News＆Topics
The 31st Cross Cultural Event was held.
On October 31, a Cross-Cultural Event was held for iCONM staff, facility users, and representatives from Kawasaki City and the Institute of Industrial Promotion.
For this special session, we welcomed Dr. Ichio Aoki, Senior Principal Researcher at the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), as the guest speaker. Dr. Aoki is internationally recognized as a leading authority in MRI research. He is also a licensed acupuncturist, and his career path is unique: while using MRI to investigate the effects of acupuncture, he gradually became deeply engaged in the field of imaging science. In this lecture, he introduced QST alongside his own career journey, spanning from the world of traditional Oriental medicine to his current work as a researcher in nanomedicine and diagnostic imaging.
The session began with an overview of QST, where Dr. Aoki is based. QST was established in Chiba City in 2016 and currently operates six research centers across Japan. In the medical field, QST conducts heavy-ion cancer therapy at its headquarters in Chiba, while simultaneously advancing research in areas such as bioimaging, radiation biology, and quantum life science.
Dr. Aoki then spoke about his research career to date. With a strong interest in functional imaging using novel contrast agents and MRI techniques, he conducted research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US, where he visualized functional changes in the brain using manganese ions and proposed the concept of “functional staining” in MRI. After returning to Japan, he encountered researchers in the nanotechnology field, including Center Director Prof. Kataoka, and began research combining nanoparticles with MRI technology. This innovative work was born from face-to-face discussions among researchers from different disciplines.
Finally, Dr. Aoki shared his encounter with oriental medicine and acupuncture. While reading scientific books during his high school years, he came across a book on the science of oriental medicine and acupuncture. He was particularly captivated by a statement that said, “When a needle is inserted, a drug-like substance called beta-endorphin is released in the brain.” This discovery led him to shift his aspirations from astronomy to enrolling at Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, located on the outskirts of Kyoto. At the time, he was more interested in physiology and biophysics than in oriental medicine itself, and he chose his laboratory accordingly.
During the Q&A session, participants posed numerous questions. In response to inquiries about acupuncture, Dr. Aoki addressed future challenges such as differences in practitioners’ skill levels and the scientific validation of cosmetic acupuncture. He also shared fascinating insights into the growing integration of pain research and immunology, as well as the important role capillaries play in skin activation. This event presented an excellent example of how innovative research can emerge from interdisciplinary collaboration. We will continue to hold this event regularly to create further opportunities for cross-disciplinary exchange.
