Inspection Device for Foreign Matter and Particle Aggregates, and Inspection Method

An inspection device for an aggregate for detecting presence or absence of a fine particle aggregate, the inspection device comprising:

• an image-capturing unit configured to acquire an image of an inside of a container that holds a liquid containing a fine particle;
• a foreign matter presence or absence determination unit configured to binarize the image, create a first binarized image, integrate the first binarized image at least in a vertical or horizontal direction, numerically analyze an integrated value, and detect a foreign matter to determine presence or absence of the foreign matter;
• and
• a re-imaging processing unit configured to change a relative position between the container and the image-capturing unit and acquire an image of the inside of the container again when it is determined that the foreign matter is present.

An inspection method for an aggregate for acquiring an image of an inside of a container that holds a liquid containing a fine particle to detect presence or absence of a fine particle aggregate, the inspection method comprising:

• binarizing the image, creating a first binarized image, and determining presence or absence of a foreign matter;
• extracting a contour of the image to obtain a contour-extracted image, binarizing a composite image of the extracted contour-extracted image and the image, creating a second binarized image, and detecting a fine particle region;
• calculating a difference value between a first integrated signal obtained by integrating the first binarized image and a second integrated signal obtained by integrating the second binarized image;
• and
• determining presence or absence of an aggregate by numerically analyzing a difference waveform of the difference value, wherein
• presence or absence of at least two different types of objects included in the image is detected.