Small is Justice
Small is justice. Being small means it can be held, carried, attached, swallowed, and implanted.
We are always carrying our mobile phones. The word "portable" itself has become synonymous with them. The phrase "never leaving your side" is no longer just a metaphor. The first mobile phones, which appeared in the 1980s, were called shoulder phones. After that, until the advent of smartphones, there was a race to make mobile phones smaller. They became so small that an American friend of mine could no longer press the power button. Mobile phones became smaller because their components did. Even after smartphones appeared and the size of phones stabilized, components continued to shrink. This, in turn, allowed for an increase in the number of components that could be packed in, leading to more advanced and multifunctional mobile phones.
Medical devices are also better when they are small. Think of surgical robots that enter the body like in the science fiction classic "Fantastic Voyage," implantable artificial organs, swallowable endoscopes, and wearable vital sensors. In our laboratory, we are conducting research on an artificial kidney (see photo) with Dr. Yoshihiko Kanno, Chief Professor of Nephrology at Tokyo Medical University [1]. This aims to reduce hospital visits for kidney disease patients on dialysis, ease fluid intake restrictions, and dramatically improve their QOL (Quality of Life). While swallowable capsule endoscopes are already in practical use, we have developed a gastric acid-powered battery as an auxiliary power source [2]. Batteries based on a similar principle now power digital medicines that manage medication adherence. We are also developing other devices, such as EEG detection electrodes and eye-tracking glasses.
Sometimes, small is not justice. My friend could not press the small button. And small toilet paper is simply evil.
And being small alone is not justice. To bring a medical device to patients, it must clear animal experiments, rigorous safety tests, and clinical trials to gain approval. This might even require launching a venture company. To demonstrate the superiority of the EEG electrodes we developed, we must not only measure high-quality brainwaves but also prove their usefulness. To this end, we are collaborating with Professor Yasuyo Minagawa of the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, and Professor Sei Furukawa of the Department of Intermedia Art, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts.
Whether it's the Super Sentai series or Pretty Cure, heroes of justice have always fought in teams. Micro/nano-engineering, medical sciences, biology, information technology, cognitive science, psychology, media art, business, ethics... We form teams with people from these various fields to conduct our research. All to turn "small" into a greater justice.
[1] Y. Kanno, N. Miki, Development of a nanotechnology-based dialysis device, Contributions to Nephrology, 177, 177-183, 2012.
[2] H. Jimbo, N. Miki, Gastric-Fluid-Utilizing Micro Battery for Micro Medical Devices, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 134, 219-224, 2008.