NanoScienceWorks

Kyoto University

Kyoto University operates the Institute for Medical Sciences Research and as part of that the Center for Nano Medical Engineering. The center includes the Department of Nano Biomechanism and the Department of Nano Bioprocess. The Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences focuses on “Regenerative Medicine.”

The institute has facilitated the involvement, merging, and integration of various research fields, such as biological science, medicine, and engineering. This was done by establishing an open environment where researchers from different backgrounds can work together and promote the exchange of ideas and expertise.

DEPARTMENT OF NANO BIOMECHANISM

The members of this department are challenging to the following medical technologies to reconstruct original function and recover high quality of life by application of mechanical engineering.

1. Computer simulation of stents expanding in coronary artery
2. Magnetic sensing system for navigation of catheters in cerebral artery
3. Ultrasonic measurement of articular cartilage for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis
4. Evanescent wave spectroscopy for investigation of articular cartilage

DEPARTMENT OF NANO BIOPROCESS

The researches are dedicated to methodology development for single-molecule observation and manipulation at nanometer precisions in living cells. The development is carried out simultaneously with the application for the studies of nano-bioprocesses occurring in living cells, in particular, signal transduction in the cell membrane and the formation and remodeling of the neuronal network. The smooth liaison between physics/engineering and biomedicine is a key for our methodology developments. On the basis of the knowledge of nano-bioprocesses learned in the cells (e.g., partitioning of the plasma membrane into submicron compartments and transient formation of signaling platforms in the cell membrane) and the single-molecule bionanotechnology developed here, we envisage the next-generation nanotechnology, regenerative medicine, and drug discovery protocols.

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