KR101809645B1

KR101809645B1 - Apparatus for automatically performing analysis of immune

Info

Publication number: KR101809645B1
Application number: KR1020140066562A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 손문탁
Original assignee: 주식회사 이지다이아텍; 주식회사 바이오록스
Priority date: 2014-05-30
Filing date: 2014-05-30
Publication date: 2017-12-15
Also published as: KR20160000001A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automated immunoassay apparatus. Such an autoimmunity analyzing apparatus includes a well strip disposed on an upper portion of a base and reciprocally transported in an X-axis direction and aligned with a well; An X-axis feeder provided in the base and reciprocating in the X-axis direction; A body frame fixed to the X-axis transferring part and reciprocating in the X-axis direction; A Z-axis conveying unit which is provided in the main frame and generates and moves up and down in the Z-axis direction; A tip ascending and descending portion provided on the Z axis transfer portion to pick up and drop the tip; A magnet rod lifting / lowering portion provided on the Z-axis transferring portion to move the magnet rod up and down in the Z-axis direction; And a control unit for controlling the automatic immunoassay apparatus.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC IMMUNOLOGY [0002]

More particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic immune analysis performing apparatus, and more particularly, to an automatic immune analysis performing apparatus which is capable of inserting a magnetic rod inside a tip so as to attach the magnetic microbead to an outer circumferential surface of a tip, The present invention relates to a device capable of performing cleaning more efficiently by separating the magnetic microbead from the tip and performing cleaning.

In recent years, as the human genome project has been completed and the post genome era has begun, a large amount of microinformation poured out is difficult to be processed quickly by existing laboratory analysis systems.

Biological detection systems for the identification of life phenomena and drug development and diagnosis are based on microfluidics, and a micro total analysis system (μ -TAS: micro-Total Analysis System) and lab-on-a-chip.

Since most of the biochemical samples to be analyzed are present in solution, the technique of delivering liquid samples is the most important factor. Microfluidics is a research field for controlling the flow of such microfluidics, and is a field for research and development of core technologies that are based on commercialization of the microcomputer analysis system and lab-on-a-chip.

The micro total analysis system is a system that comprehensively implements chemical and biological experiments and analyzes, which are subjected to a plurality of experimental steps and reactions, on one unit existing on one laboratory. Such a micro total analysis system is composed of a sampling region, a microfluidic circuit, a detector, and a controller for controlling them.

The lab-on-a-chip means a laboratory in a chip or a laboratory on a chip. The lab-on-a-chip generally uses nanoparticles of less than nanoliters using plastic, glass, To move a small amount of the liquid sample to perform the existing experiment or research process quickly.

Implementation of the above microarray analysis system or lab-on-a-chip, which can rapidly perform rapid analysis of micro information, can be effectively accomplished by combining with appropriate biometric analysis methods.

Methods for analyzing biomolecules include immunoassays, DNA hybridization, and receptor-based assays. Detection methods for analyzing these biomolecules are widely used not only in laboratory analysis but also in medical diagnosis and drug development.

Immunoassay is an analytical technique using antigen-antibody interactions, and various forms exist depending on the principle of the assay. DNA hybridization analysis utilizes complementary binding between probe DNA and target DNA. Receptor-based assays are also an analytical method that exploits the binding capacity between a particular molecule and its receptor. The detection of various biomolecules is possible by using the selective binding ability of the antibody, DNA, RNA and molecular receptors capable of specific binding to the detection molecule.

Since the binding process of these biomolecules can not be directly observed, a labeling substance capable of generating a measurable signal is used.

In general, a fluorescent substance, a radioactive substance, an enzyme, or a magnetic particle is used as a labeling substance. In such a measurement method, it is important to generate a high-sensitivity signal so that a very small amount of the detection molecule can be recognized.

In recent years, the development of synthetic chemistry and life sciences has diversified the target substances to be analyzed in the field of drug development and diagnosis. In addition, these target substances are costly and expensive. This is due to the growing need. As one of detection methods for ensuring generation of a signal with high sensitivity, various methods using magnetic particles have been reported.

However, these conventional analytical methods have difficulties in effectively extracting or releasing the labeling substances such as magnetic particles inside the wells.

Patent Application No. 10-2014-46415 (name: integrated device for nucleic acid detection and identification)

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to solve such conventional problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic microbead which can more easily extract or discharge magnetic microbeads by a tip by improving the structure, Device.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, an automatic immunoassay analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a well strip disposed at an upper portion of a base and reciprocally transported in an X-axis direction and aligned with a well; An X-axis feeder provided in the base and reciprocating in the X-axis direction; A body frame fixed to the X-axis transferring part and reciprocating in the X-axis direction; A Z-axis conveying unit which is provided in the main frame and generates and moves up and down in the Z-axis direction; A tip ascending and descending portion provided on the Z axis transfer portion to pick up and drop the tip; A magnet rod lifting / lowering portion provided on the Z-axis transferring portion to move the magnet rod up and down in the Z-axis direction; And a control unit for controlling the automatic immunoassay apparatus.

The automatic immune analyzing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that a magnetic rod is insertably disposed inside a tip so that magnetic micro beads are attached to the outer circumferential surface of the tip when necessary and extracted, The magnetic microbeads are discharged and the cleaning is performed. Thus, there is an advantage that more efficient cleaning can be performed.

Further, there is an advantage that the immune analysis process can be performed more easily by improving the structure of the component that moves the tip up and down and the component that moves up and down the magnet rod.

FIG. 1 is a view showing an appearance of an automatic immunoassay apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view of Fig.
3 is a plan view of Fig.
4 is a front view of Fig.
FIG. 5 is a view showing an adhesion relationship between a magnet and a T tip of the tip ascending and descending portion shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
6 (a) to 6 (j) are views showing a process of extracting or ejecting magnetic micro-mide by the automatic immune analyzing apparatus shown in Fig.

Hereinafter, an automatic immunoassay apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 5, the automatic immunoassay apparatus 1 proposed by the present invention is provided with a well strip 17 arranged on an upper part of a base 3 and reciprocating in the X-axis direction, (7); An X-axis feeder 2 provided in the base 3 and reciprocating in the X-axis direction; A body frame (4) fixed to the X axis transferring part (2) and reciprocating in the X axis direction; A Z-axis feeder 5 provided in the main body frame 4 for generating and moving up and down a Z-axis direction power; A tip elevating and lowering portion 11 provided on the Z axis transferring portion 5 to pick up and drop the tip 50; A magnet raising and lowering portion 9 provided on the Z-axis conveying portion 5 for raising and lowering the magnet rod 31 in the Z-axis direction; And a control unit (C) for controlling the automatic immunoassay apparatus (1).

In the automatic immunoassay apparatus having such a structure, the well strips 7 are arranged on the base 3 and connected to a motor to perform reciprocating feed along the X-axis direction. The well strips 7 are formed with insertion grooves 16 into which the wells 17 can be inserted in an upright state. At this time, the insertion groove 16 may have a plurality of rows such as one row or two rows.

Also, one or more wells 17 may be inserted into the insertion groove 16, for example, eight wells 17 may be inserted into the plurality of grooves to be erected.

These wells 17 may store various solutions or the tips 50 may be placed. For example, the T tip 50 is placed in the No. 1 well 17, the magnetic microbeads are stored in the No. 2 well, the washing solution is stored in the No. 3 to No. 7 wells, Lt; / RTI >

Of course, the arrangement of these wells 17 can be appropriately changed according to the immunoassay environment. The well strips 7 may be fixed on the base 3.

After the solution is stored in each well 17 as described above, the immersion analysis work such as stirring and attachment is performed by inserting the tip 50 or the magnet rod 31, and the tip 50 or the magnet rod 31 Can be carried out by the tip ascending and descending section 11 and the magnet roving and descending section 9 as described above and these components are transferred to the X axis and the X axis by the X axis transfer section 2 and the Z axis transfer section 5, It is possible to move up and down in the Z-axis direction.

That is, the X-axis conveying unit 2 includes a belt portion 13 disposed at one side of the base 3 and generating power by rotating along a circular trajectory in the X-axis direction; A slider (Slider) 42 that reciprocates in the X axis direction by the belt section 13; And a rail 40 which is disposed on the upper surface of the base 3 and slidably supports the lower portion of the slider 42.

In the X-axis transfer section 2 having such a structure, the belt section 13 includes an X-axis servo motor 44; A first pulley 45 provided on the rotation axis of the X axis servo motor 44; a second pulley 46 disposed on the rotation axis of the X axis servo motor 44 at a predetermined distance from the X axis servo motor 44; And a belt (Belt) 48 connecting the first and second pulleys 45, 46.

At this time, the belt 48 has a circular ring shape, one side is caught by the first pulley 45 and the other side is caught by the second pulley 46.

Therefore, when the X-axis servo motor 44 is driven to rotate the rotation shaft, the first pulley 45 rotates, and the belt 48 attached thereto rotates, thereby rotating the second pulley 46, And is rotated along the trajectory.

At this time, by appropriately controlling the rotation angle of the X-axis servo motor 44, the advancing distance of the belt 48 can be controlled, and the rotation axis can be selectively rotated in the forward and reverse directions, The moving distance and the moving direction can be adjusted.

The moving distance of the tip ascending / descending section 11 and the magnet roving / descending section 9 in the X axis direction is adjusted by adjusting the moving distance of the slider 42 in the X axis direction.

One side of the slider 42 is connected to the belt 48 and a rail groove h is formed on the bottom surface of the slider 42 to be mounted on the rail 40. Therefore, when an external force is transmitted to the slider 42, the movable member 40 can move along the rail 40 in the X-axis direction.

When the belt 48 rotates in this state, the slider 42 can reciprocate along the rail 40 in the X-axis direction.

In the above description, the structure for moving in the X-axis direction by the belt pulley system has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the LM guide system is also applicable.

That is, when the LM motor is driven by connecting the slider 42 by the LM motor and the screw bolt while the slider 42 is mounted on the rail 40, the slider 42 may move back and forth along the rail 40 Do.

The slider 42 is connected to the main body frame 4 by the connecting plate 43 so that the tip ascending and descending lower portion 11 and the magnet roving and descending portion 9 can be also transferred in the X axis direction, It is possible to reciprocate in the Z-axis direction as will be described later.

The main body frame 4 is fixed to the connecting plate 43 of the slider 42 in an upright state. Therefore, when the slider 42 moves along the X-axis direction because the main body frame 4 is connected to the slider 42, the main body frame 4 also moves in the X-axis direction.

The main frame 4 is provided with a Z-axis feeder 5. The Z-axis conveying unit 5 includes a pair of rail blocks 37 disposed on the bottom surface of the main body frame 4 and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance; A Z-axis transfer plate 22 disposed between the rail 40 block 37 and ascending and descending in the Z-axis direction; A first servo motor 35 provided on one side of the main frame 4; A first crank 32 connected to the rotation axis of the first servo motor 35 in a radial direction and rotating along a circular trajectory; And a first link pin 34 projecting axially at the end of the first crank 32 and passing through the semicircular groove of the Z-axis transfer plate 22. [

In the Z-axis conveying unit 5 having such a structure, the pair of rail blocks 37 are spaced apart from each other by a certain distance, facing each other, and a guide rail r is formed on the inner side. A rail groove (V) is formed on both side surfaces of the Z-axis transfer plate (22) disposed between the pair of rail blocks (37). Then, the guide rail r is slidably engaged with the rail groove (V).

Therefore, when an external force such as the rotational force of the first servo motor 35 acts, the Z-axis transfer plate 22 ascends and descends along the guide rail r of the rail block 37.

The first crank 32 is connected to the rotation axis of the first servo motor 35 in the radial direction and the first link pin 34 protrudes in the axial direction at the tip of the first crank 32. Therefore, when the first servomotor 35 is driven, the first crank 32 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise around the rotary shaft 38 in the circumferential direction. Then, the first link pin 34 also rotates clockwise or counterclockwise along the circular locus.

At this time, a semi-circular first guide hole 39 is formed in the Z-axis transfer plate 22. The first link pin 34 passes through the first guide hole 39 and is in contact with the inner upper side of the first guide hole 39 at the same time.

Therefore, when the first crank 32 rotates in the forward direction or the reverse direction, the first link pin 34 rotates in the forward and reverse directions. At this time, The first link pin 34 pushes up the upper portion of the first guide hole 39 so that the Z-axis transfer plate 22 is rotated in the clockwise direction And rises along the Z-axis direction.

Conversely, when the first link pin 34 rotates counterclockwise, it is lowered due to its own weight of the Z-axis transfer plate 22.

Thus, as the first link pin 34 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise, the Z-axis transfer plate can ascend and descend along the Z-axis direction.

At this time, the first servo motor 35 is driven only once, so that the first link pin 34 is also allowed to move up and down only once, and the Z-axis moving plate can also be moved up and down only once.

Alternatively, when the first servo motor 35 is driven a plurality of times, the first link pin 34 also rotates a plurality of times in the forward and reverse directions to thereby cause the Z-axis transfer plate 22 to repeatedly move up and down many times to generate vibration It is possible.

As the Z-axis transfer plate 22 moves in the Z-axis direction, the tip elevating and lowering rigid portion 11 and the magnet roving and downhill portion 9 mounted on the Z-axis transfer plate 22 can be moved up and down as well.

That is, the tip elevating and lowering rigid portion 11 and the magnet roving and downhill portion 9 can be raised and lowered together by driving the first servomotor 35.

More specifically, the tip ascending / descending portion 11 is disposed at a lower portion of the Z-axis transfer plate 22, and at least one through hole h1 is formed in the vertical direction, (33); And a magnet 57 disposed below the body 33 and picking up the tip 50 by a magnetic force.

The body 33 is coupled to the Z-axis transfer plate 22 to be integrally lifted and lowered. The through hole h1 penetrates the body 33 in the up and down direction and the magnet rod 31 is inserted into the through hole h1 and can be raised and lowered.

The through holes h1 may have a plurality of holes, such as one or two holes, which can be appropriately selected in accordance with the design specifications.

The magnet 57 is disposed below the body 33, and preferably three magnets 57 are disposed in a triangular shape. Of course, it is also possible to arrange a rectangular shape such as a triangular shape.

The magnet 57 can be attached to the tip 50 in the state of being inserted into the well 17 by magnetic force. That is, the tip 50 is for attaching magnetic microbeads, and may have various shapes of tips 50, for example, a T-shaped tip 50.

The T-shaped tip 50 is made of a non-magnetic material such as synthetic resin, and includes a tube 54 to which magnetic micro-beads are attached when the magnet rod 31 is inserted; And a head 52 mounted on the top of the tubular body 54 and responsive to the magnetic force.

The tubular body 54 may be manufactured in a variety of shapes, preferably in the form of a circular tube with an opening at the top. The tubular body 54 is made of a non-magnetic material such as plastic. Therefore, when the magnet rod 31 is lowered and inserted into the tubular body 54, the magnetic force of the magnet rod 31 extends to a certain extent outside the tubular body 54, By a magnetic force.

When the magnetic bar 31 is lifted and separated from the tubular body 54, the magnetic force is extinguished around the tubular body 54, so that the magnetic microbeads attached to the outer peripheral surface of the tubular body 54 can be separated again.

The head 52 is disposed on the upper portion of the tubular body 54 as a circular ring and can be attached to the magnet 57 of the body 33 by being formed of a metal material.

In this state, the tip ascending / descending portion 11 descends and the magnet 57 is brought close to the upper portion of the well 17 The head 52 of the tip 50 can be attached to the magnet 57 by the magnetic force.

Therefore, the tip ascending / descending portion 11 picks up the tip 50 by the magnet 57 and can rise.

At this time, it is preferable that the magnetic force of the magnet 57 has a size enough to pick up the tip 50.

That is, when the tip 50 is separated from the magnet 57 of the tip elevating and lowering portion 11 after the analysis process is completed, it is difficult to separate the tip 50 when an excessive magnetic force is applied. Therefore, when the magnetic force of the magnet 57 is formed to be capable of picking up only about the tip 50, when the tip 50 is detached, the tip ascending and descending portion 11 descends with the tip 50 attached The tip ascending and descending section 11 moves in the X-axis direction when the Z-axis transfer section 5 is moved backward along the X-axis direction in this state, 50 are in contact with the inside of the well 17 and eventually the force of the tip ascending / descending section 11 moving along the X axis becomes larger than the magnetic force of the magnet 57 attaching the tip 50, The tip 50 is separated from the magnet 57 to remain in the well 17 and only the tip ascending and descending portion 11 can move in the X axis direction.

As described above, the tip ascending / descending section 11 can be inserted into or detached from the well 17 by raising / lowering the tip 50.

On the other hand, the magnet rod lifting and lowering portion 9 is integrally mounted on the Z-axis transfer plate 22 to move the magnet rod 31 up and down.

The magnet raising and lowering portion 9 includes a second servo motor 19 provided on the rear surface of the Z-axis transfer plate 22; A second crank (23) connected to the rotation axis of the second servo motor (19) in the radial direction and rotating along a circular locus; A second link pin (25) projecting axially at an end of the second crank (23); A bracket (26) for moving up and down with the second link pin (25) engaged; And a magnet rod 31 protruding from the lower portion of the bracket 26.

The second crank 23 is connected to the rotating shaft of the second servomotor 19 in the radial direction and the second crank 23 is connected to the second crank 23 at the tip of the second crank 23, The link pin 25 is projected in the axial direction. Therefore, when the second servomotor 19 is driven, the second crank 23 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise around the rotating shaft in the circumferential direction. Then, the second link pin 25 also rotates clockwise or counterclockwise along the circular locus.

At this time, a semi-circular second guide hole 29 is formed in the Z-axis transfer plate 22. The second link pin 25 passes through the second guide hole 29. Therefore, when the second crank 23 rotates in the normal direction or the reverse direction, the second link pin 25 also rotates in the forward and reverse directions. At this time, the second link pin 25 rotates along the second guide hole 29 .

The bracket 26 is disposed on the front surface of the Z-axis transfer plate 22 and the engagement hole h2 is formed on the upper side to allow the second link pin 25 to pass through.

At this time, the diameter of the latching hole h2 has such a size that the second link pin 25 can penetrate. In addition, at least one magnet rod 31 is mounted in the lower part of the bracket 26 in the axial direction.

The magnet rod 31 protrudes downward and can penetrate the through hole h1 of the tip ascending and descending portion 11. [

Therefore, when the second servomotor 19 is driven and the second crank 23 rotates clockwise, the second link pin 25 moves along the circular locus in a state of passing through the second guide hole 29 And the second link pin 25 lifts the latching hole h2 of the bracket 26 upward so that the magnet rod 31 can also rise in the Z axis direction.

On the other hand, when the second servo motor 19 is driven in the reverse direction, the second crank 23 rotates counterclockwise, and the second link pin 25 passes through the second guide hole 29 The bracket 26 is lowered by its own weight.

Thus, when the second servomotor 19 is driven along the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the magnet rod 31 of the bracket 26 can also ascend and descend along the Z-axis.

Then, the second servo motor 19 is driven only once, so that the second link pin 25 can also move up and down the magnet rod 31 only once by performing the upward movement or the downward movement once.

Or when the second servomotor 19 is driven a plurality of times, the second link pin 25 also rotates a plurality of times along the forward and reverse directions so that the magnet rod 31 can also generate vibration by repeating ascending and descending a number of times .

Since the magnet rod 31 is connected to the lower portion of the bracket 26 and is inserted into the through hole h1 of the tip ascending and descending portion 11 so as to be able to move up and down the bracket 26, It can ascend and descend in the linear direction along the axial direction.

Further, the magnetic bar 31 may be entirely made of a magnetic material or may be made of a magnetic material having a lower magnetic property.

The control unit C transmits a control signal to the X-axis servo motor and the first and second servomotors 35 and 19 by using a microprocessor such as a CPU to control the rotation angle and rotation direction of each servo motor Can be controlled.

In addition, the immunoassay process can be automatically performed using the tip 50 by sequentially driving each servo motor.

Hereinafter, the procedure of performing the immunoassay using the automatic immune analyzer will be described in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 6 (a), a plurality of wells 17 are inserted into the well strips 7 and aligned. Then, the tip 50 is inserted into the well of one of the plurality of wells 17, preferably into the well 1.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the sample is injected into each well 17. That is, a washing solution or a phosphate buffer solution is injected into each well 17. Further, the magnetic microbeads m are injected into the first well 17 or a specific well.

As shown in Fig. 6 (c), the reagent and the sample are mixed. That is, the tip lifting and lowering portion 11 is moved in the x-axis direction so that the tip 50 reaches the position of the well 17 into which the tip 50 is inserted. As the body 33 of the tip ascending / descending section 11 descends, the magnetic 57 approaches the upper head 52 of the tip 50, and the head 52 made of metal is magnetized by the magnetic force 57 So that the tip 50 can be picked up by the tip elevating and lowering portion 11.

In this state, when the first servomotor 35 is repeatedly rotated in the forward and reverse directions, the first crank 32 and the first link pin 34 also rotate in the normal and reverse directions, The tip ascending / descending section 11 ascends and descends along the Z-axis direction, so that the tip 50 ascends and descends while being immersed in the solution in the well 17 to mix the reagent and the sample.

After the mixing process is completed, as shown in Fig. 6 (d), the magnetic rod 31 is lowered and inserted into the tip 50, whereby the magnetic micro beads m stored in the well 17 are inserted into the tip 50).

That is, the second crank 23 and the second link pin 25 are rotated by the second servomotor 19, and the bracket 26 is lowered by its own weight, 31) also descend. Then, the lowered magnet rod 31 is inserted into the tip 50. At this time, the magnetic force of the magnet rod 31 reaches the outer periphery of the tip 50. Therefore, the magnetic micro-bits stored in the well 17 can be extracted by being attached to the outer peripheral surface of the tip 50 by the magnetic force.

6 (e), in order to clean the tip 50 with the magnetic micro beads m attached to the outer circumferential surface of the tip 50, the tips of the adjacent wells 17a .

That is, the control unit C drives the X-axis servomotor 44 by transmitting a signal to the X-axis transfer unit 2 to rotate the belt 48 engaged with the first pulley 45 and the second pulley 46 . At this time, the slider 42 is connected to the belt 48. Accordingly, the Z-axis feed portion 5 also moves as the slider 42 moves by a predetermined distance along the X-axis direction, and the tip ascending / descending portion 11 and the magnet roving / descending portion 9 integrally connected to the Z- .

At this time, the control unit C controls the rotation angle of the X-axis servo motor 44 so that the tip 50 can reach the position of the adjacent well 17a in which the cleaning liquid is stored.

Thus, when the tip 50 reaches the position of the well 17 containing the cleaning liquid, the magnetic microbead m is discharged from the tip 50 as shown in Fig. 6 (f).

That is, the second crank 23 and the second link pin 25 are rotated in the clockwise direction by driving the second servomotor 19 of the magnet rod lifting and lowering portion 9, and the second link pin 25 As the bracket 26 is lifted, the magnet rod 31 also ascends. When the magnet rod 31 rises and separates upward from the tip 50, the magnetic force is no longer applied to the tip 50.

Thus, the magnetic micro beads m attached to the outer circumferential surface of the tip 50 can be released into the well 17 by being separated from the tip 50.

In this way, with the magnetic micro-beads m being discharged, cleaning of the tip 50 can be performed, as shown in Fig. 6 (g).

That is, after the magnet rod 31 is separated from the tip 50, the first servo motor 35 is driven in the forward and reverse directions, so that the first crank 32 and the first link pin 34 are also repeatedly And the Z-axis transfer plate 22 and the tip ascending / descending section 11 are repeatedly moved up and down, so that the tip 50 also ascends and descends. At this time, the tip 50 is in such a state as to vibrate up and down by repeatedly raising and lowering.

Therefore, cleaning can be performed by separating foreign matter that may have adhered to the outer circumferential surface of the tip 50.

As such, after the tip 50 has been cleaned, additional cleaning may be performed. Such additional washing may be carried out at an appropriate frequency depending on the immunoassay conditions.

When cleaning of the tip 50 is completed in this manner, the magnetic microbeads m are again extracted as shown in Fig. 6 (h). This is the same as the process of FIG. 6 (d).

That is, the magnetic bar 31 can be lowered inside the tip 50 that has been cleaned, so that the magnetic micro beads m stored in the well 17 can be attached to the outer circumferential surface of the tip 50.

At this time, since the process of descending the magnet rod 31 is the same as described above, the following description is omitted.

As described above, magnetic micro-bits can be attached to the outer peripheral surface of the tip 50 by the magnetic force of the lowered magnet rod 31 inside the tip 50, so that extraction can be performed.

Then, as shown in Fig. 6 (i), the tip 50 is moved to the corresponding well 17 to release the magnetic microbead m into the well 17 in which the phosphate buffer solution is stored.

At this time, the process of moving the tip 50 to the well 17 in which the phosphate buffer solution is stored is the same as the above-described X-axis transfer process, and thus will not be described below.

Thus, when the tip 50 reaches the position of the well 17 containing the washing liquid, the magnetic microbead m is discharged from the tip 50 as shown in Fig. 6 (j).

Thus, the magnetic microbeads m attached to the outer circumferential surface of the tip 50 can be separated from the tip 50, so that the phosphate buffer solution can be released into the stored well 17.

After the magnetic micro beads m have been discharged into the well 17 storing the phosphate buffer solution, the tip 50 is returned to the original well No. 1 and then separated.

At this time, the process of separating the tip 50 from the tip elevating and lowering portion 11 is as described above. That is, in the state where the tip 50 is attached, the tip ascending / descending portion 11 descends and the tip 50 is inserted into the well 17, and in this state, the tip ascending / descending portion 11 moves along the X- The tip ascending / descending section 11 moves in the X-axis direction and the tip 50 is in contact with the inside of the well 17. As a result, The tip 50 is separated from the magnet 57 and remains in the interior of the well 17 and only the tip ascending and descending portion 11 is moved in the X axis direction by the magnetic force of the magnet 57 attached to the tip 50. [ Lt; / RTI >

The automatic immunoassay process can be performed through the above-described process.

Claims

A well strip disposed at an upper portion of the base and reciprocally transported in the X-axis direction and aligned with the wells;
An X-axis feeder provided in the base and reciprocating in the X-axis direction;
A body frame fixed to the X-axis transferring part and reciprocating in the X-axis direction;
A Z-axis conveying unit which is provided in the main frame and generates and moves up and down in the Z-axis direction;
A tip ascending and descending portion provided on the Z axis transfer portion to pick up and drop the tip;
A magnet rod lifting / lowering portion provided on the Z-axis transferring portion to move the magnet rod up and down in the Z-axis direction;
And a control unit for controlling the automatic immunoassay apparatus,
The Z-axis conveying unit includes a pair of rail blocks disposed on one side of the main frame and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, a Z-axis conveying plate disposed between the rail blocks and moving up and down in the Z- A first crank that is connected to the rotation axis of the first servo motor in a radial direction and rotates along a circular locus, and a second crank that projects in the axial direction on the end of the first crank, And a first link pin extending through the first link pin,
The tip ascending and descending portion is disposed at a lower portion of the Z-axis transporting plate, and includes at least one through-hole formed in a vertical direction, and a magnet disposed at a lower portion of the body for picking up a tip by a magnetic force,
The magnet rod lifting and lowering portion includes a second servo motor provided on the rear surface of the Z axis transfer plate, a second crank that is connected to the rotation axis of the second servo motor in the radial direction and rotates along a circular locus, A second link pin protruding in the direction of the first link pin, a bracket for moving up and down in a state of being hooked on the second link pin, and a magnet rod protruding from the lower portion of the bracket and inserted into the through hole of the body,
Wherein the tip is formed of a non-magnetic material and includes a tube body to which the magnetic microbeads are attached when the magnet bar is inserted, and a head mounted on the tube body and attached to / separated from the magnetic tube.

The method according to claim 1,
The X-axis transferring portion is disposed at one side of the base and has a belt portion for generating power by rotating along a circular trajectory in the X-axis direction; A slider which reciprocates in the X-axis direction by the belt portion; And a rail disposed on an upper surface of the base and slidably supporting a lower portion of the slider,
The belt unit includes an X-axis servo motor; A first pulley provided at a rotation axis of the X-axis servo motor; a second pulley disposed at a certain distance from the X-axis servo motor and idling; And a belt (Belt) connecting the first and second pulleys.

delete