# US 2014/0154809 A1 · Channel allocation control method for multichannel biochemistry analyzer

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- Number: US 2014/0154809 A1
- Document ID: US20140154809A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/696,901
- Filed: 2012-05-09
- Published: 2014-06-05
- Earliest claimed: 2011-07-01
- Inventors: Xingkai Hou; Peiwu Gao
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140154809A1

## CPC

- G01N 35/1009: {Characterised by arrangements for controlling the aspiration or dispense of liquids}
- G01N 35/0092: {Scheduling}
- Y10T 436/119163: with aspirator of claimed structure
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

The invention provides a channel allocation control method for a multichannel biochemistry analyzer, which comprises the following steps: A. setting the item and the amount of samples to be tested; B. executing aspirating and sampling step simultaneously, in which at least two channels are involved in circular aspirating in aspirating step and circular sampling in sampling step. The channel allocation control method for the multichannel biochemistry analyzer has the advantages that: as the entire test is decomposed into aspirating and sampling step and the circular aspirating and the circular sampling in the two steps are simultaneously and independently executed, not only the aim of testing a plurality of channels simultaneously can be realized and the testing efficiency can be improved but also the channel allocation can be performed automatically and different channels can be identified.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A channel allocation control method for a multichannel biochemistry analyzer, comprising the following steps:
a) setting the item and the amount of samples to be tested;
b) simultaneously executing aspirating and sampling step, in which at least two channels are involved in circular aspirating in aspirating step and circular sampling in sampling step.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 1, wherein at least two channels are a 1st channel and a 2nd channel, and aspirating step comprises the following steps:
b1) setting the status of all the channels to Idle;
b2) determining whether the status of the 1st channel is Idle, executing step b3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if not;
b3) starting to aspirate the corresponding channel, setting the status of the corresponding channel to Occupied, and identifying the corresponding channel as a channel having completed aspirating step after aspirating step the corresponding channel is completed;
b4) determining whether all the sample items have completed aspirating step, in which if so, aspirating step is completed; and if not, step b2) is executed;
aspirating step the 2nd channel comprises the following step:
c1) determining whether the status of the 2nd channel is Idle, executing step b3) if so, or executing step b2) if not.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 2, wherein sampling step comprises the following steps:
d1) determining whether the 1st channel has completed aspirating step, executing step d2) if so, or executing sampling step the 2nd channel if not;
d2) sampling for the 1st channel;
d3) determining whether the required sampling times of the 1st channel on the item is achieved, executing step d4) if so, or executing sampling step the 2nd channel if not;
d4) performing data processing and result output on the corresponding channel;
d5) setting the status of the corresponding channel to Idle;
d6) determining whether all the samples have completed sampling step, in which if so, sampling step is completed; and if not, step d1) is executed;
sampling step the 2nd channel comprises the following steps:
e1) determining whether the 2nd channel has completed aspirating step, executing step e2) if so, or executing step d1) if not;
e2) sampling the 2nd channel;
e3) determining whether the required sampling times of the 2nd channel on the item is achieved, executing step d4) if so, or executing step d1) if not.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 3, wherein in step d2), whether the waiting time is reached after aspirating step the 1st channel is completed is determined, in which the 1st channel is subjected to sampling if so and sampling step the 2nd channel is executed if not; and in step e2), whether the waiting time is reached after aspirating step the 2nd channel is completed is determined, in which the 2nd channel is subjected to sampling if so and step d1) is executed if not.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 4, wherein in step b4), the step for determining whether all the sample items have completed aspirating step comprises the following steps:
b41) setting the amount of the samples to be tested in step A as “a” and the amount of the items to be tested in step A as “b”, in which the total amount of those to be tested is n=a*b;
b42) calculating the amount of the samples to be tested which have not completed aspirating step via the formula n=n−1 when the corresponding channel is identified as a channel having completed aspirating step;
b43) indicating that all the samples to be tested have completed aspirating step when n is zero and that not all the samples to be tested have completed aspirating step if n is not zero;
in step d6), the step for determining whether all the samples have completed sampling step comprises the following steps:
d61) setting the amount of the samples to be tested in step A as “a” and the amount of the items to be tested in step A as “b”, in which the total amount of those to be tested is m=a*b;
d62) calculating the amount of the samples to be tested which have not completed sampling step when the corresponding channel has completed sampling step;
d63) indicating that all the samples have completed sampling step when m is zero and that not all the samples have completed sampling step if m is not zero.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 1, wherein the number of the channels is four and the four channels are a 1st channel, a 2nd channel, a 3rd channel and a 4th channel respectively; and aspirating step comprises the following steps:
f1) setting the status of all the channels to Idle;
f2) determining whether the status of the 1st channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if not;
f3) starting to aspirate the corresponding channel, setting the status of the corresponding channel to Occupied, and identifying the corresponding channel as a channel having completed aspirating step after aspirating step the corresponding channel is completed;
f4) determining whether all the sample items have completed aspirating step, in which if so, aspirating step is completed; and if not, step f2) is executed;
aspirating step the 2nd channel comprises the following step:
g1) determining whether the status of the 2nd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if not;
aspirating step the 3rd channel comprises the following step:
h1) determining whether the status of the 3rd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if not;
aspirating step the 4th channel comprises the following step:
i1) determining whether the status of the 4th channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing step f2) if not.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 6, wherein sampling step comprises the following steps:
j1) determining whether the 1st channel has completed aspirating step, executing step j2) if so, or executing sampling step the 2nd channel if not;
j2) carrying out sampling for the 1st channel;
i3. determining whether the required sampling times of the 1st channel on the item is achieved, executing step j4) if so, or executing sampling step the 2nd channel if not;
j4) performing data processing and result output on the corresponding channel;
j5) setting the status of the corresponding channel to be Idle;
j6) determining whether all the samples have completed sampling step, in which if so, sampling step is completed; and if not, step j1) is executed;
sampling step the 2nd channel comprises the following steps:
k1) determining whether the 2nd channel has completed aspirating, executing step k2) if so, or executing sampling step the 3rd channel if not;
k2) carrying out sampling for the 2nd channel;
k3) determining whether the required sampling times of the 2nd channel on the item is achieved, executing step j4) if so, or executing sampling step the 3rd channel if not;
sampling step the 3rd channel comprises the following steps:
l1) determining whether the 3rd channel has completed aspirating step, executing step l2) if so, or executing sampling step the 3rd channel if not;
12) sampling the 3rd channel; and
13) determining whether the required sampling times of the 3rd channel on the item is achieved, executing step j4) if so, or executing sampling step the 4th channel if not;
sampling step the 4th channel comprises the following steps:
m1) determining whether the 4th channel has completed aspirating step,
executing step m2) if so, or executing step j1) if not;
m2) sampling the 4th channel; and
m3) determining whether the required sampling times of the 4th channel on the item is achieved, executing step j4) if so, or executing step j1) if not.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 7, wherein in step j2), whether the waiting time is reached after aspirating step the 1st channel is completed is determined, in which the 1st channel is subjected to sampling if so and sampling step the 2nd channel is executed if not; in step k2), whether the waiting time is reached after aspirating step the 2nd channel is completed is determined, in which the 2nd channel is subjected to sampling if so and sampling step the 3rd channel is executed if not; in step l2), whether the waiting time is reached after aspirating step the 3rd channel is completed is determined, in which the 3rd channel is subjected to sampling if so and sampling step the 4th channel is executed if not; and in step m2), whether the waiting time is reached after aspirating step the 4th channel is completed is determined, in which the 4th channel is subjected to sampling if so and step j1) is executed if not.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 6, wherein step f2) comprises the following steps:
f21) determining whether the 1st channel is closed, executing step f22) if not, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if so;
f22) determining whether the status of the 1st channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if not;
step g1) comprises the following steps:
g11) determining whether the 2nd channel is closed, executing step g12) if not, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if so;
g12) determining whether the status of the 2nd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if not;
step h1) comprises the following steps:
h11) determining whether the 3rd channel is closed, executing step h12) if not, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if so;
h12) determining whether the status of the 3rd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if not;
step i1) comprises the following steps:
i11) determining whether the 4th channel is closed, executing step i12) if not, or executing step f21) if so;
i12) determine whether the status of the 4th channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing step f21) if not.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 9, wherein step a) also comprises step of manually setting the on-off state of the 1st channel, the 2nd channel, the 3rd channel and the 4th channel.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 7, wherein step f2) comprises the following steps:
f21) determining whether the 1st channel is closed, executing step f22) if not, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if so;
f22) determining whether the status of the 1st channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if not;
step g1) comprises the following steps:
g11) determining whether the 2nd channel is closed, executing step g12) if not, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if so;
g12) determining whether the status of the 2nd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if not;
step h1) comprises the following steps:
h11) determining whether the 3rd channel is closed, executing step h12) if not, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if so;
h12) determining whether the status of the 3rd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if not;
step i1) comprises the following steps:
i11) determining whether the 4th channel is closed, executing step i12) if not, or executing step f21) if so;
i12) determine whether the status of the 4th channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing step f21) if not.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 11, wherein step a) also comprises step of manually setting the on-off state of the 1st channel, the 2nd channel, the 3rd channel and the 4th channel.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 8, wherein step f2) comprises the following steps:
f21) determining whether the 1st channel is closed, executing step f22) if not, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if so;
f22) determining whether the status of the 1st channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 2nd channel if not;
step g1) comprises the following steps:
g11) determining whether the 2nd channel is closed, executing step g12) if not, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if so;
g12) determining whether the status of the 2nd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 3rd channel if not;
step h1) comprises the following steps:
h11) determining whether the 3rd channel is closed, executing step h12) if not, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if so;
h12) determining whether the status of the 3rd channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing aspirating step the 4th channel if not;
step i1) comprises the following steps:
i11) determining whether the 4th channel is closed, executing step i12) if not, or executing step f21) if so;
i12) determine whether the status of the 4th channel is Idle, executing step f3) if so, or executing step f21) if not.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The channel allocation control method according to claim 13, wherein step a) also comprises step of manually setting the on-off state of the 1st channel, the 2nd channel, the 3rd channel and the 4th channel.