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EP-4261536-B1 - METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AUTOMATED ANALYSIS DEVICE

EP4261536B1EP 4261536 B1EP4261536 B1EP 4261536B1EP-4261536-B1

Inventors

  • KATANO, TOSHIAKI
  • SUGIME, TAKAYUKI
  • SAKAMOTO, Naoto

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20211202

Claims (4)

  1. A method of controlling an automatic analyzer, the automatic analyzer including: a pretreatment unit (102) that purifies a sample by pretreating a specimen; a separation unit (106; 110; 114) that separates the sample by a liquid chromatograph having multiple streams; and a detector (117) that detects a separated sample, wherein the method comprises: searching whether or not there exists a substitute stream that can be substituted, in a case where an abnormality of a stream is detected after setting an analysis schedule for controlling a treatment timing of the sample in the separation unit and the detector; and modifying the analysis schedule, if a substitute stream exists, so that a sample scheduled to be introduced into the stream which has been detected to have the abnormality is introduced into the substitute stream, and treatment timings of the sample which has passed through the substitute stream and the sample which has passed through another normal stream in the detector do not overlap with each other, characterised in that an empty position in a sample installation position of the pretreatment unit or a retraction-dedicated position provided in the pretreatment unit is used as a standby location until the stream which has become unusable after being detected to have the abnormality returns.
  2. The method of controlling the automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein in a case where there exists the substitute stream, the analysis schedule is modified depending on the priority of a specimen.
  3. The method of controlling the automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the substitute stream is defined in the device in advance, and the use of the substitute stream is determined based on the definition.
  4. The method of controlling the automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein a setting screen that receives a setting of the substitute stream from a user is displayed.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to a method of controlling an automatic analyzer. Background Art The liquid chromatograph is an analyzer that adds a sample including a component to be measured to a mobile phase fed to a column for separating the sample, that performs component separation for the sample by a stationary phase, that detects, by a detector, components separated in different time components, and that identifies the component of the sample. For example, in a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) using a solvent in the mobile phase, a liquid feeding device feeds the solvent under a high pressure, and a sample injected from a sample injection unit disposed downstream of the liquid feeding device into an analysis flow path is separated into components by a separation column filled with the stationary phase. The components are detected using the detector such as an ultraviolet and visible absorptiometer, a fluorescence photometer, or a mass spectrometer, and are identified. In this case, the detector is appropriately selected according to an analysis purpose and the sample. A liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer in which a mass spectrometer acquiring mass information of a measurement target and a liquid chromatograph are combined is an analyzer that introduces each component separated from a measurement sample in a time component by the liquid chromatograph into the mass spectrometer and that acquires mass information. This liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer is widely used for qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. In recent years, an opportunity increases to use the liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer in order to quantitatively measure a drug component and a metabolite in a biological sample, and a residue in an environmental sample. Accordingly, the liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer is expected to be applied to a clinical examination field. An object in a case where the liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer is applied to the clinical examination field is a so-called throughput improvement in which a result report is performed rapidly. In the clinical examination field, automation for processing is required from viewpoints of prevention of an infectious disease and usability. Therefore, a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer is proposed that automates a pretreatment step of purifying a sample from a human-derived specimen such as serum or urine, and that automatically introduces the sample obtained by the pretreatment into a liquid chromatograph. In such a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer, for n analysis items, the number of flow paths (streams) each provided with a separation column of the liquid chromatograph is 3 to 5, and the number of sample introduction ports to a detector is 1. Therefore, it is important to create an analysis schedule at a timing at which the specimen is received such that not only timings of sample introduction into the stream but also timings of sample introduction into the detector do not overlap with each other. PTL 1 relates to a technique for creating an analysis schedule for a multi-stream liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer having multiple streams. PTL 1 describes a technique in which "an analysis schedule is pre-created such that streams of a plurality of liquid chromatograms can operate in parallel and a mass spectrometer can collect data at a timing of each component elution. A control unit performs control so as to: divide a time required to analyze a sample in each of a plurality of liquid chromatogram systems into a pre-collection time, a time during collection, and a post-collection time; assign the time during collection by searching for a time position where the times during collection of the chromatogram units do not overlap; determine start times for the plurality of liquid chromatogram units to create an analysis schedule; and thereafter perform analysis. The control unit further stores a parameter set for changing a component elution time, adjusts an analysis parameter to become a data collection timing appropriate for creation of the analysis schedule, and changes the component elution time." (see ABSTRACT). Citation List Patent Literature PTL 1: WO2017/216934 A control method for a liquid chromatography analyzer allowing for the separation columns affected by a detected pressure abnormality to bypassed through a subsequent separation column is disclosed in JP 2015 052533 A. A further liquid chromatography analyzer control method related to the one of the present invention is disclosed in US 2020/124576 A1. Summary of Invention Technical Problem Each stream in the multi-stream liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer includes at least a liquid feeding pump and a separation column. Since performance of the separation column used in the liquid chromatograph is degraded due to repeating measurements, the separation column is required to be periodically replaced. In the multi-stream liquid chromatograph m