Patent ID: 7477064

Claim:
A probing apparatus for conducting an electrical inspection for a test object formed on a substrate, comprising: a probe for making contact with an electrode formed on the substrate; an image pickup unit for acquiring a first image representing a region inclusive of the electrode, by capturing an image of the substrate after the probe has been brought into contact with the electrode having thereon at least one previously formed probe mark; an image storage unit for storing a second image representing a region inclusive of the electrode before the probe is brought into contact with the electrode; a latest probe mark position acquiring unit for, by comparing the first image with the second image, acquiring a position of a latest probe mark region created by the contact of the probe with the electrode from among a plurality of probe mark regions in the first image respectively corresponding to a plurality of probe marks, the probe marks including said at least one previously formed probe mark and a latest probe mark made by the contact of the probe; a positional deviation acquiring unit for finding a deviation in a contact position of the probe with respect to the electrode, based on the position of the latest probe mark region; an incremental region acquiring part for, by comparing the first image with the second image, acquiring an incremental region increased by the contact of the probe with the electrode from a probe mark existing region occupied by the plurality of probe mark regions; and an incremental region complementing part for, if the incremental region has an area smaller than a predetermined value, acquiring the latest probe mark region by combining the incremental region with a complementing region in the probe mark existing region from which the incremental region is excluded.