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EP-3604494-B1 - INSPECTION DEVICE

EP3604494B1EP 3604494 B1EP3604494 B1EP 3604494B1EP-3604494-B1

Inventors

  • MASUYA, Akira
  • FUJITA, HIROKO

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20170328

Claims (14)

  1. An inspection device (100) comprising: an isothermal part (110) that includes a rack (111) and is configured to hold a sample container (150) storing a sample in a temperature-controlled environment, the sample container (150) including a plate and a lid; a detection part (120) that includes an optical device configured to observe and inspect the sample stored in the sample container (150); and a transportation part (130) that is configured to transport the sample container (150) between the isothermal part (110) and the detection part (120), wherein a member configured to hold the lid of the sample container (150) in a state of being lifted from the plate is provided in at least one of the isothermal part (110), the detection part (120), and the transportation part (130), characterized in that the member includes a lift portion configured to hold the lid of the sample container (150) and a column configured to support the lift portion, and when the sample container (150) is transferred to any one of the rack of the isothermal part (110), a stage of the optical device of the detection part (120), and a transportation mechanism (131) of the transportation part (130), the lift portion is located in a gap between the lid and the plate of the sample container (150).
  2. The inspection device (110) according to claim 1, wherein the lift portion includes an inclined surface having a predetermined inclination with respect to a pedestal of the rack, a bottom surface of a sample container (150) holding part of the stage (122), or a pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131), and when the sample container (150) is transferred to the pedestal of the rack, the sample container holding part of the stage (122), or the pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131), the lid of the sample container (150) is lifted along the inclined surface of the lift portion.
  3. The inspection device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the lid of the sample container (150) is held by the member in a state where a lower end of a sidewall of the lid is lower than an upper surface of the plate.
  4. The inspection device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the member is provided to be vertically movable in at least one of the isothermal part (110), the transportation part (130), and the detection part (120).
  5. The inspection device (100) according to claim 1, wherein a heater, configured to heat the lid of the sample container from above while the lid is lifted from the plate, is provided in at least one of the detection part (120) and the transportation part (130).
  6. The inspection device (100) according to claim 5, wherein the lift portion includes an inclined surface having a predetermined inclination with respect to a bottom surface of a sample container (150) holding part of the stage (122) or a pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131), and when the sample container (150) is transferred to the sample container holding part of the stage (122) or the pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131), the lid of the sample container (150) is lifted along the inclined surface of the lift portion.
  7. The inspection device (100) according to claim 6, wherein when the sample container (150) is placed on the bottom surface of the sample container holding part of the stage (122) or the pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131) in a state where the lid is closed, the member is fixed to the stage (122) or the transportation mechanism (131) by the column, so that the lift portion of the member is located in the gap between the lid and the plate.
  8. The inspection device (100) according to claim 7, wherein the lid of the sample container (150) is held by the member in a state where a lower end of a side wall of the lid is lower than an upper surface of the plate.
  9. The inspection device (100) according to claim 5, wherein the member is provided to be vertically movable in at least one of the detection part (120) and the transportation part (130).
  10. The inspection device (100) according to claim 9, wherein the member is capable of lifting the lid of the sample container (150) in a state where a lower end of a side wall of the lid is higher than an upper surface of the plate.
  11. The inspection device (100) according to claim 10, wherein a door is provided in at least one of the detection part (120) and the transportation part (130), and is configured to limit movement of air in a space around the sample container (150) placed on a sample container holding part of the stage (122) or a pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131).
  12. The inspection device (100) according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein at least one of the sample container holding part of the stage (122) and the pedestal of the transportation mechanism (131) is provided with a temperature detector configured to monitor a temperature of the sample stored in the sample container (150), and wherein heating with the heater is stopped when the temperature of the sample monitored by the temperature detector is higher than a predetermined temperature.
  13. The inspection device (100) according to claim 12, wherein a temperature of the heater is set higher than a temperature set in the isothermal part (110).
  14. The inspection device (100) according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein the heater is sheet-shaped heater with a transparent portion at least in part, and includes a dew condensation detector (427) configured to measure dew condensation on the lid of the sample container (150) through the transparent portion of the heater.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to an inspection device in which dew condensation in a sample container is prevented or removed and a sample in the sample container is observed and inspected. Background Art In clinical institutions such as medical research institutions and hospitals, microscopy observation, particularly fluorescence microscopy observation for cell activity or the like is performed a plurality of times during cell culture, and an inspection is performed based on time-lapse observation for observing a dynamic change, and based on optical measurement results such as absorbance, fluorescence, and turbidity for bacteria identification and drug resistance. Since a specimen sample to be subjected to these observation and inspection is a biological sample, it is necessary to control a sample temperature by heating or the like. A culture temperature in a culture device needs to be controlled constant, but a temperature of a sample container temporally and spatially changes due to heat generated by a detector during sample observation and measurement after charging a sample into an inspection device, heat generated by an electric actuator that moves the sample container, and the like. Further, many biological samples are liquid samples and contain a lot of water. Therefore, water vapor is generated from the sample, and a moisture amount in air is large in the inspection device. The moisture amount in air is large and the temperature changes in the inspection device, so that in the inspection device, air in the sample container reaches a dewpoint that is a temperature at which dew condensation occurs, and it is often observed that the dew condensation occurs on an inner surface of the sample container, mainly on a lid. In a case where dew condensation occurs on the inner surface of the sample container, when the sample is imaged through the sample container with a camera, shadows caused by the dew condensation overlap and the background of the image becomes not uniform. Accordingly, the contrast of the cell image is reduced, and the shape extraction performance of the cell is degraded. Light intensity of the background changes even when droplets of the dew condensation are small and the background is uniform, so that measures such as normalizing in image processing are required, which makes the image processing complicated. Similarly, the following problems occur in the optical measurement. When the absorbance measurement is performed, light scattering occurs due to minute droplets caused by the dew condensation that occurs on the lid, intensity of light emitted on the sample decreases while the light passes through the lid of the sample container, and thus an absorbance measurement value or a turbidity measurement value is changed. When the fluorescence measurement is performed, light scattering occurs due to minute droplets caused by the dew condensation that occurs on the lid, and thus intensity of excitation light by which photoexcitation is performed on the sample is changed while the excitation light passes through the lid of the sample container, and a measurement value of fluorescence intensity is changed. Generally, droplets of the dew condensation grow in size as time elapses, which also affects a condition of a surface where the dew condensation occurs, so that it is difficult to estimate an amount of light attenuation caused by the light scattering due to the dew condensation. Thus, a device has been proposed which has a function of preventing dew condensation and a function of removing dew or haze generated in a culture container. In PTL 1, a culture container is set to a dew point temperature to an in-device temperature by providing a heater close to the culture container from at least one of an upper surface and a lower surface of the culture container and performing heating. PTL 2 provides an observation device. The observation device includes a mechanism in an imaging part and configured to perform heating, so that a surface temperature of a lid of a culture container is equal to a culture temperature of a sample. Dew condensation, which occurs when the culture container is relocated from a place where an environment such as a temperature is different, is removed by using a transparent heater or a fan that blows hot air. PTL 3 discloses a movement device which includes a storage unit, an aggregation unit, and a control unit. The storage unit is provided with a plurality of sets consisting of a plurality of well plates and one storage frame. One aggregation frame is disposed in the aggregation unit. The control unit controls a movement mechanism that is capable of moving the well plates between the storage unit and the aggregation unit. Prior Art Literature Patent Literature PTL 1: JP-A-2010-158185PTL 2: JP-A-2009-296938PTL 3: WO 2016/117185 A1 Summary of Invention Technical Problem Both PTL 1 and PTL 2 have limitations on a temperature at which the culture container can