Patent ID: 7912267

Claim:
A virtual-slide specimen image acquisition apparatus that captures images of a specimen on a slide glass by dividing the specimen into a plurality of sections, comprising: a conveying device on which a plurality of slide glasses can be arranged and that conveys the plurality of arranged slide glasses in a first direction by a distance corresponding to the length of a side along the first direction in one of the divided sections and at first time intervals, the plurality of slide glasses being disposed adjacent to each other on the conveying device at least in a direction perpendicular to the first direction; and an image capturing device that has an image capturing portion for capturing images of the specimens magnified at a predetermined magnification and that scans the slide glasses conveyed to a predetermined position in a second direction, by a predetermined length and at second time intervals, such that the image capturing portion captures images of all sections that are positioned identically in the first direction and that are positioned differently in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction.