JP2001272397A - Specimen analyzing tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a specimen analyzing tool, capable of easily taking a specimen at a low cost. SOLUTION: In this specimen analyzing tool 1, a porous sheet 14, having a specimen supply part and a specimen developing part for developing the specimen 16 by a capillary phenomenon is stored in a container 11. The container 11 is provided with a specimen introducing holes 12 and 13 corresponding to the specimen supply part of the porous sheet 14, and a fixed void 15 is provided between the lower ends of the specimen introducing holes 12, and 13 and the specimen supply part, whereby the specimen 16 is held quantitatively in the void due to its surface tension.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sample analyzing device used in, for example, clinical medical examinations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of clinical medicine and the like, a sample analyzing tool used up for each test is widely used. An example of this is shown in FIG. In the figure, (A) is a plan view,
(B) is a cross-sectional view as seen in the direction of III-III of the plan view, (C) is a perspective view,
The same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in the figure, the sample analysis device 3 is configured by storing a porous sheet 32 such as filter paper in a flat rectangular parallelepiped container 31, and from one end of the upper surface of the container 31 (see FIG. (From the left), a hole 33 for sample introduction is formed. In this sample analysis tool 3, when a sample such as blood is spotted on the porous sheet 32 from the hole 33, the sample expands inside the porous sheet 32 by capillary action. The arrow in the same figure (B) shows the development direction of the specimen. During this development, components in the sample are separated by the chromatographic effect. For example, in whole blood, blood cells are separated from plasma and serum. When an analytical reagent or the like is held on the porous sheet, this reacts with a component in the specimen, and analysis is performed by optical means or electrochemical means. When the porous sheet itself does not hold the analysis reagent, the sample analysis device is used for holding or storing the sample. In this case, the liquid sample is usually held or stored in a dry state. You. Then, after a lapse of a certain period of time from the sampling, the porous sheet is taken out from the sample analysis tool, and plasma and serum are extracted therefrom and analyzed.

[0003] Recently, a remote clinical test system that can receive a test without going to a test institution is being put into practical use. In this system, a patient or the like self-collects a sample such as blood at home or the like, puts it in a specific container or the like, mails it to an inspection organization such as a hospital, and tests it. The test result is notified to the patient via mail, facsimile or the Internet, or is notified at a later date when the patient or the like goes to a test institution. In this remote clinical test system, use of the above-described sample analysis tool is expected.

In such a sample analysis tool, quantitative analysis may be required. In this case, it is necessary to supply a fixed amount of sample to the sample analysis tool. For example, there is a method in which a sample is quantitatively collected with a pipette or the like and supplied to a sample analysis tool. In addition, there is a sample analysis tool which has a quantitative property by using a capillary tube having a fixed volume instead of the porous sheet. There is a sample analysis tool that uses a porous sheet having a quantitative property and supplies a sample to a certain area of the porous sheet.

[0005] However, the above-described method of quantitatively supplying a sample using a pipette is complicated and impractical for a clinical test or the like in which a large number of samples need to be processed. The sample analysis tool using a capillary tube has a complicated structure because it is necessary to provide an analysis unit in addition to the capillary tube. For this reason, it is difficult to provide a sample analysis tool for a multi-item test. When the structure is complicated, the operation of collecting the sample from the sample analysis tool becomes complicated. The quantitative porous sheet is expensive, and its use increases the cost of the sample analysis device. The porous sheet used in the sample analysis device usually needs to have various functions such as a filtration function and a function that does not affect the reaction field. It is difficult to provide. In addition, the quantitative porous sheet is easily affected by sample properties such as blood hematocrit and viscosity,
It is difficult to quantitatively retain specimens having variations in properties. Furthermore, in the conventional sample analysis tool, there is a problem that the sample penetrates between the porous sheet and the inner wall of the container, which affects the test.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sample which can quantitatively collect a sample simply and at low cost, and in which the sample is prevented from penetrating between the porous sheet and the inner wall of the container. It is to provide an analytical tool.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a sample analysis device of the present invention comprises a container in which a porous sheet having a sample supply section and a sample development section in which a sample is developed by capillary action is housed in a container. A sample analysis tool, wherein the container has a sample introduction hole at a position corresponding to the sample supply section of the porous sheet, and a fixed amount is provided between the lower end of the sample introduction hole and the sample supply section. It has a space, and the sample is
It is held quantitatively by its surface tension.

As described above, since the sample analysis device of the present invention utilizes the surface tension of the sample, the sample can be quantitatively collected at a simple and low cost, and the structure thereof is also simple. Also,
A general porous sheet can be used. Since the sample analysis device of the present invention has a certain gap between the lower end of the sample introduction hole and the porous sheet, the sample is prevented from penetrating between the porous sheet and the inner wall of the container. This is because the permeation of the specimen is due to the capillary phenomenon, and the presence of a certain gap does not cause the capillary phenomenon.

In the present invention, the gap width may be, for example,
It is appropriately determined according to conditions such as the type of the sample. The gap width is, for example, 10 to 3000 μm, preferably 30 to 1 μm.
000 μm, more preferably in the range of 50 to 500 μm.

In the present invention, the sample is capable of moving inside the porous sheet due to, for example, capillary action, and is not limited to a liquid sample, and may be, for example, a sol sample. Samples applicable to the present invention include, for example, emulsions in which bodily fluids such as whole blood, plasma, serum, urine, bone marrow fluid, saliva and solids are dispersed.

In the sample analysis device of the present invention, a hole is formed in the container, an annular projection is formed on the inner wall of the container so as to surround the hole, and the sample is formed by the hole and a ring inner space of the annular projection. It is preferable that an introduction hole is formed, and the tip of the annular projection is the lower end of the sample introduction hole. Such an annular projection serves as a guide for guiding the sample to the sample supply unit of the porous sheet.

In the sample analysis device of the present invention, a portion of the container corresponding to the sample developing portion is transparent, or a slit is formed in a portion of the container corresponding to the sample developing portion. preferable. This is because the development of the sample can be confirmed from the outside in this manner. The transparent part of the container may be a part of the part corresponding to the sample developing unit, or may be the whole. The formation of the slit is similar to this.

In the sample analysis device of the present invention, the porous sheet is preferably a filter paper or a resin porous sheet, and may be a combination thereof. Examples of the resin porous sheet include resin sheets such as polysulfone, polyester, polycarbonate, and polyimide. The porous sheet may be an asymmetric porous sheet in which the average pore diameter changes continuously or stepwise along the sheet thickness direction. The size of the porous sheet is appropriately determined depending on the size of a container for accommodating the porous sheet, but when the shape is a band, for example, the length is 1 to 300.
mm, width 1 to 100 mm, thickness 1 to 1000 μm, preferably 5 to 100 mm in length and 5 to 50 m in width
m, thickness 10 to 500 μm, more preferably length 10 to 50 mm, width 5 to 20 mm, thickness 50 to 500
μm. The average pore size is, for example, 0.1 to 10
00 μm, preferably 1 to 100 μm, more preferably 5 to 50 μm.

[0014]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a sample analysis tool according to the present invention. In the figure, (A) is a plan view,
(B) and (C) are cross-sectional views as seen in the II direction of the plan view, and (D) is a perspective view, in which the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown in the figure, the sample analysis device 1 is configured by storing a porous sheet 14 such as filter paper in a flat rectangular parallelepiped container 11, and from one end of the upper surface of the container 11. (From the left in the figure), an annular projection 13 is formed on the inner wall of the container 11 in a state surrounding the hole 12, and the annular inner space of the hole 12 and the annular projection 13 is formed. Constitutes the sample introduction hole. In the porous sheet 14, a portion corresponding to the sample introduction hole is a sample supply unit, and a portion on the right side of the sample supply unit in FIG. The tip of the annular projection serves as the lower end of the sample introduction hole, and a gap 15 having a constant width is formed between the tip and the sample supply section of the porous sheet. The width of the gap 15 is as described above.
When the specimen is whole blood, the width of the space 15 is, for example, 10 to 3000 μm, preferably 50 to 1500 μm.
m, more preferably 100 to 1000 μm.

In this sample analysis device 1, when a sample such as blood is dropped from the hole 12, first, as shown in FIG. 1C, the inside of the sample introduction hole (the inside of the hole 12 and the inside of the annular projection 13) and The sample is temporarily held in the gap 15. At this time, the sample volume held in the sample introduction hole and the gap 15 is constant, and the sample can be quantitatively supplied to the inside of the porous sheet. In addition, since there is a certain space between the porous sheet 14 and the inner wall of the container 11, it is possible to prevent the sample from penetrating here due to a capillary phenomenon. Thereafter, the sample moves inside the porous sheet 14 and expands the sample developing section of the porous sheet 14 (from left to right in the figure) by capillary action. During this development, components in the sample are separated by the chromatographic effect. For example, in whole blood, blood cells are separated from plasma and serum. When an analytical reagent or the like is held on the porous sheet, this reacts with a component in the specimen, and analysis is performed by optical means or electrochemical means. In addition, when the porous sheet itself does not hold the analysis reagent, this sample analysis device is used for holding or storing a sample, in this case,
Usually, the liquid sample is held or stored in a dry state. Then, at the time of testing, a sample is extracted from the sample developing section of the porous sheet 14 and subjected to the test. In the remote clinical test system, a sample analysis tool holding a sample is sent to a laboratory, where the sample is tested.

The size of the sample analysis device of the present invention is not particularly limited. The preferred size of the container is 3
0-50mm, inner length 25-45mm, outer width 10
30mm, inner width 5-25mm, outer thickness 1-3mm,
The inner thickness is 0.5 to 2.5 mm and the sample introduction hole diameter is 3
10 to 10 mm, sample introduction hole length 0.1 to 1 mm, annular projection height 0.1 to 1 mm, and annular projection width 0.1 to 1 mm. The size of the porous sheet 14 is as described above.

There is no particular limitation on the material of the sample analysis device. For example, polyethylene terephthalate (P
ET), polypropylene (PP), acrylic resin, AB
There are resins such as S resin, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polycarbonate. Of these, PET and A are preferred.
BS resin.

[0019]

As described above, the sample supply assisting device of the present invention can easily and inexpensively collect a fixed amount of a sample, the structure thereof is simple, and a general porous sheet can be used. Therefore, the sample analysis device of the present invention can be preferably used, for example, in a remote clinical test system that handles a large number of samples.
Moreover, in the sample analysis device of the present invention, since the sample is prevented from penetrating between the porous sheet and the inner wall of the container, an accurate test can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a sample analysis tool of the present invention;
(A) is a plan view, (B) and (C) are cross-sectional views, and (D) is a perspective view.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a conventional sample analysis tool, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 2C is a perspective view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sample test tool 11 Container 12 Hole 13 Annular protrusion 14 Porous sheet 15 Void 16 Sample

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sample analysis tool in which a porous sheet having a sample supply section and a sample developing section on which a sample is developed by capillary action is stored in a container, wherein the container is a sample supply section of the porous sheet. Has a certain space between the lower end of the sample introduction hole and the sample supply unit, and the sample is quantitatively held by the surface tension in this space. Specimen analysis tool. 2. A hole is formed in the container, an annular protrusion is formed on the inner wall of the container so as to surround the hole, and the sample introduction hole is formed by the hole and an inner space of the ring of the annular protrusion. 2. The sample analysis tool according to claim 1, wherein the tip of the annular protrusion is a lower end of the sample introduction hole. 3. The sample analysis tool according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the container corresponding to the sample developing section is transparent. 4. The sample analysis tool according to claim 1, wherein a slit is formed in a portion of the container corresponding to the sample developing section. 5. The sample analysis tool according to claim 1, wherein the porous sheet is at least one of a filter paper and a resin porous sheet.