About MLC

Overview

The medilux research center promotes medical-engineering collaboration based on AI, biotechnology, and various engineering technologies with advanced photonics cultivated at NAIST. The Latin word for light, "lux," symbolizes light and also evokes the brilliance that brings wisdom to the expectations of human society. In this perspective, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) decided to support the center plan in FY2024 as a basic innovation in education and research management at NAIST. The project name is "Medilux Research Initiative for Shining Medicine". With the advancement of electronic device technologies, "pharmaceutical" medicine, in which medical doctor diagnoses and treats patients based on medication, has been replaced by "electroceutical" medicine, in which electrical instruments take part in diagnosing, treating, and monitoring the patient's progress instead of the physician. In recent years, further innovations in medicine have been driven by AI technology. The optical technologies are indispensable for collecting a large amount of diagnostic data, which is required as the source of AI analysis for medical diagnosis. Also light is expected to be widely used for control of cells and biomaterials. The "photoceutical" medicine based on photonics will play a key role in the next generation of advanced medicine in cooperation with AI analysis. The MLC encourages collaborative research for the development of diagnosis, treatment, and health technologies using light, including electromagnetic waves in a wide range of wavelengths.