Patent ID: 7993605

Claim:
A production apparatus for producing a probe array, comprising: a stage, on which a carrier is mounted; a liquid discharge device for discharging a plurality of liquids, each of which contain a probe capable of being specifically bonded to a target substance, in order to form an area of arrayed spots on the carrier mounted on said stage; an application information detector comprising a lighting device for illuminating with light the area of arrayed spots on the carrier mounted on said stage and a sensor for inputting light reflected from the area of arrayed spots on the carrier to detect whether at least one spot has not been formed on the carrier; and a controller for successively sampling image signals of at least a portion of the area of arrayed spots from the sensor in order to obtain a matrix pattern in an image memory comprising the entire area of arrayed spots, and for controlling said liquid discharge device to again discharge at least one of the plurality of liquids to form at least one additional spot on the carrier mounted on said stage if the obtained matrix pattern comprises at least one spot that has not been formed on the carrier, wherein the lighting device and the sensor are arranged such that said application information detector detects reflections of light from the surfaces of the arrayed spots, and wherein the successively sampling of image signals occurs while said liquid discharge device is forming the area of arrayed spots on the carrier.