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JP-7857015-B2 - Blood characteristic testing device, blood characteristic testing method, image display device for blood sample testing, and image display method for blood sample testing.

JP7857015B2JP 7857015 B2JP7857015 B2JP 7857015B2JP-7857015-B2

Inventors

  • 神田 晃
  • 中村 優一郎
  • 角坂 芳彦

Assignees

  • 学校法人関西医科大学

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20220810

Claims (14)

  1. A blood characteristics testing device for examining the characteristics of a blood sample collected in a blood collection tube, A specimen transport means capable of transporting a blood collection tube containing a blood sample, An ultrasonic probe is placed in the transport path of the specimen transport means and is capable of transmitting ultrasonic waves to the blood specimen in the collection tube being transported and receiving reflected waves. An ultrasound image generation unit that generates an ultrasound tomographic image of the blood sample based on the reflected wave, A blood properties testing device comprising a blood properties detection unit that detects the blood properties of the blood sample based on the generated ultrasound tomography image.
  2. The blood properties detection unit calculates brightness parameters for a plurality of image units included in the blood image portion corresponding to the blood sample in the ultrasound tomography image, and identifies the region of the blood image portion in which the brightness parameters satisfy a predetermined standard as a coagulation finding region, as described in claim 1.
  3. The blood properties testing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the coagulation finding region is a region of a predetermined area or larger in the blood image portion where the difference in brightness parameters between the area outside the coagulation finding region and the area outside the coagulation finding region is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.
  4. The blood properties detection unit derives the degree of coagulation promotion as the blood properties of the blood image portion based on the area ratio of the coagulation finding region to the blood image portion, according to claim 2.
  5. The blood properties detection unit derives the degree of coagulation promotion as the blood properties of the blood image portion based on the maximum value of the brightness parameter in the coagulation finding region, according to claim 2.
  6. The blood properties detection unit derives the degree of coagulation promotion as the blood properties of the blood image portion based on the integral value of the brightness parameter in the coagulation finding region, according to claim 2.
  7. The blood quality testing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample transport means transports the blood collection tube in a direction perpendicular to the tube axis while rotating the blood collection tube around the tube axis.
  8. The specimen transport means has a plurality of collection tube support rollers arranged parallel to the tube axis of the collection tube and rotating in conjunction with the transport operation of the collection tube. The blood collection tube rotates around its axis due to the rotation of the blood collection tube support roller, as described in claim 7.
  9. The ultrasound probe transmits and receives ultrasound signals multiple times to and from the blood sample in the blood collection tube. The ultrasound image generation unit generates ultrasound tomographic images of the blood sample in multiple cross-sections with different rotational angle phases around the tube axis within the blood collection tube. The blood properties detection unit detects the blood properties of the blood sample based on a plurality of ultrasound tomographic images, as described in claim 7.
  10. A blood sample testing image display device that displays an image used for testing the properties of a blood sample collected in a blood collection tube, A specimen transport means capable of transporting a blood collection tube containing a blood sample, An ultrasonic probe is placed in the transport path of the specimen transport means and is capable of transmitting ultrasonic waves to the blood specimen in the collection tube being transported and receiving reflected waves. An ultrasound image generation unit that generates an ultrasound tomographic image of the blood sample based on the reflected wave, An image display device for blood sample testing, comprising a display unit for displaying the generated ultrasound tomographic image.
  11. A blood characteristics test method for examining the characteristics of a blood sample collected in a blood collection tube, The specimen transport means transports the blood collection tube containing the blood sample in a transportable manner. An ultrasonic probe positioned along the transport path of the sample transport means transmits ultrasonic waves to the blood sample in the blood collection tube being transported and receives the reflected waves. Based on the reflected waves, an ultrasound tomographic image of the blood sample is generated. A blood characteristics test method for detecting the blood characteristics of a blood sample based on the generated ultrasound tomography image.
  12. The blood properties detection method according to claim 11, wherein brightness parameters are calculated for multiple image units included in the blood image portion corresponding to the blood sample in the ultrasound tomography image, and the region of the blood image portion in which the brightness parameters satisfy a predetermined standard is identified as a coagulation finding region.
  13. In identifying the coagulation region, the coagulation region is defined as a region of a predetermined area or larger in the blood image portion where the brightness difference from the surrounding area is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The blood properties test method according to claim 12.
  14. A blood sample testing image display method for displaying images used for testing the properties of blood samples collected in blood collection tubes, The specimen transport means transports the blood collection tube containing the blood sample in a transportable manner. An ultrasonic probe positioned along the transport path of the sample transport means transmits ultrasonic waves to the blood sample in the blood collection tube being transported and receives the reflected waves. Based on the reflected waves, an ultrasound tomographic image of the blood sample is generated. Image display method for blood sample testing, wherein the generated ultrasound tomography image is displayed on a display device.

Description

This disclosure relates to a blood characteristic testing device for examining the properties of blood samples, and more particularly to an inspection device for examining the coagulation state of blood samples stored in blood collection tubes. In the medical field, peripheral blood tests using hematological analyzers to examine red blood cell, platelet, and white blood cell counts pose a medical safety risk due to blood sample coagulation, which reduces the accuracy of the test. Therefore, prior to peripheral blood testing, a quality control inspection was performed where examiners visually determined whether the blood in the collection tubes had coagulated, and tubes showing coagulation were excluded from the test. Recently, however, techniques have been proposed to test for coagulation in blood in collection tubes by irradiating the blood with light, rather than relying on visual inspection (for example, Patent Documents 1-3). Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-248853Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-163933Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-061585 Morphological examination of platelet aggregation by B-mode ultrasound, Junji Machi, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois School of Medicine, Hematology and Vascular Medicine, Vol. 16, No. 4, 1985, pp. 355-359. This is a plan view showing the configuration of the blood properties testing device 1 according to an embodiment.This is a front view showing the configuration of the blood properties testing device 1.This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic image generation and analysis device 7.(a) is a photograph showing the results of a preliminary experiment corresponding to blood properties testing device 1, and (b) is a photograph showing the results of the determination by microscopic photography.This is a schematic diagram showing the flow of testing in the process of blood quality specimen testing using the blood quality testing device 1.This is a flowchart showing the processing in the blood properties detection unit 74 of the ultrasound image generation and analysis device 7.This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the experimental apparatus used in the preliminary experiment, which corresponds to blood properties testing device 1 used in the evaluation test.(a) to (e) are photographs showing the results of a preliminary experiment equivalent to testing device 1, in which blood samples obtained from healthy individuals were captured using an ultrasound diagnostic device to acquire ultrasound tomographic images of blood samples in blood collection tubes, and coagulation findings (ultrasound findings) were determined by interpreting the ultrasound tomographic images.(a) to (e) are photographs showing the results of microscopic examination of blood samples obtained from healthy individuals to determine coagulation findings (microscopic findings).This figure shows the test results of blood samples obtained from healthy individuals.(a) to (e) are photographs showing the results of a preliminary experiment corresponding to testing device 1, in which ultrasound tomography images of blood samples in blood collection tubes were acquired using an ultrasound diagnostic device, and coagulation findings (ultrasound findings) were determined by interpreting the ultrasound tomography images, using blood samples obtained from patients.(a) to (e) are photographs showing the results of microscopic examination of blood samples obtained from patients to determine coagulation findings (microscopic findings).This figure shows the test results of blood samples obtained from patients.This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasound image generation 7A in the image display device for blood sample testing, according to a modified example.(a) and (b) are schematic diagrams showing the flow of testing in the conventional blood sample testing process. ≪Background leading to the format of this disclosure≫ In medical settings, during blood tests, collected blood samples are sealed in blood collection tubes and supplied to blood testing equipment for blood cell count tests (checking red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells), as well as coagulation and fibrinolysis tests. Figures 15(a) and 15(b) are schematic diagrams showing the flow of testing in the conventional blood characteristics sample testing process. As shown in Figure 15(a), blood samples are usually sealed in blood collection tubes and supplied for blood cell count tests, coagulation tests, and fibrinolysis tests. At this time, if the blood in the blood collection tube has coagulated, it leads to a decrease in the accuracy of the test and becomes a medical safety issue. Therefore, as shown in Figure 15(b), an inspection was performed in which the examiner visually determined whether or not the blood contained in the blood collection tube had coagulated, and blood collection tubes in which coagulation was observe