Advanced medical research is led by scientists and engineers. Let's develop new treatments together!

Tsunenori Arai (Professor, Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics)

Many of you reading this probably think, "I'm glad I was born in Japan. Even if I get sick, I can receive the latest treatments because Japan is a medically advanced nation. I feel secure!" However, this is not necessarily the case. Currently, over 90% of the latest medical equipment used in our country are imports, not products of domestic technology. For now, Japan is only able to import the latest medical devices because it has the money. This is a rather bleak situation, especially as we aim to sustain the country by selling our technology abroad.

The development of minimally invasive treatments (which cause minimal wounds or damage to the body) to improve patient QOL (Quality of Life) is particularly lagging. There are many cases, for instance, where elderly patients become bedridden after surgery for cancer, even if the disease is cured. There are also cases where patients with multiple diseases cannot be fully treated because of the increased invasiveness. The key to minimally invasive treatment is therapy performed through endoscopes, such as gastrointestinal endoscopes and bronchoscopes, or through vascular catheters (tubes inserted into blood vessels). These treatments are performed at the tip of the inserted endoscope or catheter, and the decisive factor is light guided to the tip of these instruments by thin optical fibers—in other words, laser therapy. Laser therapy is a reliable method capable of doing almost anything imaginable, such as selectively treating cancer with photochemical reactions, using light to help drugs penetrate tissue, bonding tissues together, creating diagnostic spaces within the blood, breaking up hard tissues, and stopping bleeding.

In my laboratory, we develop various new minimally invasive laser therapy devices, constantly collaborating with clinicians to ensure we do not lose sight of our goals. There is still much that is unknown about the effects of laser light on living organisms, so we are advancing research from the fundamental level all the way to device development. These achievements are of no use to the world if they only end up as published papers. In my laboratory, we apply for patents for all our research results and license most of them to companies that plan to create future products, aiming for the true practical application of our research.

The development of truly useful medical technology can only advance when researchers in science and technology team up and collaborate with medical doctors!

Photo-thermo dynamic balloon. This is a new therapeutic balloon for angioplasty that uses a laser as a heat source. We are advancing this research with the goal of practical application in six years.

Basic research on high-intensity pulsed Photodynamic Therapy. Red light allows for the selective treatment of cancerous tissue while enabling the treatment depth to be freely adjusted.

We have established the COE Medical-Engineering Collaboration Laboratory (on the Shinanomachi Campus, within the Center for Integrated Medical Research) to further strengthen our collaboration with clinicians. (Pictured with Assistant Professor Nakazawa of the Department of System Design Engineering, who also belongs to the same COE).