JPH08304401A - Sample inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To realize a small-sized test apparatus by use of common members. CONSTITUTION: This apparatus is made up of a supply station A, a dispensing station B, an agitation station C, a magnet/recovery station D, a inclined station E and a photographing station F and a magnet plate 18 in the magnet/recovery station D in such a manner as to be allowed to move upward or downward substantially. Thus, with the upward movement of the magnet plate 18 of the magnet/recovery station D, a microplate 10 can be transferred to a stack 24 for recovery.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to particles containing a magnetic substance in each well of a microplate in which a plurality of wells for containing a specimen are formed (hereinafter, in the present specification, a magnetic substance is referred to as a magnetic substance). (Which means particles containing a) are forcibly settled by using a magnetic force, and then the sample is tilted, and the sample is inspected by the subsequent shape, particularly, the arrangement of a plurality of processing units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an immunoreaction test (aggregation reaction measuring method) for detecting whether or not an antibody or an antigen is present in a sample is carried out by utilizing an agglutination reaction caused by an antigen-antibody reaction. Whether or not this agglutination reaction has occurred can be detected from the state of agglutination obtained by allowing the sample to stand. However, with this method, it took a long time for detection, and rapid inspection could not be performed.

Therefore, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-14433.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 67, 67, it was proposed to use particles containing a magnetic material in the agglutination reaction measurement method and to perform forced sedimentation using magnetic force. In this method, a microplate in which a large number of wells for containing a specimen are arranged in a matrix is used, particles are added to the specimen in the wells of this microplate, and these are mixed in a large number of wells to cause an immune reaction. . Then, after the reaction, the particles are forcibly settled by magnetic force, and then the microplate is tilted to cause the sedimented particles at the bottom of the well to flow out by gravity, the shape of this flow-out pattern is determined, and the presence or absence of an immune reaction is detected. by this,
It is possible to efficiently test a large number of specimens.

Furthermore, if the shape determination of the flow-out pattern can be automated, errors due to individual differences can be eliminated and a higher speed inspection can be performed. The applicant of the present application has proposed a device for detecting and inspecting the shape of sedimented particles in each well of a microplate by using an optical sensor in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-324041. In this device, the number of photosensors corresponding to one row of wells is provided, and the microplate is passed over the photosensors to detect the outflow shape of the sedimented particles.

[0005]

However, the test utilizing the immune reaction requires a plurality of steps for the test. That is, a supply step of supplying a microplate containing a sample, a dispensing step of adding particles to each well of the microplate, agitating the mixture in each well in which particles are added, a stirring step of accelerating the reaction, A magnetic force treatment step of exerting a magnetic force on the mixture after stirring to force the particles to settle,
It is necessary to incline the microplate and let the sedimented particles flow out, a photographing process to photograph the shape of the sedimented particles that has flowed out, a collection process to collect the microplate that has been photographed, etc. There was a problem that it would be quite large.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus for a specimen, which can be downsized by also using members.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an entrance-side accommodation section for accommodating a microplate in which wells for accommodating specimens are arranged in a matrix, and an entrance-side accommodation section arranged adjacent to the entrance-side accommodation section. Supporting the microplate which has dispensed particles containing a magnetic substance into each well of the microplate taken out from the part and the dispensation of particles,
The mixture in each well is held by agitating part that agitates and mixes the specimen and particles in each well, and the microplate to be transferred after the agitation process in the agitating part is held on a magnet plate having a magnet. Magnetic force treatment part for forcibly settling particles inside using magnetic force, tilting treatment part for inclining the microplate after the forced sedimentation treatment in the magnetic force treatment part, and each well of the microplate after the inclination treatment for the inclined part Of the settling particles, and an exit-side housing section for housing the microplate that has been photographed in the imaging section. The magnet plate in the magnetic force processing section can be moved up and down. The microplate from the imaging unit is held in the magnetic force processing unit by arranging it below the outlet side housing unit and moving it upward to move the microplate to the outlet side. Characterized by transferring the contents portion.

Further, the inclination processing section and the photographing section are arranged in the middle of the stirring section and the magnetic force processing section.

Further, the transfer of the microplate from the stirring section to the magnetic force processing section, the inclination processing section, the photographing section, and the magnetic force processing section is performed by a single transport mechanism.

[0010]

The test device for a sample according to the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and after adding the particles to each well of the microplate containing the sample in the dispensing part, Mix both. Next, the microplate is transferred to a magnetic force processing unit where particles are forcibly settled by a magnet. Then, the microplate is transferred to a tilting processing unit and tilted to flow out the settled particles by gravity. Then, the state of the sedimented particles after the inclination is photographed by the photographing unit.

Here, the particle is a specific substance to be inspected,
For example, an antigen (or antibody) corresponding to a specific antibody (or antigen) is bound. Therefore, when the particles and the sample are mixed, an immune reaction occurs when the sample contains an antibody (or antigen) that is a specific substance to be tested. Then, when an immune reaction occurs, an agglutination reaction in which particles bind to each other occurs. Therefore, the sedimented particles obtained by forcibly sucking with the magnetic force are relatively strongly aggregated, and do not flow out much due to the gravity due to the inclination.

On the other hand, when the immune reaction does not occur,
No agglomeration reaction occurs, the settling particles are weakly aggregated, and flow out easily by gravity due to inclination. Therefore, in the specimen in which the predetermined antibody (or antigen) is not present, the sedimented particles after tilting have an elongated spindle shape. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the antibody (or antigen) is present in the sample by detecting the length of the sedimented particles after tilting.

Then, the microplate, which has been photographed by the photographing section, is collected in the outlet side accommodating section. In the present invention, the magnet plate of the magnetic force processing section can be moved up and down and the microplate is collected at the outlet side. It is located below the housing. Therefore, it is possible to transfer the microplate to the outlet-side accommodating unit by holding the imaged microplate in the magnetic force processing unit and moving it upward.
Therefore, the magnetic force processing unit can be provided below the outlet side recovery unit, and the device can be downsized.

Further, by disposing the inclination processing section and the photographing section in the middle of the stirring section and the magnetic force processing section, it is easy to provide the outlet side accommodation section at the end of the apparatus, and it is easy to take out the microplate. You can do it.

Further, the apparatus can be simplified by transferring the microplate from the stirring section to the magnetic force processing section by a single transfer mechanism.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Overall Configuration] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a sample testing apparatus according to this embodiment. The microplate 10 is provided with a large number (8 × 12 = 96) of wells for accommodating specimens in a matrix pattern in a predetermined pitch in the X and Y directions. Then, in the supply station A, the microplates 10 in which the specimens are injected into the respective wells are accommodated in a supply stack (entrance portion on the inlet side) 12 in a stacked state.

Then, the microplates 10 are taken out one by one from the supply stack 12 and transferred to a dispensing station (dispensing section) B. At this dispensing station B, a reagent that is an aggregating agent is injected into each well of the microplate 10. For example, the dispenser 14 is moved by a drive mechanism (not shown), and a predetermined reagent is sequentially added to each well in a predetermined amount. For example, when the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1 is the X direction and the horizontal direction on the paper surface is the Y direction as shown in the drawing, first, the first row of wells of the microplate 10 is arranged below the dispenser 14. Then, the dispenser is moved in the X direction to add the reagent to the wells in the first row of the microplate 10. Next, the microplate 10 is moved in the Y direction by one pitch of the well arrangement, the dispenser 14 is moved in the X direction, and the reagent is added to the well in the next row. Then, by repeating this, the reagent is added to all the wells.

Here, this reagent contains particles to which a specific antigen (or antibody) is bound, and when this is added to a sample, it will be detected in the sample depending on whether an immune reaction occurs. Determine if antibody (or antigen) is present. Various reagents are used according to the type of test. Since the particles contained in this reagent contain a magnetic substance such as ferrite, the particles are affected by the magnetic force. As the sample, for example, serum diluted to an appropriate concentration is used, and it is determined whether or not a specific antibody is present in it. For example, if the sample is 25 μl and the reagent is 2
It is about 5 μl.

When the addition of the reagent to all the wells is completed, the microplate 10 is transferred to the stirring station (stirring section) C. This stirring station C
The vibrating device 16 vibrates while holding the microplate 10. Then, by vibrating the microplate 10 with the vibrating device 16,
Mixing of the reagent and the sample injected at the dispensing station B is promoted. In this example, stirring is performed for about 5 minutes to ensure that an immune reaction occurs.

The transportation of the microplate 10 from the feeding station A to the agitation station C is carried out by a holder attached to one belt.
Is carried out by a method such as moving the belt while holding.

When the stirring of the reagent and the sample is completed in the stirring station C, the microplate 10
Is transferred to the magnet / collection station D (magnetic force processing section). Below the magnet / collection station D, a vertically movable magnet plate 18 is provided. And the magnet plate 1
8 has a magnet arranged at a position corresponding to each well of the microplate 10, and attracts particles in the mixture downward.

In addition, in this embodiment, each well of the microplate has a conical shape with its bottom protruding downward in the center, and the particles in the mixture are in the center (the lowest part) of the well. It is gathered in and is settled by force. As a result, when the microplate 10 is viewed from above or below, it seems that a black dot is formed at the center of each well. The forced sedimentation process by the magnetic force is performed by positioning the microplate 10 on the magnet plate 18 for about 1 minute.

When the forced sedimentation treatment with the magnet is completed, the microplate 10 is placed in the stirring station C.
Is transferred to the tilting station (tilt processing section) E adjacent to. In this tilting station E, the microplate 10 is tilted by 60 °, for example. This inclination process is 2
After being performed for about a minute, the sedimented particles flow out under the influence of gravity. Then, the situation of this outflow greatly differs depending on whether or not an immune reaction has occurred.

That is, when an immune reaction occurs (a predetermined antibody (or antibody) is present in the sample), an agglutination reaction in which particles bind to each other occurs. Therefore, the sedimented particles forcibly sucked by the magnetic force are relatively strongly aggregated, and do not flow out much due to the gravity due to the inclination. On the other hand, when the immune reaction is not generated, the agglutination reaction does not occur, the settling of the settling particles is weak, and the particles easily flow out by gravity due to the inclination. Therefore, in a specimen in which an immune reaction has not occurred (the predetermined antibody (or antigen) was not present), the precipitated particles have an elongated spindle shape. Since each well has a relatively small surface tension, the liquid in the well does not flow out even when tilted.

In this way, the shape of the settling particles flowing out due to the inclination does not immediately return even when returned to the horizontal state. Therefore, after tilting for a predetermined time in the tilting station E, the microplate 10 is returned to the horizontal position and transferred to the imaging station F.

In the photographing station (photographing section) F, a CCD camera 20 as an image pickup device is provided below, and a lighting device 22 is provided above it. And
The microplate 10 moves between the CCD camera 20 and the illumination device 22.

Here, in this embodiment, in the imaging station F, the microplate 10 is moved in the Y direction at each well pitch. On the other hand, the CCD camera 20 moves in the X direction at each well pitch while the microplate 10 is stationary. As a result, each image of each well of the microplate 10 is displayed by the CCD camera 2
It is output individually from 0. Then, the image signal for each well is analyzed by the data processing device, and it is determined whether or not the antigen (or antibody) is present in the sample according to the flow-out shape of the sedimented particles. In the normal case, the well pitch in the microplate 10 is the same in both the X and Y directions, and the movement amount per movement is the same in both the X and Y directions.

The illuminating device 22 includes a cold cathode tube 22a.
And a diffusion plate 22b for diffusing light,
Achieves flicker and even lighting.

When the photographing is completed in this way, the microplate 10 is moved to the magnet / collection station D.
It is again transferred onto the magnet plate 18 of FIG. A recovery stack 24 is arranged above the magnet plate 18. Therefore, by moving the magnet plate 18 upward, the microplate 10 is moved to the collection stack (outlet-side accommodating portion) 24.
Will be recovered in.

As described above, in this embodiment, the magnet plate 18 is arranged below the collecting stack 24, and the microplate 10 can be collected in the collecting stack 24 by using this magnet plate 18. Therefore, forcible sedimentation by magnetic force and recovery of the microplate 10 are performed by one magnet.
It takes place at the collection station. Therefore, it is possible to save the space of the device as a whole.

Further, in this embodiment, the supply stack 12 and the recovery stack 24 are arranged at both left and right ends. Therefore, when supplying and discharging the microplate 10, a relatively large space can be used, and the supply and discharge of the microplate can be performed easily. For example, the microplate 10 is automatically supplied to the supply stack 12, the microplate 10 is discharged from the recovery stack 24, the supply stack 12 and the recovery stack 24.
It is also easy to automatically replace itself.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the apparatus of this embodiment. In this way, from the right side toward the apparatus, the supply station A, the dispensing station B, the stirring station C, the tilting station E, the photographing station F, the magnet
The collection station D is provided in order. Also,
On the front side of the dispensing station B, the reagent loading place 30
(In the figure, a reagent bottle 32 is placed) is provided, and the dispenser 14 sucks a predetermined amount of the reagent from the reagent bottle 32 and injects it into each well of the microplate 10. Further, an operation panel 34 for performing various operations is provided on the left side of the front surface of the apparatus, and a printer 36 for issuing processing results is provided on the right side of the front surface of the apparatus.

"Structure for photographing / image processing" FIG.
The functional block diagram of this apparatus is shown. On the operation panel 34,
A control unit 40 is connected, and this control unit 40 controls various operations of the device. That is, the controller 42 controls the drive unit 44, which is a microplate transport mechanism, to control a predetermined movement of the microplate 10, and the controller 46 controls the drive unit 48, which is an image pickup apparatus movement mechanism. , Controls the movement of the CCD camera 20. The control unit 40 also controls the timing of capturing image data for each well in the CCD camera 20.

The CCD camera 20 is connected to a data processing unit 50 which functions as a shape detection unit and a determination unit, processes image data from the CCD camera 20, and determines whether an immune reaction has occurred. Then, the determination result is output from the printer 36. The image memory 52 stores image data, and has a capacity to store at least one screen of image data.

"Acquisition of Image Data" Next, the photographing operation in the photographing station F will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is confirmed whether the microplate 10 and the CCD camera 20 are at the origin position (S1). If the microplate 10 and the CCD camera 20 are at the origin position, the microplate 10 is moved in the Y direction, and the first row well is located above the track of the CCD camera 20. (S2). Next, the CCD camera 20 is moved in the X direction to position the first well above the CCD camera 20 (S3). In this state, the image data of the first well is loaded into the image memory 52 via the data processing unit 50 (S4). Then, the data processing unit 50 performs the processing described below on the captured image data to determine whether an immune reaction has occurred.

In this way, when the image data acquisition for the first well is completed, it is judged whether or not it is the end point in the X direction (S5). If it is not the end point, the process returns to S3 and the CCD camera 20 is set. Move one pitch in the X direction.
As a result, the second well in the first row is located above the CCD camera 20, so image data for this well is captured and processed. In this manner, the CCD camera is moved in the X direction by one pitch of the well, and data acquisition is repeated.

When the data acquisition and processing for one column is completed, YES is obtained in S5, and it is then determined whether or not the end point in the Y direction is reached (S6). If it is not the end point, the moving direction of the CCD camera 20 is reversed with X = -X (S7), and the process returns to S2. Therefore, the microplate 10 is moved in the Y direction by one pitch of the well, and the next row of wells is positioned above the track of the CCD camera 20. Then, in this state, the CCD camera is moved by one pitch in the -X direction, and the image acquisition for each well is repeated (S3 to S5).

In this way, the images of the wells are sequentially captured, and when the image capture for all the wells is completed, YES is obtained in S6, and the image capture for one microplate 10 is completed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the CCD camera 20 is moved in the X direction, and when the end point in the X direction is reached, the microplate 10 is moved in the Y direction repeatedly to display images of all wells. take in.

Here, the settling particles after tilting flow out under the influence of gravity, and therefore have an elongated shape. And
Many microplates (eg, 12 × 8 = 96)
Individual wells. Therefore, when the image signals of all the wells are obtained in one shot, the angles of the wells in the peripheral portion viewed from the image pickup device cannot be ignored, and the direction in which the sedimented particles flow out in the image data is different from that in the central portion. Direction. Also, the length itself in the image changes depending on the angle. Therefore, the conventional apparatus cannot detect the shape of the sedimented particles after tilting sufficiently accurately. However, in this embodiment, since the individual image signal for each well is obtained, it is possible to perform sufficiently accurate detection without the problem of the angle.

[Image Processing Operation] As described above, when the image data of each well is captured one by one, the data processing unit 50 processes each image data to determine whether an immune reaction has occurred. To do. About this, FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

First, image data is fetched (S11).
In this embodiment, the image data obtained from the CCD camera 20 has a data amount of 512 × 128 pixels, and the data of each pixel is represented by 256 gradations, that is, digital data of 0 to 255 depending on the degree of brightness. ing. Therefore, the smaller the numerical value is, the light is not transmitted, that is, black is shown.

Then, the particle axis is calculated from such image data (S12). This particle axis calculation is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), for example, 32 lines (1
This is done by taking out pixel data of every 6 pixels), judging the black portion from this data, and connecting the centers thereof.

Here, the particle axis is parallel to the horizontal direction of the image (arrangement of pixels). That is, when the microplate 10 is tilted, its axis is in the horizontal direction, and the settling particles are
Flow in the direction. Then, by setting the horizontal direction of the CCD camera 20 to the Y direction, the particle axis becomes the horizontal direction of the pixel array. Therefore, the particle axis can be detected by the majority vote of the center points of the black portions in the 32 vertical lines. Depending on the case, the particle axis may be detected in any direction by the method of least squares or the like.

In this way, when the particle axis is obtained, a total of nine horizontal lines including this particle axis and four lines above and below the particle axis are selected (S13). In this example, four lines are selected every other line from the particle axis. As described above, in this example, when the particle axis is obtained, all pixels in the vertical direction are used to perform detection with the highest accuracy, and the line in the horizontal direction is selected every other line and is relatively wide with a small amount of data. The range is detected and the outflow shape of the sediment particles is effectively grasped. Further, since the vertical size of the sedimented particles is known when the particle axis is calculated, the number of lines to be selected and the interval thereof may be determined based on this size.

Next, the data of each pixel on the selected line is extracted and binarized (S14). Here, the extracted data is, for example, data as shown in FIG. In addition, in this figure, for convenience,
Only pixels x 5 horizontal lines are shown.

Then, this data is set to 2 with a predetermined threshold value.
The value is converted into data of "1" and "0". When the example of FIG. 8 is binarized with the threshold value 150, the data shown in FIG. 9 is obtained. This "0" part is black, that is, a particle pixel determined to be a particle.

Next, regarding the binarized data of 9 lines,
A logical sum is calculated (S15). Ie, 9 in the vertical direction
If any one data has "0", the data at that horizontal position is set to "0".

Then, the particle length is obtained by counting the pixels (particle pixels) of continuous value "0" from the obtained data for one line (S16), and this is output (S17).

In this way, the particle length for one well is obtained. Then, when an immune reaction has occurred, the particles have a strong cohesive force, so it is difficult to flow out, and when no immune reaction has occurred, the particles easily flow out. Therefore, depending on the particle length, it is determined that the sample contained the antibody or antigen (+), suspicious (±), or the sample did not contain the antibody or antigen (−). For example, it is determined that the particle length of 125 pixels or more is (-), the pixel length of 75 pixels or less is (+), and the range of 76 to 124 pixels is (±).

The determination results obtained in this way are collectively output from the printer 36 when the determination for all the wells of one microplate 10 is completed.

[Tilt, Imaging, Moving Mechanism in Magnet / Recovery Station] FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the transport mechanism for the microplate 10 in the tilting station E, the imaging station F, and the magnet / collection station D. The microplate 10 is held by the holder 60. The holder 60 has a frame shape that holds the peripheral portion of the microplate. A rotary shaft 60a in a direction (X direction) orthogonal to the moving direction (Y direction) of the microplate 10 is formed on one end side (left side in the drawing) of the holder 60. Therefore, in the tilt station E, the microplate 10 is tilted by rotating the rotary shaft 60a by a rotary drive mechanism (not shown) that engages with the rotary shaft 60a.

Further, the holder 60 has a tilt station E.
Attached to a belt 62 extending from the magnet to the magnet / collection station D. In addition, the belt 62 is used for the holder 60.
On the other hand, it is located on the back side of the device. The belt 62 is wound around a pair of pulleys 64 and 66, and the pulley 66 is rotatable by a stepping motor 68. Therefore, by rotating the pulley 66 with the stepping motor 68, the movement between the stations and the movement in the Y direction at the photographing station F are performed.

In the magnet / collection station D, the collection stack 24 is arranged above the belt 62, and the magnet plate 18 is arranged below. And this magnet plate 18
Is attached to the upper end of the rod 70, and the rod 70 moves up and down by a motor 72. Therefore, by moving the rod 70 upward while holding the microplate 10 above the magnet plate 18 and holding the microplate 10 by the magnet plate 18, it is possible to perform the forced precipitation treatment by magnetic force. .

Further, with the microplate 10 for which the photographing process has been completed being positioned above the magnet plate 18, the rod 70 is greatly raised and the microplate 10 is inserted into the recovery stack 24 from below. The microplate 10 can be collected in the collection stack 24. A pinion 72a is attached to the motor 72, and a rack 70a is attached to the rod 70. Therefore, the rod 70 can be moved up and down by the rack and pinion.

Incidentally, position detectors such as photoelectric sensors are provided in various places of the apparatus, and movement is controlled by using the detected values.

[CCD camera moving mechanism] FIG.
The movement mechanism of the CD camera 20 is shown. CC as shown
The D camera 20 is fixed to the substrate 80. And
The substrate 80 is fixed to a guide 84 via a support member 82, and the guide 84 holds the rail 86 and can move on the rail 86.

Further, the support member 82 is fixed to the belt 88, and the belt 88 is used for the stepping motor 9.
It is wound around a pulley 92 rotated by 0.
Therefore, by driving the stepping motor 90, CC
The D camera 20 can be moved by a predetermined distance.

[0060]

As described above, according to the sample inspection apparatus of the present invention, the magnetic force processing section is movable up and down, and the magnetic force processing section is arranged below the outlet-side accommodating section so that the microscopic portion from the imaging section can be moved. The microplate is transferred to the outlet-side accommodating section by holding the plate in the magnetic force processing section and moving it upward. Therefore, the magnetic force processing unit can transfer the microplate to the outlet-side accommodation unit, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced as a whole.

Further, by disposing the inclination processing section and the photographing section in the middle of the stirring section and the magnetic force processing section, it is easy to provide the outlet side accommodation section at the end of the apparatus, and it is easy to take out the microplate. You can do it. Further, the apparatus can be simplified by transferring the microplate from the stirring section to the magnetic force processing section by a single transfer mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a sample inspection apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an example.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of shooting.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a photographing procedure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of image processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating detection of sedimented particles.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of image data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing data after binarization.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a transport mechanism for the microplate 10.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a moving mechanism of a CCD camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Microplate, 12 Supply Stack, 14
Dispenser, 16 vibrating device, 18 magnet plate, 20 CC
D camera, 22 illumination device, A supply station, B
Dispensing station, C stirring station, D magnet / collection station, E tilt station, F imaging station.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An entrance-side accommodation section for accommodating microplates in which wells for accommodating specimens are arranged in a matrix, and a microplate arranged adjacent to the entrance-side accommodation section and taken out from the entrance-side accommodation section. A dispensing unit that dispenses particles containing a magnetic material into each well, and a stirring unit that supports the microplate that has finished dispensing particles and vibrates it to stir and mix the sample and particles in each well. , A magnetic force processing unit for holding the transferred microplate after the stirring process in the stirring unit on a magnet plate having a magnet and forcibly settling the particles in the mixture in each well using magnetic force, and a magnetic force processing unit A tilting part that tilts the microplate after the forced sedimentation process, and an image of the state of the sedimented particles in each well of the microplate that has been tilted at the tilting part And an outlet-side accommodating portion for accommodating the microplate that has been photographed in the photographing portion, and the magnet plate in the magnetic force processing portion is vertically movable, and is arranged below the outlet-side accommodating portion. An inspection apparatus for a sample, characterized in that a microplate from an imaging unit is held in a magnetic force processing unit and is moved upward to transfer the microplate to an outlet side accommodation unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inclination processing unit and the imaging unit are arranged in the middle of the stirring unit and the magnetic force processing unit. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transfer of the microplate from the stirring section to the magnetic force processing section, the inclination processing section, the imaging section, and the magnetic force processing section is performed by a single transfer mechanism. Inspection device for specimens.