Elucidating the mechanisms of living organisms and applying them as models in engineering.

Human limbs and internal organs seem to move on their own, but they come together to form a single living human being. In other words, it is a mystery how the whole expresses functions and characteristics that its individual parts do not possess. This is the essence of system design engineering. Many systems, such as ecosystems and life phenomena, operate within this causal relationship. Conversely, the idea is to elucidate this causal relationship to design various engineering systems. For example, to develop artificial organs, we must first clarify the causality of life phenomena. Therefore, we are first working to elucidate the mechanism of blood flow. For instance, why does arteriosclerosis occur? From the perspective of medical sciences, it has been explained simply as the accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessels, but this does not explain why it occurs in specific locations. In fact, it occurs in places where blood flow is abnormal. Specifically, when there are subtle changes in blood flow, lipids accumulate on the vessel wall at that location, which in turn causes the blood vessel to harden. This is what is known as "mechanical adaptation" or "remodeling." The elucidation of life phenomena from such a mechanical perspective has been particularly lagging. To further advance currently prominent fields like biomechanics and medical engineering, this kind of basic research is essential.

Cultured endothelial cells change their shape (remodel) in just two to three hours when subjected to blood flow.