Researcher
Takuro Ishii
Assistant ProfessorDevice and Technology
- Mentor Information
- Professor
- Yoshifumi Saijo (Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering)
| Research Fields | Medical ultrasound imaging, Biofluid dynamics, Computer-aided diagnostics, Urology |
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| Research Subjects |
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| Academic Society Membership | IEEE, Japan Society of Ultrasonics in Medicine, Japanese Continence Society |
| Research Outline | |
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My research project is relevant to Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS), one of the major concerns in geriatric urology. According to an epidemiologic study in japan, 70% of the population aged 60 or over are suffering from LUTS, for example, weak, dribbling and incomplete urinary flow. LUTS are associated with aging-related anatomic and physiologic changes and can chronically and progressively degrade patients’ quality of life. As a result, effective diagnostic and therapeutic tools have been in high demand. Nevertheless, urologists lack diagnostic tools that are capable of assessing hydromechanical properties of the urethra that will implicate the pathophysiology behind the deterioration of voided urinary flow. To address such a healthcare need, I aim to establish a novel ultrasound imaging framework that provides hydromechanical outcomes of diseased urethral morpho-kinetics. Specifically, my research project will 1) build a novel high-frame rate ultrasound system that measure time-resolved 2D-vectors of physiological urinary flow with fine temporal resolvability (>1000 fps); 2) formulate urodynamic analytic algorithms to characterize spatio-temporal hydromechanical factors that deter urinary flow; and 3) devise a visualization framework to display urethral morpho-kinetic parameters that are relevant to the urinary voiding function. This new urodynamic assessment approach will pave the way to novel diagnostic strategies that facilitate precise and personalized treatment based on new understandings of urethral hydromechanical pathologies. |
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