Patent ID: 6420168
Filing Date: 2002-07-16
Classification: G01F,G01N,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A histamine measuring apparatus for quantitatively analyzing a concentration of histamine, comprising:an oocyte which expresses histamine receptors and identifies specifically presence of histamine; a vessel having a recess at a bottom thereof, wherein a buffer solution is filled in said vessel and said oocyte is held in the recess; a circuitry wherein a potential of a membrane of said oocyte is detected by means of first and second electrodes; an external electrode disposed in the buffer solution in said vessel; a differential amplifier, wherein a potential signal of said first electrode is transmitted to said different amplifier as a difference in potential signal from a potential of said external electrode, and said differential amplifier applies a current difference between the transmitted potential signal from said first electrode and the fixed potential to said cell through said second electrode to maintain the potential of the membrane of said cell at the fixed potential; a recorder wherein the potential signal of the first electrode is recorded as the difference in potential from said external electrode; a fine reacting tube with an antigen immobilized onto an inner surface thereof wherein said antigen stimulates histamine released from the sample flowed into said fine reacting tube; wherein said sample is a whole blood sample or a mast cell suspension; a flowing tube wherein a solution containing histamine released from the sample in said fine reacting tube is transferred into said vessel through said flowing tube to make contact with said oocyte in said vessel; and wherein said circuitry detects a change in an electric response of said oocyte before and after binding of histamine to the histamine receptors in order to determine a concentration of histamine released from the sample by means of a predefined calibration curve obtained by stimulating said oocyte with a plurality of known concentrations of histamine to detect the electric response of said oocyte to obtain a correlation between said electric responses and said plurality of known concentration of histamine; and a temperature controlling device wherein a temperature of said fine reacting tube is controlled.