Patent ID: 8415145

Claim:
A sample preparation apparatus comprising: a storage container that can contain liquid including a biological sample and a preservative solution; a filter that prevents a first cell in the biological sample from passing therethrough and allows a second cell having a smaller diameter than that of the first cell to pass therethrough, the filter attached to one end of a hollow body of a filtration cylinder; a first flow path that supplies the liquid including the biological sample and the preservative solution into a space between the filter and an inner surface of the storage container; a second flow path that supplies, into the storage container, a substitution liquid for substituting a part of the preservation solution in the storage container; a negative pressure source that applies a negative pressure into the hollow body of the filtration cylinder from the other end of the hollow body so as to discharge a liquid which has passed through the filter into the hollow body from the space between the filter and the inner surface of the storage container; a stirrer that is arranged within the space and rotates so as to move the first cell attached to the filter into a liquid remaining in the space; a positive pressure source that applies a positive pressure against the filter from the other end of the hollow body of the filtration cylinder so as to move the first cell attached to the filter into the liquid remaining in the space; a container holder that holds a measurement sample container used for preparing a measurement sample, wherein the first flow path supplies the liquid remaining in the space to the measurement sample container after the first cell is moved from the filter into the liquid remaining in the space by the stirrer and the positive pressure source; and a third flow path that supplies a staining solution for staining the first cell to the measurement sample container so as to prepare a measurement sample from the staining solution and the liquid supplied by the first flow path to the measurement sample container.