Hitachi-High-Technologies Corporation

Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ag

Satoshi Shibuya

Kazuhiro Nakamura

Dietmar Kappelhoff

Hidetoshi Sugiyama

Hirokazu Iwamatsu

Yasunao Awata

Werner Döppen

The automatic analyzer stores: a predetermined period from the opening of a reagent vessel to the deterioration of the reagent; a reagent production lot number, reagent vessel unsealing time, and reagent expiration date as reagent information kept on a reagent-set-by-set basis; and relevant calibration curve factor information. The automatic analyzer judges whether a calibration curve factor for a reagent set is applicable or not to another reagent set of the analyzer with the same production number based on the predetermined period from the reagent vessel unsealing time and on the reagent expiration date.

Automatic analyzer

An automatic analyzer includes a status table storing the status of each analysis module and reagent information identifying each reagent, the supply of which is exhausted, and allowing tracking of the status of each analysis module, etc. The automatic analyzer determines, based on the status table, whether and how it can continue current analysis, and stores the determination results in its instruction information table. The instruction information table stores analysis-unit or -module operating information and information to be supplied to the user or operator. The analysis-unit operating information includes instructions for the analysis modules to initiate an analysis in a normal manner, finish an analysis in a normal manner, omit a pre-analysis operation, omit a post-analysis operation, or stop sampling, etc. Further, the reagent information and the analysis module status are updated each time a reagent container is replaced by the operator.

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Hitachinaka, Japan

Satoshi Shibuya