Patent Application
20140031636
The present invention relates to a test specimen and particularly to a test specimen for testing iron deficiency anemia.
Conventional test specimens generally are divided into electrochemical test specimens and optical test specimens according to their test principles. They absorb test fluid such as blood, urine or the like, then are disposed into a dedicated instrument to test physiological data such as blood sugar, lipids, hemoglobin, cholesterol, blood platelet, uric acid or the like.
The optical test specimen can measure the hemoglobin in the blood to determine whether there is anemia. It adopts the principle of breaking the blood cells in the absorbed blood to detect the color of the hemoglobin. During test a light ray of a selected wavelength is projected via an instrument, and the OD value is measured. Through change of the OD value the concentration of the hemoglobin can be derived, then judge whether anemia happens. It's widely adopted in medical practice now and provides acceptable accuracy.
The electrochemical test specimen also can detect hemoglobin in the blood to determine whether there is iron deficiency anemia. It also adopts the principle of breaking the blood cells in the absorbed blood. Through the characteristics of containing iron in the hemoglobin, the iron can be oxidized with a reaction agent on the test specimen and reduced, then current alteration can be detected to derive the concentration of the hemoglobin to judge whether iron deficiency anemia takes place.
However, the aforesaid test methods are easily being interfered and result in inaccurate test outcomes. The main cause is that other substances in the blood could also be oxidized and reduced, such as Vitamin C, uric acid or the like. Before a patient's blood sample is taken, if the patient has consumed improper food, the test result could only serve for reference to merely make a preliminary understand of the iron content, and accurate confirmation of the iron deficiency anemia cannot be made. In other words, they can serve merely for preliminary test, and other test methods have to be taken to make accurate confirmation of the iron deficiency anemia.
Because the conventional methods cannot truly test the iron deficiency anemia, many hospitals nowadays have to rely on an expensive HPLC analyzer to make further test after the preliminary test. Hence the tests have to be made twice to confirm the iron deficiency anemia. It's costly and cannot fully meet use requirements.
Therefore the primary object of the present invention is to provide a low cost test specimen that can test iron deficiency anemia to meet use requirements.
To achieve the foregoing object, the present invention provides an electrochemical and optical test specimen. It includes an electrochemical test portion and an optical test portion. The electrochemical test portion has an electrochemical blood sampling port. The optical test portion has an optical blood sampling port. The electrochemical test portion and optical test portion abut each other, and the electrochemical blood sampling port and optical blood sampling port are located on the same side.
With the electrochemical blood sampling port and optical blood sampling port located on the same side, one blood sampling operation at the electrochemical blood sampling port and optical blood sampling port can be finished simultaneously to perform electrochemical and optical tests at the same time. Therefore the advantages of the electrochemical and optical tests can be integrated to achieve higher accuracy and lower cost to better meet test requirements.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Refer to
The electrochemical test portion 10A further includes an upper lid 11, a padded layer 12, a substrate 13A and a test circuit 14. The test circuit 14 is formed on the substrate 13A.
The upper lid 11 and substrate 13A are interposed by the padded layer 12 and bonded together. The padded layer 12 has a notch 121 to form the electrochemical blood sampling port 101. The upper lid 11 has a blood sampling viewing window 111.
The optical test portion 20A includes a reaction trough holder 21 which has a blood reaction notch 22 communicating with the optical blood sampling port 201. The blood reaction notch 22 has a transparent optical test window 221 remote from the optical blood sampling port 201. The substrate 13A, padded layer 12 and upper lid 11 have respectively a viewing window 40 corresponding to the optical test window 221.
Please refer to
The optical test portion 20B also has a reaction trough holder 21 which has a blood reaction notch 22 communicating with the optical blood sampling port 201. The blood reaction notch 22 has a transparent optical test window 221 remote from the optical blood sampling port 201. The substrate 13B is extended outwards to form a holding portion 131 which has a viewing window 40 corresponding to the optical test window 221. The holding portion 131 and reaction trough holder 21 are bonded together.
As previously discussed, by forming the electrochemical blood sampling port and optical blood sampling port on the same side, blood sampling can be finished in one blood sampling operation, thereby to perform electrochemical and optical tests at the same time, hence the advantages of the electrochemical and optical tests can be integrated.
Moreover, the invention can accurately test iron deficiency anemia. After the iron deficiency anemia has been tested via the electrochemical test, it then can be confirmed by the optical test. When both test results are positive, the iron deficiency anemia is confirmed. Hence there is no need to rely on the expensive HPLC analyzer to make further conformation. The cost is lower and accuracy is higher, and can fully meet test requirements.
