Measuring apparatus
First Claim
1. A system which measures the constituent concentration of a specimen, comprising:
- a test piece having a test material which develops coloring as a result of a reaction with the constituents of said specimen, said test piece also including a first opening on one side thereof and a second opening on the other side thereof at a location corresponding to said first opening, said first opening provided for applying a specimen to said test material;
a measuring apparatus for receiving the test piece, said measuring apparatus including;
test piece detection means for detecting that said test piece has been loaded into a main body of the apparatus;
irradiation means for irradiating said test piece with light when the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means;
judgment means for detecting whether or not an intensity of light reflected from said test piece is within a predetermined range and for judging whether or not the reflected light is reflected through said second opening;
notifying means for notifying that a measurement using said test piece is impossible when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is not reflected through said second opening;
detection means for detecting the intensity of light emitted by said irradiation means and reflected through said second opening; and
measurement means for determining the constituent concentration of said specimen on the basis of the intensity of the reflected light detected by said detection means.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A measuring apparatus of the present invention measures the constituent concentration of a specimen after loading into the apparatus a test piece having a test material which develops coloring as a result of a reaction with the constituents of a specimen. When the apparatus detects that the test piece having the test material has been loaded, it automatically begins to measure the constituent concentration of the specimen. That is, after the loading of the test piece is detected, a predetermined time period is measured. During this time measurement, the time period is displayed at a predetermined time interval. After the time measurement of this predetermined time period is terminated, the test material is irradiated with a light, and the intensity of the light from the test material is detected. The constituent concentration of the specimen applied to the test material can be determined on the basis of the reflected light intensity thus detected. Furthermore, this measuring apparatus can detect a reverse insertion of a test piece, and is constructed so as to disable the measurement of the constituent concentration of a specimen if supplementary information to be stored along with measurement information has not been set.
238 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A system which measures the constituent concentration of a specimen, comprising:
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a test piece having a test material which develops coloring as a result of a reaction with the constituents of said specimen, said test piece also including a first opening on one side thereof and a second opening on the other side thereof at a location corresponding to said first opening, said first opening provided for applying a specimen to said test material; a measuring apparatus for receiving the test piece, said measuring apparatus including; test piece detection means for detecting that said test piece has been loaded into a main body of the apparatus; irradiation means for irradiating said test piece with light when the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means; judgment means for detecting whether or not an intensity of light reflected from said test piece is within a predetermined range and for judging whether or not the reflected light is reflected through said second opening; notifying means for notifying that a measurement using said test piece is impossible when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is not reflected through said second opening; detection means for detecting the intensity of light emitted by said irradiation means and reflected through said second opening; and measurement means for determining the constituent concentration of said specimen on the basis of the intensity of the reflected light detected by said detection means. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system which measures the constituent concentration of a specimen, comprising:
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a test piece having a test material and a first opening on one side thereof and a second opening on the other side thereof at a location corresponding to said first opening, said first opening provided for applying a specimen to said test material therethrough, and said second opening for irradiating said test material with light, wherein said test material includes a liquid development layer in which said specimen is infiltrated through said first opening, a reagent layer which reacts with said specimen and a transparent layer between the reagent layer and the second opening; a measuring apparatus for receiving the test piece, said measuring apparatus including; test piece detection means for detecting that said test piece has been loaded into a main body of the apparatus; judgment means for irradiating said test piece with light when the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means and for judging whether or not reflected light is reflected through said second opening based on the intensity of the reflected light from said test piece; notifying means for notifying that a measurement using said test piece is impossible when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is not reflected through said second opening; irradiation means for irradiating said reagent layer through said second opening with light if said judgment means judges that the reflected light is reflected through said second opening; detection means for detecting the intensity of a light emitted by said irradiation means and reflected through said second opening from said reagent layer; measurement means for determining the constituent concentration of the specimen applied to said reagent layer on the basis of the intensity of the reflected light detected by said detection means; and measuring control means for controlling so as to allow said measurement means to start measuring at approximately the moment that a predetermined time period has elapsed after the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means, said predetermined time period approximating the time required for the specimen to infiltrate through the liquid developing layer to the reagent layer and to react with the reagent layer.
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4. A system which measures the constituent concentration of a specimen, comprising:
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a test piece having a test material having a first opening on one side thereof, a second opening on the other side thereof at a location corresponding to said first opening and the test material between said first and second openings, said first opening provided for applying a specimen to the test material therethrough, and said second opening provided for irradiating said test material with light, wherein said test material includes a liquid development layer in which said specimen is infiltrated through said first opening, a reagent layer which reacts with said specimen, and a transport layer between said reagent layer and the second opening; a measuring apparatus for receiving the test piece, said measuring apparatus including; a main body; test piece detection means for detecting that said test piece has been loaded into a main body of the apparatus; judgment means for irradiating said test piece with light when the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means and for judging whether or not a reflected light is reflected through said second opening based on an intensity of the light reflected from said test piece; notifying means for notifying that a measurement using said test piece is impossible when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is not reflected through said second opening; time measurement means for measuring a predetermined time period, if said judgment means judges that the reflected light is reflected through said second opening, in which said specimen infiltrates through the liquid development layer and a coloring of the reagent layer that reacts with the specimen is substantially complete, after said test piece detection means detects that said test piece has been loaded into the main body; display means for displaying a time period at a predetermined time interval during the time measurement by said time measurement means; irradiation means for irradiating said reagent layer through said second opening with light approximately the moment that the time measurement by said time measurement means is terminated, detection means for detecting the intensity of a reflected light through said second opening from said reagent layer of the light emitted by said irradiation means; and measurement means for determining the concentration of the constituents of said specimen applied to said reagent layer on the basis of the intensity of the reflected light detected by said detection means. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A system which measures the constituent concentration of a specimen comprising:
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a test piece having a test material having a first opening on one side thereof and a second opening on another side thereof at a location corresponding to said first opening, said first opening provided for applying a specimen to said test material therethrough, and said second opening for irradiating said test material with light, wherein said test material includes a liquid development layer in which said specimen is infiltrated through said first opening, a reagent layer which reacts with said specimen, and a transport layer between the reagent layer and the second opening; a measuring apparatus for receiving the test piece, said measuring apparatus including; test piece detection means for detecting that said test piece has been loaded into of the apparatus; judgment means for irradiating said test piece with light when the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means and for judging whether or not the reflected light is reflected through said second opening based on an intensity of the light reflected from said test piece; notifying means for notifying that a measurement using said test piece is impossible when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is not reflected through said second opening; irradiation means for irradiating said reagent layer with light, if said judgment judges that the reflected light is reflected through said second opening; detection means for detecting the intensity of a reflected light from said reagent layer of the light emitted by said irradiation means; measurement means for measuring the degree of the coloring developed by said reagent layer based on said intensity and determining the constituent concentration of said applied specimen based on the degree of the coloring; storage means for storing measured results by said measurement means together with supplementary information including one of measurement date, measurement time, and identification data of a person under examination; setting means for inputting and setting said supplementary information; and control means for controlling the measurement means so as to prohibit said measurement means for measuring when the supplementary information has not been input and set by said setting means. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A system which measures the constituent concentration of a specimen, comprising:
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a test piece having a test material and a first opening on one side thereof and a second opening on the other side thereof at a location corresponding to said first opening, said first opening provided for applying a specimen to said test material therethrough, and said second opening for irradiating said reagent layer with light and detecting the intensity of the reflected light therethrough, wherein said test material includes a liquid development layer in which said specimen is infiltrated through said first opening, a reagent layer which reacts with said specimen and a transparent layer between said reagent layer and the second opening; a measuring apparatus for receiving the test piece, said measuring apparatus including; a main body; test piece detection means for detecting that said test piece has been loaded into a main body of the apparatus; judgment means for irradiating said test piece with light when the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means and for judging whether or not the reflected light is reflected through said second opening based on the intensity of the reflected light from said test piece; notifying means for notifying that a measurement using said test piece is impossible, when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is not reflected by said second opening; storage means for storing measured constituent concentration valued together with supplementary information including measurement data and time data and identification data of a person under inspection; setting means for inputting and setting said supplementary information; determination means for determining whether or not said supplementary information including one of measurement data, measurement time, and identification data of the person under examination has been set; time measurement means for measuring a predetermined time period in which said specimen infiltrated through a liquid developing layer and a coloring of the reagent layer reacting with the specimen is substantially completed after the loading of said test piece is detected by said test piece detection means, when said determination means determines that said supplementary information including measurement data, measurement time, and identification data of the person under examination has been set and when said judgment means judges that the reflected light is reflected through said second opening; display means for displaying a time period at a predetermined time interval during the time measurement by said time measurement means; irradiation means for irradiating said reagent layer through the second opening at approximately the moment that the time measurement by said time measurement means is terminated; detection means for detecting the intensity of a reflected light through said second opening from said reagent layer irradiated by said irradiation means; and measurement means for determining the concentration of the constituents of said specimen applied to said reagent layer on the basis of the intensity of the reflected light detected by said detection means.
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Specification