JPS5883233A - Device for measuring characteristic of red blood cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain parameters relating to deforming ability easily by disposing filters having many pores of around 3mu diameter to a holder at specified intervals, passing dilute liquid of red blood through detecting holes by a tube pump driven by a differential pressure detector and detecting the red blood cells in accordance with the electrical differences between the red blood cells and the dilute liquid with a particle detector. CONSTITUTION:A tube pump 4 is designed to suck and deliver liquid by squeezing a fine tube 5 and is operated by a motor driven by the control signal from a differential pressure detector 6 to maintain the pressures of filters 9 constant. Plural pieces of the filters 9 are juxtaposed on the same circumference on a holder 10, are exchangeable together with the holder 10, and are supported at the circumferential edges by means of bearings 11. A gear 13 is rotated by a step motor 14 to move the filters 9 successively to the prescribed position. The filters 9 have many passages of about 3mu. With such constitution, the red blood cells of normal deforming ability pass quickly through the filters 9 and the red blood cells having degraded deforming ability are captured by the filters 9 or required a time in passage. These red blood cells are measured with a particle detector 22, whereby the parameters relating to the deforming ability are obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for measuring the properties of red blood cells, in particular the ability of red blood cells to undergo various sudden deformations when passing through capillary tubes, that is, their deformability.

Among the various characteristics of red blood cells, red blood cells constantly circulate within blood vessels and have a diameter of approximately 8 μm, whereas red blood cells have a diameter of several μm.
Red blood cells pass freely through the small capillaries, but this is because red blood cells have deformability, and examining this deformability can be useful in diagnosing microcirculatory disorders. On the other hand, one of the methods for quantifying the deformability of red blood cells is
One method is to measure the pressure relief (suction pressure) required to be sucked into a glass capillary with a diameter of about 3μ using a constant pH2 osmotic pressure, or another method is to pass red blood cells through a porous filter with a diameter of about 3 to 5μ. However, the former method involves measuring one red blood cell under a microscope, and the measurement result does not necessarily represent the average value for all red blood cells, and requires skill. Not practical. While the latter provides an average value for a large number of red blood cells,
Errors due to the disintegration of red blood cells, viscosity of the liquid that floats red blood cells,
There is a drawback that it cannot be determined that the flow rate is necessarily a parameter related to deformability because it is affected by temperature and other factors. Furthermore, both methods require time and effort for measurement, and the time required for measurement per 1 sample is quite long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and consists of a tube pump that sucks and sends out blood dilution in a sample container from one end of a tube, and a hole with a diameter of approximately 3 μm that is connected to the other end of this tube via an introduction pipe. A large number of filters are placed in a holder at regular intervals, and the filters are sequentially introduced into pipe 2.
a filter section that is movable between a holder and an outlet pipe installed opposite to the inlet pipe; a differential pressure detection device that is connected to the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe and drives the tube pump; and the outlet pipe. and a particle detection device that detects red blood cells based on the electrical difference between the red blood cells and the diluent by allowing the sample that has passed through the filter section to pass through a detection hole provided at the bottom of the detector.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for measuring the characteristics of red blood cells that allows parameters related to deformability to be easily obtained from the number of red blood cells in a blood dilution solution that has been passed through a filter for a predetermined period of time.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the entire device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a filter section and a differential pressure detection device. 1 is a blood diluent, 2 is a sample container, 3 suction pipes, and 4 is a tube pump. The tube pump 4 has a structure in which a thin tube 5 connected to a suction pipe 3 is squeezed, sucked, and sent out.

There is a concern that this tube pump's 4 tubes will deteriorate, but
Excellent in terms of chemical resistance and contamination. The tube pump 4 includes a motor driven by a control signal from a differential pressure detection device 6, which will be described later, and is connected to the other end of the tube 5 via an introduction pipe 7, depending on the rotational speed or on/off of the motor. The pressure applied to the filter 9 of the filter section 8 is maintained at a constant pressure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the filters 9 of the filter section 8 are arranged in a circle, for example, on the same plane on a disc-shaped holder 0, so that the filters 9 can be replaced together with the holder θ. ing. The holder 10#'i is supported by a bearing 11 around its periphery, and a step motor 14 rotates a gear 13 that meshes with a notch 12 provided on the circumferential surface of the holder 100, thereby sequentially moving the filter 9 to a predetermined position. ing.

The filter 9 has a large number of narrow passages of around 3 μm that allow red blood cells to pass through the gaps only when they have deformability, and the membrane filter made of synthetic resin has relatively uniform gaps and is easy to use. suitable for use. In the filter section 8, the holder 1o provided with the filter 9 is held in a predetermined position, and the inlet pipe 7 and the outlet pipe 15 are opposed to each other so as to maintain airtightness. The pipe 7 and the outlet pipe 15 are communicated with each other.

The inlet pipe 7 and the outlet pipe 15 are each provided with a pipe 16.17 for differential pressure detection, and are connected to the differential pressure detection device 6 via these pipes 16.17.

For example, as shown in FIG.
1 as a switch for on/off control is relatively simple and allows highly accurate control. Moreover, a pressure sensing semiconductor using a piezo effect can be used without using a mercury U-shaped tube. This semiconductor converts pressure into a resistance change, and by using a V-F conversion circuit and a pulse motor for driving the pump, highly accurate pressure control can be performed. Since this method does not use harmful mercury, there is no malfunction due to spillage of mercury or poor contact, and the device can be constructed in a small size.

A particle detection device 22 is connected to the other end of the outlet pipe 15, and the sample that has passed through the filter section 8 is introduced into a detection container 23. The particle detection device 22 has a configuration similar to that of a conventional hemocytometer, and includes a detection hole 25 with a diameter of about 100 μ at the bottom of the detector 24, and electrodes 26 and 27 provided inside and outside the detector 24. The red blood cells are detected based on the impedance difference between the red blood cells passing through the detection hole 25 and the diluent, and the blood cell pulse signal is counted by the counting circuit 29 via the detection circuit 28. A fluid control device 30 is connected to the upper part of the detector 24 and sucks a sample into the detector 24, and has a built-in device for quantifying the sample to be measured.

To measure the deformability of red blood cells using the apparatus configured as described above, a blood diluent is stored in the sample container 2, and a sample is supplied to the filter part 8 via the suction pipe 3, and then a predetermined pressure is applied. A pressure (for example, 200 ffHg) is applied before and after the filter 9, and only deformable red blood cells pass through the gap in the filter 9, which is smaller than the diameter of the red blood cells (about 8 μ), and are supplied to the detection container 23. Red blood cells with normal deformability quickly pass through the filter 9, but red blood cells with reduced deformability are captured by the filter 9 or take time to pass through. Therefore, when the sample sent into the detection container 23 within a predetermined time is measured by the particle detection device 22 and the number of particles per unit volume is counted, the absolute number of particles, the rate of decrease before and after passing through the filter, or the unit Important parameters related to deformability can be obtained from the number of particles passing through the time-spreading beam. The parameters obtained in this manner are provided as clinical data for diagnosis of microcirculatory disorders and the like. The filter used for one sample was
The step motor 14 is replaced with the next filter,
Furthermore, when all the filters are used up, the holder is replaced. After the measurement, the sample inside the detection container 23 is discharged to the outside via the pulp 31. Note that the filter and holder are not limited to disk-shaped ones as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to use one in which a large number of windows are opened in the window and the filter 9 is fixed to each of the six windows.

As explained above, according to the apparatus of the present invention, a pretreatment process is performed at a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time using the filter section, and then particle counting measurement is performed and various parameters are measured. These processes can automatically measure each specimen according to a predetermined program, and enable routine specimen measurements from conventional laboratory measurements. This method has the advantage that parameters related to deformability can be easily obtained without the need for .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the device of the present invention,
Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the filter section and differential pressure detection device;
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the filter section. 1... Blood diluent, 2... Sample container, 3... Suction pipe, 4... Tube pump, 5... Tube,
6...Differential pressure detection device, 7...Introduction pipe, 8...
Filter part, 9... Filter, lO... Holder, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Bearing, 12... Notch, 13... Gear, 14... Step motor, 15... Leading pipe,
16.17...Pipe, 18...Mercury U-shaped tube, 1,
9.20...Electrical contact, 21...Mercury, 22...
Particle detection device, 23... detection container, 24... detector, 25... detection hole, 26.27... electrode, 28...
・Detection circuit, 29... Counting circuit, 3o... Fluid control device, 31... Pulp, 32... Sprocket, 3
3...Furumu

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tube pump that aspirates and sends out the blood dilution liquid in the sample container from one end of the tube, and a filter connected to the other end of this tube via an introduction pipe and having many pores with a diameter of about 3 μm are arranged at regular intervals in a holder. A filter section in which the filter is sequentially moved between an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe installed opposite to the inlet pipe via a holder, and a differential pressure detection unit connected to the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe to drive the tube pump. and a particle detection device that is connected to the lead-out pipe and that detects red blood cells based on the electrical difference between the red blood cells and the diluent by allowing the sample that has passed through the filter section to pass through a detection hole provided at the bottom of the detector. A device for measuring the characteristics of red blood cells, characterized by: