Sample dispensing apparatus and automatic analyzer using the same
First Claim
1. A sample dispensing apparatus comprising a probe for sucking and ejecting a sample, a dispensing syringe for generating a pressure in said probe to suck and eject the sample, a dispensing flow passage connecting said probe and said dispensing syringe, and a control unit for controlling sucking and ejection operations of the sample, said apparatus further comprising:
- at least one pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in said dispensing flow passage;
pressure value storing means for time-serially storing output values of said pressure sensor during an operation of dispensing the sample;
storage means for storing a reference database consisted of time-serial output values of said pressure sensor, which are obtained when the sample is normally sucked or ejected by said probe; and
determining means for carrying out multi-variable analysis of both said reference database and comparison data created based on the output values of said pressure sensor time-serially stored in said pressure value storing means, and for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality in the dispensing operation of the sample based on an analysis result.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sample dispensing apparatus is realized which can detect a dispensing abnormality occurred during the sample dispensing operation regardless of the type and the extent of the abnormality. A pressure sensor is connected to a dispensing flow passage system, including a sample probe and a dispensing syringe, and a plurality of output values of the pressure sensor during the sample dispensing operation are taken in. A multi-item analysis (based on the Mahalanobis distance) is carried out by using, as items, the plurality of taken-in output values of the pressure sensor. Whether the dispensing is normally performed or not is determined by comparing an analysis result with a threshold. A highly reliable determination result is obtained in spite of variations of sensitivity of the pressure sensor.
55 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A sample dispensing apparatus comprising a probe for sucking and ejecting a sample, a dispensing syringe for generating a pressure in said probe to suck and eject the sample, a dispensing flow passage connecting said probe and said dispensing syringe, and a control unit for controlling sucking and ejection operations of the sample, said apparatus further comprising:
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at least one pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in said dispensing flow passage;
pressure value storing means for time-serially storing output values of said pressure sensor during an operation of dispensing the sample;
storage means for storing a reference database consisted of time-serial output values of said pressure sensor, which are obtained when the sample is normally sucked or ejected by said probe; and
determining means for carrying out multi-variable analysis of both said reference database and comparison data created based on the output values of said pressure sensor time-serially stored in said pressure value storing means, and for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality in the dispensing operation of the sample based on an analysis result. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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2. A sample dispensing apparatus comprising a probe for sucking and ejecting a sample, a dispensing syringe for generating a pressure in said probe to suck and eject the sample, a dispensing flow passage connecting said probe and said dispensing syringe, and a control unit for controlling sucking and ejection operations of the sample, the apparatus further comprising:
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at least one pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in said dispensing flow passage;
pressure value storing means for time-serially storing output values of said pressure sensor during an operation of dispensing the sample;
storage means for storing a reference database consisted of time-serial output values of said pressure sensor, which are obtained when the sample is normally sucked or ejected by said probe; and
determining means for determining an abnormality of sample dispensing by comparing the Mahalanobis distance calculated from both comparison data prepared based on the output values of said pressure sensor time-serially stored in said pressure value storing means and said reference database, with a preset threshold. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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15. A method of detecting an abnormality during sample dispensing, comprising the steps of:
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sucking a sample by using a probe;
time-serially storing output values of a pressure sensor representing pressures in said probed and detected during sample suction;
creating comparison data based on the stored output values of said pressure sensor; and
carrying out multi-variable analysis of both the comparison data created in said step and reference database consisted of time-serial output values of said pressure sensor, which are obtained when the sample is normally sucked or ejected by said probe, and determining the presence or absence of an abnormality in the dispensing operation of the sample based on an analysis result.
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Specification