Blood sample analyzing apparatus, blood sample coagulation determining apparatus, blood sample coagulation determining method and computer program product

• US 20100027868A1
• Filed: 07/21/2009
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sysmex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sysmex Corporation
• Inventors: Okubo, Koichi, Kosaka, Tokihiro
• Granted Patent: US 9,103,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/134
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/2813 Producing thin layers of samples on a substrate, e.g. smearing, spinning-on G01N1/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2035/1018 Detecting inhomogeneities, e.g. foam, bubbles, clots
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/4905 Determining clotting time of blood by chemical methods G01N33/86, C12Q1/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/1016 Control of the volume dispensed or introduced

Abstract

The present invention is to present a blood sample analyzing apparatus, comprising: an aspirator for aspirating a blood sample to be used for measurement; a coagulation determiner for determining whether the blood sample is coagulated or not; and an aspirating controller for controlling an operation of the aspirator based on a determination result by the coagulation determiner.

Claims

1. A blood sample analyzing apparatus, comprising:

an aspirator for aspirating a blood sample to be used for measurement;

a coagulation determiner for determining whether the blood sample is coagulated or not; and

an aspirating controller for controlling an operation of the aspirator based on a determination result by the coagulation determiner.

2. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an aspiration instruction issuer for issuing an aspiration instruction for aspirating the blood sample, based on the determination result by the coagulation determiner,

wherein the aspirating controller controls the aspirator so as to aspirate the blood sample when the aspiration instruction has been issued from the aspiration instruction issuer.

3. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a transporter for transporting the blood sample by using a transport path in which an aspiration position where the aspirator aspirates the blood sample is positioned in the middle thereof; and

a transporting controller for controlling the transporter,

wherein the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to perform a first transport operation in which the transporter transports the blood sample through the aspiration position such that the aspirator aspirates the blood sample, when the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is not coagulated, and the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to perform a second transport operation, different from the first transport operation, in which the transporter transports the blood sample through the aspiration position such that the aspirator does not aspirate the blood sample, when the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is coagulated.

4. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to stop the blood sample, which has been determined to be coagulated by the coagulation determiner, at the aspiration position for a shorter time than the blood sample which has been determined not to be coagulated by the coagulation determiner.

5. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 4, wherein

the transporter is configured to transport a rack provided with a plurality of holders such that the holders are sequentially stopped at the aspiration position, each of the holders holds a sample container for containing a blood sample;

and

the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to stop a holder holding a sample container containing a blood sample which has been determined to be coagulated at the aspiration position for a shorter time than a holder holding a sample container containing a blood sample which has been determined not to be coagulated.

6. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to transport the blood sample through the aspiration position without stopping the blood sample at the aspiration position, when the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is coagulated.

7. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

a memory for storing a measurement order of a blood sample; and

an aspiration instruction issuing determiner for determining to issue the aspiration instruction of the blood sample, when a measurement order of the blood sample is stored in the memory and the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is not coagulated,

wherein the aspiration instruction issuer issues the aspiration instruction of the blood sample, when the aspiration instruction issuing determiner has determined to issue the aspiration instruction of the blood sample.

8. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 7, wherein

the aspiration instruction issuing determiner generates measurement instruction information, for a measuring section for measuring a blood sample aspirated by the aspirator, indicating an instruction for measurement of the blood sample, when the aspiration instruction issuing determiner has determined to issue the aspiration instruction of the blood sample;

and

the aspiration instruction issuer issues the aspiration instruction of the blood sample when there is the measurement instruction information of the blood sample.

9. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an imaging part for imaging the blood sample,

wherein the coagulation determiner determines whether the blood sample is coagulated or not, based on an image obtained by imaging the blood sample with the imaging part.

10. A blood sample analyzing apparatus, comprising:

a transporter for transporting a blood sample to be used for measurement;

an aspirator for aspirating the blood sample transported by the transporter;

a coagulation determiner for determining whether the blood sample is coagulated or not; and

a transporting controller for controlling the transporter based on a determination result by the coagulation determiner.

11. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a memory for storing a measurement order of a blood sample,

wherein the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to transport the blood sample to the aspirator, when a measurement order of the blood sample is stored in the memory and the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is not coagulated, and the transporting controller controls the transporter so as not to transport the blood sample to the aspirator, when the measurement order of the blood sample is stored in the memory and the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is coagulated.

12. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 10, wherein

the transporter includes a first transport path for transporting the blood sample to the aspirator and a second transport path for not transporting the blood sample to the aspirator;

and

the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to transport the blood sample by using the second transport path, when the coagulation determiner has determined that the blood sample is coagulated.

13. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 10, wherein

the transporter is configured to transport a rack provided with a plurality of holders, each of which holds a sample container for containing a blood sample, and the transporter is capable of transporting the rack to a storage position for storing a rack holding a sample container containing a blood sample which is not a measurement target;

and

the transporting controller controls the transporter so as to transport a rack holding a sample container containing the blood sample which has been determined to be coagulated by the coagulation determiner to the storage position.

14. The blood sample analyzing apparatus of claim 13, further comprising an output section for outputting information for specifying a position of a holder in the rack when the rack has been transported to the storage position, the holder holding the sample container containing the blood sample which has been determined to be coagulated.

15. A blood sample coagulation determining apparatus, comprising:

a sample container holder capable of holding a sample container, which has translucency, contains a blood sample and a top opening of which is sealed by a lid, in a state that a bottom portion of the sample container is positioned at the same height as the lid or higher than the lid;

an imaging part for imaging the sample container held by the sample container holder in a state that the bottom portion of the sample container is positioned at the same height as the lid or higher than the lid; and

a coagulation determiner for determining whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not, based on the presence or absence of a clot protruding from a liquid surface of the blood sample in the sample container in a container image obtained by imaging the sample container with the imaging part.

16. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 15, wherein the coagulation determiner determines whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not, based on an image of an area positioned higher than the liquid surface of the blood sample in the sample container in the container image.

17. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 16, wherein

the container image includes information related to a red color component for each pixel;

and

the coagulation determiner determines whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not, based on the information about the red color component of each of pixels included in the image of the area positioned higher than the liquid surface.

18. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 17, wherein the coagulation determiner counts number of pixels satisfying a predetermined condition related to the red color component among the pixels included in the image of the area positioned higher than the liquid surface, and determines whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not based on a count result.

19. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 16, wherein the coagulation determiner detects a height of the liquid surface in the container image, and determines whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not based on the image of the area positioned higher than the detected height of the liquid surface.

20. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 19, wherein

the container image includes information related to a red color component for each pixel;

and

the coagulation determiner detects the height of the liquid surface in the container image, based on a change in the information related to the red color component in a direction crossing the liquid surface in the container image.

21. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 19, wherein the coagulation determiner detects a position of the sample container in the container image, sets a processing target area in the container image based on the detected position of the sample container in the container image, and detects the height of the liquid surface based on an image of the set processing target area.

22. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 21, wherein the coagulation determiner detects a position of the bottom portion of the sample container as the position of the sample container.

23. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 21, wherein the coagulation determiner determines whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not based on an image of an area set based on the position of the sample container in the container image, when the coagulation determiner has failed to detect the height of the liquid surface.

24. The blood sample coagulation determining apparatus of claim 15, further comprising an illuminator for irradiating the sample container held by the sample container holder,

wherein the imaging part is positioned at a position in which the imaging part does not directly receive light reflected from the sample container which is irradiated by the illuminator.

25. A blood sample coagulation determining method, comprising steps of:

holding a sample container, which has translucency, contains a blood sample and a top opening of which is sealed by a lid, in a state that a bottom portion of the sample container is positioned at the same height as the lid or higher than the lid;

imaging the sample container held in a state that the bottom portion of the sample container is positioned at the same height as the lid or higher than the lid; and

determining whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not, based on the presence or absence of a clot protruding from a liquid surface of the blood sample in the sample container in an image obtained by imaging the sample container.

26. A computer program product for enabling a computer to determine whether a blood sample is coagulated or not, comprising:

a computer readable medium, and

software instructions, on the computer readable medium, for enabling the computer to perform predetermined operations comprising;

processing an image obtained by imaging a sample container, which has translucency, contains a blood sample and a top opening of which is sealed by a lid, in a state that a bottom portion of the sample container is positioned at the same height as the lid or higher than the lid, and detecting a height of a liquid surface of the blood sample in the sample container in the image; and

determining whether the blood sample in the sample container is coagulated or not, based on the presence or absence of a clot protruding from a liquid surface of the blood sample in the sample container in the image.