a stirring device. |
| Claim: | 30. A method for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples by an apparatus for a multiple automatic analysis of biosamples, said apparatus comprising a sample supply unit having a plurality of biosamples; a first measuring unit fitted with a first optical measuring means, said first measuring unit being capable of detachably holding, in a mutually independent manner, a plurality of reaction cuvettes independent from each other; a sample transport means capable of transporting the biosamples from the sample supply unit to one of the plurality of reaction cuvettes on the first measuring unit; a second measuring unit fitted with a second optical measuring means, said second measuring unit being capable of receiving a reaction cuvette transferred from the first unit and detachably holding, in a mutually independent manner, a plurality of reaction cuvettes independent from each other; a reagent supply unit having reagents for use in a measurement by the first measuring unit and in a measurement by the second measuring unit; and a reagent transport means capable of transporting reaction reagents, in a mutually independent manner, from the reagent supply unit to one of the plurality of reaction cuvettes on the first measuring unit and/or the second measuring unit, wherein the plurality of the reaction cuvettes on the second measuring unit are dispensed with the biosamples on the first measuring unit, and subsequently transferred from the first measuring unit to the second measuring unit by a cuvette transfer means to stand thereon; wherein at least one of the plurality of the reaction cuvettes is the reaction cuvette of claim 1 ; and wherein different measurements are carried out on the first measuring unit and the second measuring unit. |
| Claim: | 31. The method of claim 30 , wherein the parallel flat side walls of the main part of the cuvette comprise four parallel flat side walls. |
| Patent References Cited: | 4560269 December 1985 Baldszun et al. 4766078 August 1988 Gang 5120503 June 1992 Hinckley et al. 5843376 December 1998 Ishihara et al. 6117683 September 2000 Kodama et al. 6562298 May 2003 Arnquist et al. 6599749 July 2003 Kodama et al. 7138091 November 2006 Lee et al. 7341691 March 2008 Tamura et al. 2003/0049170 March 2003 Tamura et al. 2003/0049171 March 2003 Tamura et al. 2004/0057872 March 2004 Shibuya et al. 2004/0096960 May 2004 Burd Mehta et al. 2005/0013746 January 2005 Lee et al. 1115027 January 1996 0628822 December 1994 0661532 July 1995 60122865 August 1985 03-102262 April 1991 3102262 April 1991 526883 February 1993 9222429 August 1997 9281113 October 1997 20014636 January 2001 200113151 January 2001 2001013151 January 2001 200383992 March 2003 2004-101295 April 2004 2004-309136 November 2004 2006107016 October 2006 WO93/03383 February 1993 WO03/090897 November 2003 |
| Other References: | Machine Translation of Ogura (JP 2001-013151) p. 1-7. cited by examiner International Search Report for parent PCT Application PCT/JP2006/307040 (published as WO2006/107016) mailed Jul. 18, 2006. cited by applicant Japanese Written Opinion for parent international PCT application No. PCT/JP2006/307040, mailed on Jul. 18, 2006. cited by applicant English translation of above Written Opinion for parent international application No. PCT/JP2006/307040. cited by applicant Supplemental European Search Report and Opinion for European Patent Appl. No. EP06730988, mailed Jul. 3, 2015. cited by applicant |
| Assistant Examiner: | Eom, Robert |
| Primary Examiner: | Alexander, Lyle |
| Attorney, Agent or Firm: | Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C. Ziegler, Kristian E. |
| Accession Number: | edspgr.09341640 |
| Database: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| Language: | English |
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