Toshihiro Kasuga

Toshihiro Kasuga is a professor of Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech), and serves concurrently as a vice president of research and globalization. Before joining NITech, he worked for HOYA Corporation in 1983 - 1991. He received his Dr. Eng. from Osaka University in 1993. He was awarded the Prize for Science and Technology from MEXT (the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan) in 2014.

Cotton wool-like bioresorbable bone void fillers

His current research interests are in glass-related materials and organic-inorganic hybrids or composites for biomedical use. Recently, he and his co-workers have successfully prepared a new type of bone-void filler using electrospinning. The material, which is a fibrous composite consisting of siloxane-doped calcium carbonate (vaterite) with poly(lactic acid) as a matrix phase, has a cotton wool-like structure. The new type of biomaterial can be easily filled in required parts in appropriate amounts. A modified material through industry-academia collaboration has been approved as a “resorbable calcium salt bone void filler device” by FDA in October 2014. The material can be mixed easily with bone marrow aspiration (BMA) or autologous blood. This treatment is also expected to be very effective for enhancing bone regeneration.

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