Cell series structure for analysis device

#The present invention relates to reaction cells, to which a sample and a reagent are injected, for use in an automatic analysis device, and relates to a reaction cell block that is integrally molded through an injection molding process using a resin material.

#In the clinical examination conducted for medical diagnoses, a biochemical analysis or an immunological analysis of proteins in a biological sample, such as blood or urine, sugars, lipids, enzymes, hormones, inorganic ions, disease markers, and the like are conducted. In the clinical examination, a plurality of testing items should be processed at high speed with high reliability. Thus, a greater part of the examination is executed with an automatic analysis device. A conventionally known automatic analysis device is, for example, a device that performs a biochemical analysis of a reaction solution, which has been obtained by mixing and reacting a sample such as blood serum with a desired reagent, by measuring the absorbance thereof. This type of biochemical analysis device has a mechanism for automatically injecting a sample and a reagent into a reaction cell, an automatic agitation mechanism for mixing the sample and the reagent in the reaction cell, a mechanism for measuring the optical spectrum of the sample that is being reacting or has reacted, an automatic washing mechanism for suctioning and discharging a reaction solution for which the optical spectrum measurement has finished, and then washing the reaction cell, and the like, and thus uses containers for storing the sample and the reagent, and reaction cells to which the sample and the reagent are injected (for example, Patent Literature 1).

#In the field of automatic analysis devices, reductions in the amounts of a sample and a reagent are significant technical challenges to be addressed. That is, there have been cases where, with an increase in the number of items to be analyzed, the amount of a sample that can be used for an analysis of a single item has decreased, or a sample itself is valuable and thus is difficult to be prepared in large quantities. Thus, an analysis of a minute amount of a sample, which has been conventionally a high-level analysis, has come to be performed routinely. In addition, as the level of the content to be analyzed increases, the cost of a reagent would typically increase correspondingly, and thus, there is also a demand for a reduction in the amount of a reagent from a cost perspective. Such reductions in the amounts of a sample and a reagent can lead to a strong motivation to promote a reduction in the size of the reaction cells. Further, reducing the size of the reaction cells as well as reducing the amounts of a sample and a reagent that are necessary is advantageous in that it leads to an improvement in the throughput of the analysis and a reduction in the amount of a waste liquid to be produced (for example, Patent Literature 4).

#FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an exemplary reaction cell block.

#FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A along A-A.

#FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A along B-B.

#Although the present invention will be described in more detail by way of embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto.

#An example will be described in which a reaction cell block, which has a plurality of reaction cells coupled together for storing a reaction solution that has been obtained by mixing and reacting a sample with a reagent, for use in an automatic analysis device is produced through injection molding using resin such as polycycloolefin as a material. For the material of the cells, any material selected from polycycloolefin resin, polycarbonate resin, acrylic resin, or polystyrene resin may be used. However, from the perspective of achieving low water absorption, low moisture permeability, high total light transmittance, a low refractive index, and a low molding shrinkage factor, polycycloolefin is desirably selected.

#This embodiment will describe an example in which 20 hollow reaction cells 2 are integrally molded as a reaction cell block 18 through an injection molding process as shown in a plan view of FIG. 1A. However, the present invention is not limited to the reaction cell block 18 formed of 20 reaction cells 2, and can be applied to the reaction cell block 18 having two or more reaction cells 2. Herein, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A along A-A, and FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A along B-B.