IP Library Granted Patent US 9,874,498
Granted Patent B2
US 9,874,498 · App. 14/824,129 · Granted Jan 23, 2018

In-vitro diagnostic apparatus and in-vitro diagnostic method performed by in-vitro diagnostic apparatus

Inventors: Im-ho Shin (Hwaseong-si, KR); Eun-jeong Jang (Suwon-si, KR); Chung-ung Kim (Yongin-si, KR)
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
G01N1/28G01N35/00069G01N35/00663G01N35/00732B01L3/545G01N2035/0091G01N2035/00108G01N2035/00752G01N2035/00772G01N2035/00782G01N2035/00831
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,874,498
App. No.
14/824,129
Granted
Jan 23, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

An in-vitro diagnostic apparatus includes a loading unit which receives a test medium including a test object; a first clock including first time information that is set as a standard clock time and used to determine whether an expiration date of the test medium has passed; a second clock including second time information that can be set as an arbitrary time; a sensor which acquires the expiration date of the test medium; a controller which determines whether the expiration date of the test medium has passed, based on the first time information; and an analyzer which analyzes the test object based on the second time information when it is determined that the expiration date of the test medium has not yet passed.

Claims (63)

1. An in-vitro diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a loading unit configured to receive a test medium including a test object;

a first clock including first time information that is set as a standard clock time and used to determine whether an expiration date of the test medium has passed;

a second clock including second time information that is set as an arbitrary time;

a sensor configured to acquire the expiration date of the test medium;

a controller configured to determine whether the expiration date of the test medium has passed, based on the first time information; and

an analyzer configured to analyze the test object based on the second time information in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has not passed according to the first time information.

2. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

an output unit configured to output an informing signal indicating that the expiration date of the test medium has passed, in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has passed according to the first time information.

3. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the informing signal comprises a user interface (UI) screen image, and

the output unit comprises a display configured to display the UI screen image.

4. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first time information, which is set as the standard clock time, is prevented from being changed to the arbitrary time, and

the analyzer does not analyze the test object in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has passed, by comparing the expiration date with the first time information and regardless of a time value remaining in the second clock.

5. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the standard clock time comprises time difference information.

6. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first time information is set as the standard clock time based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

7. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a communicator configured to receive the standard clock time from an external server,

wherein the controller is configured to set the first time information, based on the received standard clock time.

8. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface (UI) unit configured to receive an input for setting the second time information,

wherein the controller is configured to set the second time information based on the received input.

9. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to acquire a power cut-off time in response to the power to the first clock being cut off, acquire a time difference between the power cut-off time and a time when power is supplied again to the first clock by reading out respective time values of the second clock, and reset the first time information based on the power cut-off time and the acquired time difference, in response to the power being supplied again to the first clock unit.

10. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to acquire the expiration date of the test medium by detecting the expiration date from at least one of a barcode, a quick response (QR) code, text data, a data matrix, a recognition pattern, near field communication (NFC), and radio frequency identification (RFID).

11. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first clock comprises a first real time clock (RTC) circuit, and

the second clock comprises a second RTC circuit.

12. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the in-vitro diagnostic apparatus comprises a blood test apparatus.

13. The in-vitro diagnostic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the test medium comprises at least one of a disc and a cartridge.

14. An in-vitro diagnostic method comprising:

receiving a test medium including a test object;

acquiring an expiration date of the test medium;

determining whether the expiration date of the test medium has passed, based on first time information that is set as a standard clock time and used for determining whether the expiration date of the test medium has passed; and

analyzing the test object based on second time information that is set as an arbitrary time, in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has not passed according to the first time information.

15. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , further comprising:

outputting an informing signal indicating that the expiration date of the test medium has passed, in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has passed according to the first time information.

16. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 15 , wherein the informing signal comprises a user interface (UI) screen image, and

the outputting the informing signal comprises displaying the UI screen image.

17. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , wherein the first time information, which is set as the standard clock time, is prevented from being set as the arbitrary time, and

the in-vitro diagnostic method further comprises:

omitting analyzing the test object in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has passed, by comparing the expiration date with the first time information and regardless of a time value remaining according to the second time information.

18. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , wherein the first time information is acquired from a first clock included in an in-vitro diagnostic apparatus, and the second time information is acquired from a second clock included in the in-vitro diagnostic apparatus.

19. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 18 , wherein the first clock comprises a first real time clock (RTC) circuit, and

the second clock comprises a second RTC circuit.

20. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving the standard clock time from an external server; and

setting the first time information of the first clock based on the received standard clock time.

21. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving an input for setting the second time information; and

setting the second time information of the second clock based on the input.

22. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 18 , further comprising:

acquiring a power cut-off time in response to a power to the first clock being cut off;

acquiring a time difference between the power cut-off time and a time when the power is supplied again to the first clock, by reading out respective time values of the second clock; and

resetting the first time information of the first clock based on the power cut-off time and the acquired time difference, in response to the power being supplied again to the first clock.

23. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , further comprising acquiring the first time information from an external device.

24. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , wherein the acquiring the expiration date of the test medium comprises:

detecting the expiration date of the test medium from least one of a barcode, a quick response (QR) code, text data, a data matrix, a recognition pattern, near field communication (NFC), and radio frequency identification (RFID).

25. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , wherein the in-vitro diagnostic method is a blood testing method.

26. The in-vitro diagnostic method of claim 14 , wherein the test medium comprises at least one of a disc and a cartridge.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute the method of claim 14 .

28. An in-vitro diagnostic apparatus comprising:

a loading unit configured to receive a test medium including a test object;

a communicator configured to acquire, from an external device, first time information that is set as a standard clock time and used to determine whether an expiration date of the test medium has passed;

a clock including second time information that is set as an arbitrary time;

a sensor configured to acquire the expiration date of the test medium;

a controller configured to determine whether the expiration date of the test medium has passed, based on the first time information; and

an analyzer configured to analyze the test object based on the second time information in response to determining that the expiration date of the test medium has not passed.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 12, 2022
From: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
To: PRECISION BIOSENSOR INC.
Reel/Frame 060632/0598 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 12, 2015
From: SHIN, IM-HO; JANG, EUN-JEONG; KIM, CHUNG-UNG
To: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 036333/0590 →
Priority Claims (2)
KR 10-2014-0104536 · Aug 12, 2014 · national
KR 10-2015-0002859 · Jan 8, 2015 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20160048108A1 · Feb 18, 2016