Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Shunichi Wakamatsu

Hiroyuki Kukita

Wakako Shinobu

Tsuyoshi Shiobara

Shigenori Watanabe

Naoki Onishi

Tomoya Yorita

Mitsuaki Koyama

Takeru Mutoh

Takayuki Ishikawa

Tsukasa Kobata

Kietsu Saito

Masao Yamaguchi

Eiji Miyazaki

Takehito Ishii

Yuta Tsuchiya

Takayuki Isikawa

Kiyoto Shinmei

A substance detection system and a substance detection method are provided. The temperature identifying portion identifies a surface temperature of the quartz substrate, based on a difference between a deviation of the fundamental wave frequency from at least any predetermined reference fundamental wave frequency of the reference crystal resonator and the detecting crystal resonator and a deviation of the third harmonic frequency from a predetermined reference third harmonic frequency. The substance identifying portion identifies a temperature at which a contaminant attached to the detecting crystal resonator is desorbed from the detecting crystal resonator to identify the contaminant based on the temperature at which the contaminant is desorbed. The temperature is identified based on a difference between the fundamental wave frequency of the reference crystal resonator and the fundamental wave frequency of the detecting crystal resonator measured by the frequency measuring portion and the temperature identified by the temperature identifying portion.

Substance detection system and substance detection method

A sensing sensor includes a main body portion, a piezoelectric resonator, a connecting terminal, and an information storage. The main body portion includes a supply region to which the sample solution is supplied. The piezoelectric resonator is disposed to face the supply region and includes a capturing layer that captures a sensing object. The connecting terminal is configured to attachably/detachably connect a conductive path connected to an electrode of the piezoelectric resonator to a frequency measuring unit. The information storage stores calibration curve information to specify a calibration curve that indicates a relationship between a density of the sensing object and a frequency variation amount of the piezoelectric resonator before and after supplying the sample solution.

Sensing sensor, information processing device, sensing method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program using the same

A sensing sensor includes a first vibrating region, a second vibrating region, an adsorbing film, a blocking layer, a wiring board, a channel forming member arranged to cover a region of the one surface side of the wiring board to form a channel. The adsorbing film is arranged such that the adsorbing film is located in a region including the central portion in the front-rear direction of the one vibrating region. Assuming that the front end portion of the vibrating region is P, the front end portion of the adsorbing film is P, and the central portion of the vibrating region is C, the front end portion of the adsorbing film Psatisfies a relational expression expressed as follows: (a distance from C to P)&#xd7;0.4&#x2264;(a distance from Pto P)&#x2264;(a distance from C to P)&#xd7;0.8.

Sensing sensor

A sensing device is provided that has satisfactory sensing accuracy when a crystal unit where an excitation electrode is formed on both upper and lower surfaces of a piezoelectric piece is used to sense a sensing object. Adsorption regions are arranged in two places so as to intersect a direction of flow of a fluid, thus each of the adsorption regions senses the sensing object and reference regions are individually provided in these adsorption regions. A difference &#x394;fbetween the oscillation frequencies of the regions and a difference &#x394;fbetween the oscillation frequencies of the regions are added, and based on the result of the addition, whether the sensing object is present or not and its concentration are detected.

Sensing device

Radiation detector

A sensing device is to be connected to a piezoelectric resonator for sensing a target substance in a sample fluid based on oscillation frequency of the piezoelectric resonator. The sensing device includes an oscillator circuit, a voltage supply unit, an information obtaining unit, and a voltage adjusting unit. The oscillator circuit is commonalized for a plurality kinds of piezoelectric resonators. The voltage supply unit is configured to supply a DC drive voltage to the oscillator circuit. The information obtaining unit is configured to obtain type information of a piezoelectric resonator which is connected to the oscillator circuit. The voltage adjusting unit is configured to adjust the DC drive voltage to a voltage corresponding to the connected piezoelectric resonator based on the type information obtained by the information obtaining unit.

Sensing device, sensing system, and sensing method

It is possible to determine the presence of bacteria in a sample solution in a shorter period of time without changing a conventional incubating method. Bacteria in a sample solution are incubated in, for example, a sterilized agar mediumhaving a layer thickness of 0.1 &#x3bc;m to 1 &#x3bc;m formed on an electrode of a crystal resonator, and an oscillation frequency is measured. When the bacteria proliferate, the mass of the entire crystal resonatorincreases, and the oscillation frequency decreases. Therefore, by monitoring presence of such a change over time, presence of bacteria in the sample solution can be determined quickly.

Method for detecting microorganisms and microorganism detecting apparatus

To provide a sensing device that holds a piezoelectric sensor and a channel forming member placed on the sensor in a closely contacted state while maintaining a shape of space of a passage space formed inside the device. In a sensing devicethat senses a substance to be sensed based on a variation in an oscillation frequency caused by an absorption of the substance to be sensed in an absorption layer provided on a piezoelectric resonatorof a piezoelectric sensor, a holding memberholds the piezoelectric sensorand a channel forming memberthat forms a passage space through which a sample fluid passes on an upper surface side of the sensor, in a vertically stacked state. A cover memberis placed on the channel forming member, and a pressing partwhich is raised/lowered by a first raising/lowering mechanismpresses the cover memberplaced on the channel forming memberdownward with a previously set force.

Method of detecting microorganisms and microorganism detecting apparatus

To provide a sensing device having a high processing power and capable of high-accuracy measurement. It is determined whether or not an oscillation frequency is stabilized while a buffer solution is supplied to a quartz-crystal resonator. from a syringe pump. When it is determined that the frequency is stabilized, a second valve. is switched to a sample solution supply mode to supply a sample solution in an injection loop. to the quartz-crystal resonator. An instant at which the sample solution reaches the quartz-crystal resonator. and an instant at which the sample solution finishes passing through the quartz-crystal resonator. are automatically found based on a supply flow rate of the buffer solution, a volume of the injection loop, a volume of a supply channel supplying the sample solution to the quartz-crystal resonator, and an instant at which the second valve. is switched to the sample solution supply mode. An oscillation frequency before the sample solution reaches the quartz-crystal resonator. and an oscillation frequency after the sample solution passes through the quartz-crystal resonator. are found, and a difference between the oscillation frequencies is obtained.

To provide a sensing device capable of easily sensing a substance to be sensed with high accuracy. When sensing, by supplying a sample solution to an absorption layerwhile oscillating a quartz-crystal resonatorto make the absorption layer absorb a substance to be sensed in the sample solution, the substance to be sensed based on an amount of variation in an oscillation frequency of the quartz-crystal resonatorafter an absorption time elapses, the quartz-crystal resonatoris oscillated, before supplying the sample solution to the absorption layer, to measure the oscillation frequency of the quartz-crystal resonatorat a predetermined measurement interval, for instance, at every one second, and the oscillation frequency of the quartz-crystal resonatoris stabilized for the same period of time as a measuring timeuntil the measurement result becomes equal to or less than a frequency tolerance valuepreviously set based on a measurement sensitivity of the substance to be sensed.

To provide a sensing device and a sensing method that, by a simple method of liquid supply to first and second excitation electrodes, makes it possible to make a first oscillation area adsorb an adsorption substance that adsorbs a substance to be sensed in a sample solution and a blocking substance that prevents the adsorption of a substance and to make the electrode in a second oscillation area adsorb the blocking substance. By the supply of a solution containing the adsorption substance to a first liquid storage spaceA surrounding a first excitation electrodeA, a front surface of the excitation electrodeA is made to adsorb the adsorption substance, and next, by the supply of a solution containing the blocking substance to the first liquid storage spaceA, an area, of the excitation electrodeA, on which the adsorption substance is not adsorbed, is made to adsorb the blocking substance. Further, by the supply of the solution containing the blocking substance to a second liquid storage spaceB separated from the first liquid storage space and surrounding a second excitation electrodeB, a front surface of the second excitation electrodeB is made to adsorb the blocking substance.

Sensing device and sensing method

A sensing device is configured that a first piezoelectric vibrator and a second piezoelectric vibrator, changing over a connection to an oscillation circuit, have the oscillation circuit in common, that an impedance of a conductive path including a first one-surface-side electrode constituting the first piezoelectric vibrator from the oscillation circuit and an impedance of a conductive path including a second one-surface-side electrode constituting the second piezoelectric vibrator from the oscillation circuit are uniform with each other, and that an impedance of a conductive path including a first other-surface-side electrode constituting the first piezoelectric vibrator from the oscillation circuit and an impedance of a conductive path including a second other-surface-side electrode constituting the second piezoelectric vibrator from the oscillation circuit are uniform with each other.

To provide a sensing device using a piezoelectric sensor having an oscillation area for detection and an oscillation area for reference and capable of achieving a high measurement sensitivity by improving shapes of excitation electrodes. On a quartz-crystal piece, there are provided strip-shaped left side area and right side area which are formed symmetrically to be separated from each other into left and right with respect to a center of a circlebeing a contour of a planar shape of a reaction channeland extend in a longitudinal direction in a parallel manner. Each of the areas is set to have a size in which both corner portionson the left side of the left side area and both corner portionson the right side of the right side area protrude to the outside of the circle, the corner portionsthat protrude to the outside are cut to make the left side area and the right side area position inside of the circle, and an excitation electrodefor measurement and an excitation electrodefor reference are respectively formed on the right side area and the left side area.

A user, when measuring a sensing target substance in fluid using a crystal sensor (sensing sensor) using a crystal vibrator whose natural frequency is varied by an absorption of the sending target, is able to easily and accurately grasp information peculiar to the crystal sensor, for instance, information regarding a quality thereof. An IC chip in which the information peculiar to the crystal sensor is stored is provided to the crystal sensor, and the peculiar information is read out at a side of a concentration measuring device when the crystal sensor is inserted into the concentration measuring device, and then displayed.

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Sayama, Japan

Shunichi Wakamatsu