Promoting Interdisciplinary Research

The promotion of work style reform in the healthcare sector is an urgent issue. Detailed analysis of the working conditions and work content of healthcare workers is required to realize effective work style reform. In this research, the work of healthcare workers is visualized using location-detection beacons, and their work content is scrutinized through questionnaires and on-site surveys. The various big data obtained are analyzed using AI-based data mining methods to extract measures to improve the working environment and to predict the effects of task shifting, etc. This enables the evaluation of working environment improvement measures and verification of their feasibility and is expected to contribute to the progress of work style reform, improvement of the working environment, and improvement of the quality of healthcare.

Endodontic therapy is a treatment for teeth whose dental pulp has infected or inflamed due to tooth decay or injury, and is the last resort to preserve the tooth. In endodontic therapy, sodium hypochlorite is the first choice for sterilization and cleaning, but because it is harmful to soft tissue, safer cleaning solution is desired.
Plasma generates various active species with high reactivity, which has strong bactericidal effect. The fiber plasma jet, developed in Okino Laboratory, Tokyo Tech., has a thin tip of less than 1 mm, and can generate low-temperature plasma at about room temperature; it can be suitable for dental applications.
This research aims to clarify the mechanisms of bactericidal effect on anaerobic bacteria by plasma in endodontic therapy, and to effectively sterilize the root canal and remove harmful substances such as biofilm while ensuring patient safety. We challenge to develop a unique plasma root canal cleaning technology.

Medical imaging such as X-ray CT, MRI, and ultrasound is essential for diagnosing diseases throughout the body, however, there has been limitation for intracranial imaging in children. If pediatric intracranial imaging becomes possible, a variety of clinical applications can be expected, including the evaluation of brain damage caused by falls, which are common in children, and the evaluation of brain damage associated with neonatal asphyxia. The applicants focus on ultrasound CT as a method to achieve intracranial ultrasound imaging. Ultrasonic CT is a tomographic imaging method proposed by Greenleaf belonged to Mayo Clinic in the 1970s that uses a ring array consisting of approximately 2000 elements. At that time it was difficult to solving complex ultrasound propagation paths with computers, and therefore it was not in practical use. The purpose of this research is to develop ultrasound CT technology that enables pediatric intracranial imaging. We will develop an imaging algorithm using a prototype ultrasound CT system, a skull phantom, a skull specimen, etc., as well as extract target diseases for pediatric intracranial imaging, and examine performance indicators required for diagnostic images.