FI92020C - Incubator - Google Patents

Description

1 92020

incubator

The invention relates to an incubator for cuvette systems. It can be used, for example, in an automated immunoassay system in which the inner surface of the reaction vessel 5 is used as the solid phase. The JSr system can be used in general for photometric, fluorometric, phosphorimetric or radiological immunoassays.

To determine the antibody (or antigen) in a sample, the so-called heterogeneous immunization methods in which an antibody (or antigen, respectively) and a labeled antibody (or antigen, respectively) are allowed to bind to an antigen (or antibody, respectively) placed on a solid surface. These methods have a solid surface on which the inununological reaction has taken place, and the reaction solution is separated from the solid surface before measuring the tracer signal so that the excess tracer in the reaction solution does not mask the signal in the solid-bound antibody (or antigen). The signal 20 may be, for example, radioactivity (RIA), fluorescence activity (FIA) or enzyme activity (EIA). In all female methods, the solid £ donkey must be washed thoroughly before measurement.

The methods currently in use always have a few steps to perform; at least a washing step for which no reliable means of operation have been found to automate.

Automated methods must aim to use reaction and measurement capacities made up of several sample vessels. The reactions must generally be carried out at a precisely defined temperature. Incubators with a body to be heated and a separate cuvette-shaped cavity for each cuvette are used to provide a lamp space. However, this solution is not satisfactory, it is thus difficult to make the temperature states 35 of the various cuvettes in Silia remain sufficiently accurate. Thus, it is not possible to use cuvettes as large as would be advantageous for automation.

An incubator according to claim 1 has now been invented. Some embodiments thereof are set forth in the other claims.

2 92020

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in more detail by means of the accompanying drawings. In them, Fig. 1 shows an overall view of the system, Fig. 2 a partial view of the inside of the analyzer, Fig. 3 the coarse liquid dispenser lowered to the bottom of the cuvette and Fig. 4 the thermostated incubator of the apparatus.

lo The main components of the equipment are the analyzer 1, the computer 2 with its display terminals 3 and the printer 4. Other control or communication and storage devices 5 can also be connected to the system. The analyzer also has its own input and output panel 6. The analyzer cover 7 is open. The display 15 is placed in the moving carriage 8. The trajectory of the carriage is linear and marked with an arrow at the end of the carriage. On the other side of the carriage 8 there is a dosing permeation 9 movable along a trajectory perpendicular to the trajectory of the carriage, to which a photometer 10 and a liquid dispenser 11 are attached. The dosing direction 20 in the direction of movement 9 is indicated by an arrow next to it.

The measurement is performed by passing a light rain from below the hole 12 through the bottom of the sample cuvette through the measuring tip 13 of the photometer 10 for detection.

The liquid dispenser 11 has a main channel 14 connected to the hose pump and an internal channel 15 connected to the piston pump opening therein; * a side channel 15 (Fig. 3). The tip 15 of the liquid dispenser can be lowered to the bottom of the cuvette below.

The tip 15 of the liquid dispenser 11 is made of a flexible material and is preferably curved (Figure 3). When the curved tip 15 is lowered to the bottom of the cuvette 18 of the cuvette system 17, the mouth of the tip settles in the corner of the cuvette 18. In this way, the liquid in the cuvette 18 is absorbed: removed as completely as possible.

The analyzer uses a vertical measuring cuvette 17 if there are a plurality of cylindrical measuring cuvettes 18 with a transparent base, which are connected at the top to each other into a rectangular matrix on a support plate. The inner walls, in particular the bottoms, of the cuvettes 18 are pre-attached with 3 92020 t of antibody to be determined. Carriage 8 has light-shedding holes at the cuvettes 18.

Carriage 8 has a thermostated incubator in which the cuvette system is placed. The incubator has heating pins located in the 18 vS of the cuvettes. The pins 19 are rectangular in cross-section, the sides of which curve inwards to the walls of the cuvettes 18, so that a small gap divides the pins 19 and the cuvettes (Fig. 4). This is how Ina is allowed to rotate freely in the silence of the cuvettes, and the temperature of all the cuvettes remains exactly as desired.

The carriage 8 has a space 20 for the cuvette system 17 as well as a space 21 for the sample vessels and a place 22 for the necessary reagent and liquid removal vessels.

The apparatus operates as follows: The lid 7 of the analyzer is opened and samples, for example serum samples, are placed in the space 21 reserved for them and the cuvette set 17 in the space 20 reserved for it. The lid 7 is closed and the desired program is started. The liquid dispenser 11 picks up and dilutes each nSyte in its own cuvette 18 and retrieves 20 and dispenses the labeled antibody and any other reagents as needed into each cuvette. The samples are incubated for the desired time at which the immunological reaction takes place.

The liquid dispenser 11 now alternately draws the reaction solutions of all the cuvettes 18 into the tank duct 14 and removes them into the container provided for them while rinsing the duct. 14 washing liquids are now dispensed alternately from the main duct into all cuvettes, after which the cuvettes are again emptied as described above. Finally, the amount of labeled antibody bound to each cuvette is measured and the results are printed as desired.

The solution is removed from the cuvette so that the tip 15 is pushed into the bottom of the cuvette 18 and when the solution is aspirated away the curved tip 15 is moved against the corner of the cuvette. This means that the cuvette 18 is always completely removed in the corner of the cuvette 18 and the solution removed as accurately as possible.

The wash liquid is dispensed into the cuvette 18 in such a way that the liquid jet does not remove the antibody without reacting, but nevertheless removes the excess labeled antibody and other impurities from the solution.

4,92020

A preferred photometric application has been described above. the arrangement can also be applied to fluorometric or radiological measurements. The hardware may also differ from the previous one in its details. For example, there may be a separate incubation station to which the trolley is run. Naturally, the annealing pad can also be used during incubation, such as myds photometry.

In one preferred embodiment, several different configuration sequences are performed simultaneously.

Claims (4)

92020 Patented suction A thermocouple incubator for a cuvette system (17), a cuvette (18) with a rectangular matrix and a three-speed fast-to-shoulder from the outside of the cavity, which can be used to cover the incubator (19). placeras i mellanrummen mellan kyvetterna. A thermostated incubator for a cuvette system (17), the cuvettes (18) of which form a rectangular matrix and are attached to each other at the top by a support plate, characterized in that the incubator has connection pins (19) arranged in the outer corner spaces of the cuvettes. 2. The incubator is provided with a lid 1, which can be used to cover the upper arm (19) or left or right. Incubator according to Claim 1, characterized in that the heating pins (19) are substantially rectangular in cross section. An incubator according to claim 2, characterized in that the cuvettes (18) are circular cylindrical and in which the side walls of the heating pins (19) are concave corresponding to the curvature of the cuvette walls. Incubator according to Claim 3, characterized in that the diameter of the cylindrical cuvette space formed by the heating pins (19) is slightly larger than the diameter of the cuvette (18). 3. The incubator is provided with a screw 2, which can be capped with a cuvette (18) with a cylinder shape and a further curing device (19) attached to the cuvette 3 or a concave cavity for measuring the cuvette in the cuvette. 4. The incubator is provided with screws 3, capped, having a diameter of the upstream valve (19) in the form of a cylinder-shaped cuvette plate or having a diameter of the cuvette 35 (18).