Hitachi High-Tech Corporation

Satohiro Hamano

Ai Masuda

Shigeru Yano

Misato Fukami

Takeshi Matsuka

An inspection result of a specimen inspection automation system can be reported within a prescribed time, even if a large number of urgent specimens have been input. An instruction reception unit receives turn around time (TAT) information and a discharge instruction. The necessity of discharging a specimen for which the instruction was issued with the discharge instruction is determined and a discharge instruction unit creates a discharge destination and a conveyance route to the discharge destination for the specimen. A discharge mechanism discharges the specimen for which the instruction was issued. Even for a specimen which is caused to wait for processing due to the occurrence of specimen congestion and for which there is a risk of an inspection result reporting delay, an inspection result can be reported within a prescribed time by switching from automatic processing by the system to manual processing by an operator.

Specimen inspection automation system and specimen inspection method

A sample examination automation system includes a conveyance line, a large-scale sample carrier buffer, an analyzer coupling unit, and a conveyance managing unit. The conveyance line conveys a sample carrier. One or a plurality of sample containers is mountable on the sample carrier. The large-scale sample carrier buffer stores a plurality of the sample carriers. The analyzer coupling unit, which is couplable to an analyzer, incorporates a sample carrier sub-buffer capable of storing the sample carriers by an amount smaller than an amount of the large-scale sample carrier buffer. The conveyance managing unit has a function of controlling a sample carrier conveyance destination. The conveyance managing unit is configured to determine an amount of the sample carriers supplied to the sample carrier sub-buffer via the large-scale sample carrier buffer according to a storage situation of the sample carriers in the sample carrier sub-buffer.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Satohiro Hamano