Liquid level determination device and liquid level determination method

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a liquid level determination device and method that can accurately determine the liquid level of a sample even if the sample container has a barcode label or similar attachment. [Solution] The present invention is a liquid level determination device comprising: a light source for illuminating a sample container containing a sample; a camera unit for acquiring an image using light illuminating and transmitting through the sample container from the aforementioned light source; a drive unit for at least tilting the sample container; a control unit for controlling the operation of the aforementioned light source, the aforementioned camera unit, and the aforementioned drive unit; and a liquid level determination unit for determining the liquid level of the sample based on the image acquired by the aforementioned camera unit; the liquid level determination unit, based on the image acquired by the aforementioned camera unit during the tilting of the sample container, determines whether there is a change in brightness at various heights of the sample container; and determines the boundary between the height region where the brightness change decreases and the height region where the brightness change increases as the liquid level of the sample.

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