RCBE held medical-engineering seminar with Tokyo Metropolitan Government

The Research Center for Biomedical Engineering (RCBE) promotes the practical application of research outcomes and deeper collaboration with industry by co-hosting online medical–engineering collaboration seminars with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Medical–Engineering Collaboration HUB. The seminars are targeted at approximately 700 medical device manufacturers and distributors based in Tokyo.

On November 27, 2025, a seminar was held under the theme “From Academia: The Frontline of Medical–Engineering Collaboration Startups,” focusing on collaboration with manufacturing companies. The speakers, one selected from each of the four participating research institutes, were as follows:

• Prof. Akira Matsumoto, Laboratory for Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Institute of Science Tokyo

• Assoc. Prof. Takashi Nishisako, Laboratory for Future Interdisciplinary Research of Science and Technology (FIRST), Institute of Science Tokyo

• Prof. Tetsuro Sasaki, Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University

• Prof. Takehito Hananouchi, Dept. of Academia-Government-Industry Collaboration, Hiroshima University

A total of 82 participants joined the seminar online (23 from medical device manufacturers/distributors, 2 from manufacturing companies, 6 from clinical institutions, 19 from research institutions, 7 from governmental and public organizations, 11 related personnel, and 14 others).

The seminar opened with an overview of the Center presented by Prof. Akihiro Miyauchi, Specially Appointed Professor at the Laboratory for Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Institute of Science Tokyo. In particular, he announced an upcoming call for joint research proposals to begin the following month. This was followed by lectures centered on medical–engineering collaboration:

• “Experiences at Stanford Biodesign and Case Studies in Development” by Prof. Hananouchi

• “New Biomaterials and Manufacturing Enabled by the ‘Reversible Binding’ of Boron Compounds” by Prof. Matsumoto

• “Research on Microparticle Fluid Process Technologies Toward Medical–Engineering Collaboration” by Assoc. Prof. Nishisako

• “Terahertz Technologies Enabled by Lasers and Semiconductor Devices for Medical Product Inspection” by Prof. Sasaki

In addition to introductions of each speaker’s core technologies—representing a technology-push approach—the seminar also featured highly stimulating discussions on startups based on design thinking and entrepreneurship through medical–engineering collaboration. The seminar concluded with a commentary from Professor Emeritus Kazuo Tanishita, Chair of the Japan Medical-Engineering Commons, affiliated with Keio University.

The RCBE plans to continue hosting seminars related to medical–engineering collaboration in cooperation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.