Patent ID: 7027932
Filing Date: 2006-04-11
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A biochemical examination method, comprising: supplying a solution of a first biochemical material to an array for biochemical examination, which includes probe array elements arranged in columns and rows, in which respective second biochemical materials particularly reacting with the first biochemical material are held on a surface; marking the first biochemical material with a luminescent molecule excitable by light so as to emit light to allow a luminescent intensity of the luminescent molecule for each of the probe array elements to be detected with an array detector, to enable a reaction state of the first biochemical material with the second biochemical materials particularly reacting with the first biochemical material to be examined for each of the probe array elements; dividing a light image obtained by the array detector along column dividing lines and row dividing lines into a plurality of divided images corresponding to the probe array elements; designating a measurement region and a local background region with respect to each of the divided images; detecting a local background signal from the local background region; using the detected local background signal to correct a detected signal from the measurement region; wherein, when at least one of: (i) the columns have a plurality of respective different inclination angles, and (ii) the rows have a plurality of respective different inclination angles, an angle of inclination is determined for the corresponding at least one of the column dividing lines and the row dividing lines by: binarizing the light image obtained by the array detector to obtain a binarized image; compressing the binarized image along the at least one of the columns and the rows of the array to obtain compressed images of the at least one of the columns and the rows, said compressed images including bright regions corresponding to the one of the columns and the rows of the probe array elements and dark regions corresponding to regions between the one of the columns and the rows of the probe array elements; detecting widths of the dark regions of the compressed images of the at least one of the columns and the rows, and identifying a broadest dark region having a broadest width among the dark regions of the compressed images of the corresponding one of the columns and the rows; and determining an angle of inclination of a column or a row corresponding to the broadest dark region, and setting said angle of inclination as an angle of inclination of a corresponding one of the column dividing lines and the row dividing lines; and wherein at least one of: (i) an interval between the column dividing lines, and (ii) an interval between the row dividing lines is determined by: comparing the bright regions with arrangement conditions of the probe array elements; replacing a part of a bright region that does not correspond to the arrangement conditions of the probe array elements with a dark region based on the arrangement conditions of the probe array elements; and determining the at least one of: (i) the interval between the column dividing lines and (ii) the interval between the row dividing lines, based on a plurality of points at respective middle positions of the dark regions and the bright regions of compressed images of the corresponding one of the array columns and the array rows.