Abstract: The invention provides a technology for promptly determining bacterial identification or an antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In the invention, first, a state where the bacteria are divided is monitored by performing microscopic observation with respect to the shape or the number of bacteria in each of wells of a culture plate for bacterial identification culture or the antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In addition, the shape, the number or the area of the bacteria are interpreted from the image obtained by the microscopic observation whether or not the bacteria proliferate at a stage from an induction phase to a logarithmic phase, and the time-dependent changes thereof are made into a graph. From the graph, it is determined whether or not the bacteria proliferate for each measurement, the determination results are displayed on the screen, and accordingly, the result of the antimicrobial susceptibility is provided every time when the measurement is performed.

Abstract: A culturing device includes a microplate including a plurality of vessels, each of the vessels having a bottom surface having light transmittance and an opening at an upper portion, a lid having light transmittance, and an intermediate plate having light transmittance sandwiched between the lid and the microplate. The intermediate plate has a plurality of convex portions on a surface thereof facing the microplate and provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the convex portions that are disposed so that when the intermediate plate and the microplate are overlapped, each of the plurality of convex portions is inserted into each of the plurality of vessels and each of the plurality of through holes coincides with the opening of each of the plurality of vessels. The lid comes into contact with the intermediate plate so as to close the plurality of through holes provided in the intermediate plate.

Abstract: Provided are a method and a system for accurately distinguishing a micropartition in which a target gene or target DNA is placed and a micropartition in which a pseudogene is placed by a measuring device and accurately counting the target gene or target DNA in digital PCR using melting curve analysis. The method includes the steps of: placing a DNA solution in each of a plurality of partitions; performing PCR; changing a temperature of each of the partitions and measuring a fluorescence intensity; calculating a melting temperature of a double strand DNA for each of the partitions; counting the number of partitions for each type of the DNA; outputting the number of partitions counted for each type of the DNA; and discriminating the first gene and the pseudogene based on the melting temperature and the number of the counted partitions.

Abstract: Provided is a test apparatus in which a test for bacterial identification or antimicrobial susceptibility can be promptly determined. A division state of bacteria is monitored by performing microscopic observation of shapes and the number of the bacteria in each of wells in a culture plate for bacterial identification culture or an antimicrobial susceptibility test, and it is determined whether or not the bacteria grow in a stage shifted from an induction phase to a logarithmic phase, with reference to an image obtained through microscopic observation. In addition, determination performed based on turbidity in the related art may be combined with determination performed based on microscopic observation in which change and the like in the shapes of the bacteria are monitored. Accordingly, it is possible to realize a highly accurate test result.

Abstract: Provided is an antibacterial agent-containing dried plate having no cracks on an observation surface (a part of the plate corresponding to an observation visual field of a microscope). According to the present embodiment, an antibacterial agent-introduced plate obtained by introducing an antibacterial agent and performing vacuum drying has a recess at an edge of a well, and a microscopic observation portion, which has a surface substantially parallel to a well bottom surface, near the center of the well. The recess is provided between the microscopic observation portion and a side wall of the well, and is lower in height than the microscopic observation portion. Further, at least the bottom surface of the well and the microscopic observation portion are made of a material having a light-transmitting property in order for optical measurement (FIG. 1).

Abstract: An electrophoresis method, system, and gel recover biological substances from the gel with high efficiency. The method uses an electrophoresis gel having an injection hole into which biological substances are injected and a recovery hole from which the biological substances are recovered. The electrophoresis method includes injecting the biological substances into the injection hole, and applying an electric field penetrating the injection and recovery holes. A vertical axis in a downward direction as a positive direction is set as an X-axis, an axis which is perpendicular to the X-axis is set as a Y-axis, and coordinates of a bottom of the recovery hole are set as (XC, YC). The X coordinate XC of the bottom of the recovery hole satisfies XC>X1 when the biological substance is electrophoresed to coordinates (X1, YC) in the recovery hole from a bottom of the injection hole in the applying the electric field.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a technique capable of manufacturing a measurement cell having a high specimen utilization ratio in the case of using a measurement cell that introduces a specimen into a surface hole. In the measurement cell manufacturing method according to the present disclosure, a measurement cell includes a channel wall protruding from the lower surface substrate toward the through-hole, and a specimen solution is introduced into a lower surface side space to introduce the specimen into the through-hole (see FIG. 1).

Abstract: Provided is a technique for preventing erroneous recognition of a fine particle region from a captured image of fine particles. A fine particle testing apparatus of the present disclosure includes: an imaging part capturing a first fine particle image of a well that holds a liquid containing fine particles; an image processor executing a process of generating a second fine particle image by extracting a contour of the first fine particle image, a process of performing a logical operation between the first fine particle image and the second fine particle image, a process of calculating a feature amount of the fine particles based on a result of the logical operation, and a process of determining growth of the fine particles in the well based on the calculated feature amount; and an output part outputting a result of the determination.

Abstract: An electrophoresis method, system, and gel recover biological substances from the gel with high efficiency. The method uses an electrophoresis gel having an injection hole into which biological substances are injected and a recovery hole from which the biological substances are recovered. The electrophoresis method includes injecting the biological substances into the injection hole, and applying an electric field penetrating the injection and recovery holes. A vertical axis in a downward direction as a positive direction is set as an X-axis, an axis which is perpendicular to the X-axis is set as a Y-axis, and coordinates of a bottom of the recovery hole are set as (XC, YC). The X coordinate XC of the bottom of the recovery hole satisfies XC>X1 when the biological substance is electrophoresed to coordinates (X1, YC) in the recovery hole from a bottom of the injection hole in the applying the electric field.

Abstract: Provided is a test apparatus in which a test for bacterial identification or antimicrobial susceptibility can be promptly determined. A division state of bacteria is monitored by performing microscopic observation of shapes and the number of the bacteria in each of wells in a culture plate for bacterial identification culture or an antimicrobial susceptibility test, and it is determined whether or not the bacteria grow in a stage shifted from an induction phase to a logarithmic phase, with reference to an image obtained through microscopic observation. In addition, determination performed based on turbidity in the related art may be combined with determination performed based on microscopic observation in which change and the like in the shapes of the bacteria are monitored. Accordingly, it is possible to realize a highly accurate test result.

Abstract: A light detection device comprises: a flow path section in which a plurality of lines of flow of a plurality of droplets 4 dispersed in oil and moving along a linear line of flow is retained on an array plane; a laser beam irradiation section which introduces a laser beam 3 in a direction in which the plurality of lines of flow are arrayed in the flow path section to irradiate the plurality of lines of flow; and a light detection section which detects emitted light generated from the plurality of lines of flow by the irradiation of the laser beam, from a vertical direction with respect to the array plane. A refractive index of the oil no and a refractive index of the droplets nd have a difference such that ?0.02?nd?no?0.05.

Abstract: Provided is a test apparatus in which a test for bacterial identification or antimicrobial susceptibility can be promptly determined. A division state of bacteria is monitored by performing microscopic observation of shapes and the number of the bacteria in each of wells in a culture plate for bacterial identification culture or an antimicrobial susceptibility test, and it is determined whether or not the bacteria grow in a stage shifted from an induction phase to a logarithmic phase, with reference to an image obtained through microscopic observation. In addition, determination performed based on turbidity in the related art may be combined with determination performed based on microscopic observation in which change and the like in the shapes of the bacteria are monitored. Accordingly, it is possible to realize a highly accurate test result.

Abstract: Provided is a technique that enables accurate determination as to whether growth of bacteria has occurred or been inhibited. A bacteria test apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a microscope optical system which captures images of bacteria in each of a plurality of wells at a plurality of time points, the plurality of wells each holding a culture solution containing an antibacterial drug and the bacteria, an arithmetic unit which calculates a feature of luminance value for each of the images of the bacteria, a determination unit which determines whether growth of the bacteria has occurred in the wells based on a change in the feature of luminance value, and a display device which displays a determination result output from the determination unit. The arithmetic unit calculates, as the feature of luminance value, a feature including at least one of a mean, a median, or a mode (see FIG. 4).

Abstract: The invention provides a technology for promptly determining bacterial identification or an antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In the invention, first, a state where the bacteria are divided is monitored by performing microscopic observation with respect to the shape or the number of bacteria in each of wells of a culture plate for bacterial identification culture or the antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In addition, the shape, the number or the area of the bacteria are interpreted from the image obtained by the microscopic observation whether or not the bacteria proliferate at a stage from an induction phase to a logarithmic phase, and the time-dependent changes thereof are made into a graph. From the graph, it is determined whether or not the bacteria proliferate for each measurement, the determination results are displayed on the screen, and accordingly, the result of the antimicrobial susceptibility is provided every time when the measurement is performed.

Abstract: Provided is an antibacterial agent-containing dried plate having no cracks on an observation surface (a part of the plate corresponding to an observation visual field of a microscope). According to the present embodiment, an antibacterial agent-introduced plate obtained by introducing an antibacterial agent and performing vacuum drying has a recess at an edge of a well, and a microscopic observation portion, which has a surface substantially parallel to a well bottom surface, near the center of the well. The recess is provided between the microscopic observation portion and a side wall of the well, and is lower in height than the microscopic observation portion. Further, at least the bottom surface of the well and the microscopic observation portion are made of a material having a light-transmitting property in order for optical measurement.

Abstract: The invention provides a technology for promptly determining bacterial identification or an antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In the invention, first, a state where the bacteria are divided is monitored by performing microscopic observation with respect to the shape or the number of bacteria in each of wells of a culture plate for bacterial identification culture or the antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In addition, the shape, the number or the area of the bacteria are interpreted from the image obtained by the microscopic observation whether or not the bacteria proliferate at a stage from an induction phase to a logarithmic phase, and the time-dependent changes thereof are made into a graph. From the graph, it is determined whether or not the bacteria proliferate for each measurement, the determination results are displayed on the screen, and accordingly, the result of the antimicrobial susceptibility is provided every time when the measurement is performed (FIG. 12).

Abstract: Provided are a method and apparatus for forming clusters of amplified nucleic acid fragments without amplification bias, in a regular arrangement on a substrate. In the method according to the present invention, droplets enclosing the template nucleic acid are formed on a substrate that has a plurality of first surfaces having hydrophilicity and a second surface surrounding each of the plurality of first surfaces and being less hydrophilic than the first surfaces. Then, after a nucleic acid amplification reaction is performed in the droplets on the substrate, the droplets are removed and a nucleic acid amplification reaction is further performed on the substrate.

Abstract: A culturing device includes a microplate including a plurality of vessels, each of the vessels having a bottom surface having light transmittance and an opening at an upper portion, a lid having light transmittance, and an intermediate plate having light transmittance sandwiched between the lid and the microplate. The intermediate plate has a plurality of convex portions on a surface thereof facing the microplate and provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the convex portions that are disposed so that when the intermediate plate and the microplate are overlapped, each of the plurality of convex portions is inserted into each of the plurality of vessels and each of the plurality of through holes coincides with the opening of each of the plurality of vessels. The lid comes into contact with the intermediate plate so as to close the plurality of through holes provided in the intermediate plate.

Abstract: Provided is a antimicrobial susceptibility testing device, including: an ATP examination culture plate that includes a reaction vessel, a reagent holding parts for holding reagents to be supplied to the reaction vessel, and a culture solution holding part for holding a culture solution to be supplied to the reaction vessel, and has plural layers that can be joined and separated; a gas feeding path for feeding a gas into the ATP examination culture plate; a heater; an optical detection unit; and a determination unit for determining sensitivity of a bacterial strain contained in the culture solution to a drug based on a detection result of the optical detection unit, wherein when the plural layers of the ATP examination culture plate are joined, at least the culture solution holding part and the reaction vessel are in a sealed state while communicating with each other.

Abstract: A light detection device comprises: a flow path section in which a plurality of lines of flow of a plurality of droplets 4 dispersed in oil and moving along a linear line of flow is retained on an array plane; a laser beam irradiation section which introduces a laser beam 3 in a direction in which the plurality of lines of flow are arrayed in the flow path section to irradiate the plurality of lines of flow; and a light detection section which detects emitted light generated from the plurality of lines of flow by the irradiation of the laser beam, from a vertical direction with respect to the array plane. A refractive index of the oil no and a refractive index of the droplets nd have a difference such that ?0.02?nd?no?0.05.