Patent ID: 8654188

Claim:
An image processing apparatus, comprising: an interface configured to be connected to a microscope having a stage having a placement surface on which a sample including a target that is subjected to marking is placed, an objective lens that zooms in an image of the sample, and an image pickup element that forms the image of the sample zoomed in by the objective lens; a controller configured to cause, through the interface, a focus of the objective lens to shift from a predetermined reference position in a vertical direction to the placement surface, and cause the image pickup element to be exposed during the shift of the focus in the vertical direction, thereby obtaining a first image including a first bright point that indicates the target, to perform, through the interface, a uniform shift of the focus from the reference position in the vertical direction at a first velocity and a uniform linear shift thereof in a parallel direction to the placement surface at a second velocity, and cause the image pickup element to be exposed during the shift of the focus in the vertical direction and the parallel direction, thereby obtaining a second image including a second bright point that indicates the target, and to calculate a position of the target in the sample in the vertical direction based on the first image and second image obtained; and a memory configured to store the first image and second image obtained, wherein the controller calculates a distance between the first bright point and the second bright point in the parallel direction based on coordinates of the first bright point in the first image and coordinates of the second bright point in the second image, and calculates the position of the target using h=D*V z /V x , wherein h is the position, D is the distance, V z , is the first velocity, and V x , is the second velocity.