Research Topics

We aim to develop surgical instruments for assisting surgeons during therapeutic interventions. Based on biomedical engineering and precision engineering, we design and develop various devices and robotics, e.g. a small manipulator for resecting prostate cancer, endoscopic electrode array for providing epicardial electrophysiological map, surgical robotic modules which assembles inside the patient body. We are also performing research on minimally invasive surgical devices that use external stimulations, such as a miniaturized ultrasonically activated device which improves the lack of the degree of freedom in conventional device, and pulsed laser-induced liquid jet system for tissue dissection.

It is imperative that surgeons perform surgeries with limited information. Here we are developing navigation systems which construct the patient's model from pre-operative CT/MRI images or intra-operative endoscopic/ultrasound images, and visualize this to surgeons in real time: a catheter navigation system using electromagnetic tracking for assisting oral cancer treatment, image-guided laparoscopic surgery based on vision-based tracking of laparoscopic ultrasound, mapping system of placental vasculature in 3D ultrasound-guided fetoscopy, and more.

Our research interest is to develop effective diagnosis and treatment methodology of arrhythmia. We developed an optical mapping system of electrical excitation in heart with high spatiotemporal resolution by using high speed camera and high intensity LED illumination. This measurement system enables analysis of various complex electrophysiological phenomena during arrhythmia. We also developed computer simulation models of electrical excitation of heart. Based on the optical measurement and simulation analysis, we are currently attempting to develop an optimized treatment of arrhythmia by using methods such as electrical stimulation and ablation of cardiac tissue.

We are developing smart-materials based on polymer science, to meet the needs of "Unmet Medical Needs", collaborating with medical doctors and pharmaceutical researchers. (1) Development of innovative support materials for surgical treatments, and (2) Development of physical stimulion-responsive polymeric materials that react to laser or ultrasound radiation to be applied for treatment of various diseases.

The research interests in our group is to use acoustic waves as physical stress to stimulate the living body directly or to activate acoustic sensitive reagents in vivo. We are carrying out both in vitro and in vivo experiments with the acoustic wave generators and experiment systems we have developed. Based on laser technology, we are also developing mechanobiological systems for stimulating cells in vitro and imaging techniques for capturing physical and biological phenomena of the sound-cell interaction.