TSUKUBA, IBARAKI PREFECTURE >> Mitsuhiro Ebara believes plastic sheets called “smart polymers” may one day prove to be a cheap solution to curing cancer.

Cancer is known to respond well to the simultaneous use of hyperthermia and chemotherapy, and Ebara, a researcher at the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, is working with other researchers to develop technology using smart polymers, or plastics that respond to changes in the environment, such as temperature, pH, light and magnetic fields, to treat various diseases.

Using the polymers, which he hopes would be available even in developing countries, Ebara hopes to create a medical technology that would be “accessible to anyone, anytime and anywhere,” replacing costly immunotherapy drugs like Opdivo with cheap materials like the plastics commonly found in dollar stores.

Like Ebara, researchers and startups in this renowned technology hub are tuning their technologies in medical and nursing care to cater to the nation’s graying society.

In a nation in which more than a fourth of the population is 65 or older, demand is increasing for new technologies to help care for the elderly.

There are unlimited variations to smart polymers, Ebara said. Sugar-responsive polymers, for instance, become soluble when mixed with sugar, meaning it can be used for diabetes treatment. Toxin-responsive polymers can be used to soak up toxins.

To treat cancer, doctors in this field would first operate to remove tumors, then apply to the affected area heat-responsive smart polymer sheets containing cancer- fighting drugs and magnetic nano^­particles. Doctors would then use a device to produce a magnetic field, heating particles and causing the sheet to contract and squeeze out the drug.

According to the institute, in a clinical test on mice, a weekly 15-minute treatment applied over two months shrank lung cancer tumors to less than a tenth of their original size.

Ebara expects his polymer method to double the effect of thermotherapy and chemotherapy. The next step, he said, is to determine “how many cancer cells we can kill through the method.”

Swallowing solution

Startup company Plimes Inc. has developed a unique device to measure swallowing ability — an important factor in preventing seniors from catching aspiration pneumonia, one of the leading causes of death in Japan. Seventy percent of cases involving seniors are said to be caused by dysphagia, or swallowing difficulties. Dysphagia causes food to pass into the windpipe and lungs instead of the esophagus, spreading bacteria.

Currently, seniors with trouble swallowing are served pureed food to prevent dysphagia.

But using a device called Gokuri, caretakers can gauge swallowing ability, enabling them to discern the appropriate texture of food. This can potentially broaden patients’ menus beyond purees.

The device is placed around the neck of a patient to record swallowing sounds through a microphone. Data is recorded on a smartphone app that assesses swallowing ability. The device has a 97.3% accuracy rate.

The company launched a limited release of the 100,000 yen ($925) product in April 2018 and aims to expand Gokuri’s domestic release and market it overseas.

Seele, a nursing home in Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, started using Gokuri a few months ago. Manager Takuji Yamanaka said it has aided the facility in preventing pneumonia.

“By modifying the food types for individuals according to their swallowing ability, the facility’s residents have become much less likely to be hospitalized for aspiration pneumonia,” he said.

Challenges ahead

However unique their technologies, many companies face legal barriers and financing problems, said Norimasa Fujii, a senior researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc.’s health care and wellness division.

Plimes, for instance, is struggling to obtain permission to sell its product as medical equipment under Japanese law — a designation that has a strong public appeal.

Fujii said amassing the data needed to prove an innovative product is safe and effective requires lots of funding — and lots of time. Both are necessary to receive the coveted credential.

For nursing care devices, he said, a discouraging factor for investors is the “relatively slow pace of market growth.” Since nursing homes tend to have financial limitations, convincing them to buy new products is also a challenge.

Still, Fujii said high-quality manufacturing and the ability to turn concepts into products are among the technological advantages Japan has over its international competitors in the medical and nursing-­care sectors.