2018年度修了：生体超音波医工学分野

Graduated at FY2018: Medical Ultrasound

山梨県北杜市出身。2013年4月東北大学情報知能システム総合学科入学。2017年4月東北大学大学院医工学研究科入学。学部時代はサークル活動のスカッシュに打ち込む毎日でした。現在は医療機器メーカーに勤務しています。

I was born in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. I entered the Department of Information and Intelligent Systems at Tohoku University in April 2013 and the Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering in April 2017. During my undergraduate years, I spent his days playing squash in a club. Currently I’m working for a medical device manufacturer.

医療と工学の融合領域を双方の視点から学べる大学院は、日本全体をみても多くありません。将来医療機器の開発に携わりたいと考えていた私は、この分野で特に長い歴史をもつ東北大学大学院医工学研究科で学ぶことを選びました。

There are not many graduate schools in Japan where you can study the interdisciplinary fields of medicine and engineering from both perspectives. As I wanted to be involved in the development of medical devices in the future, I chose to study at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, which has a particularly long history in this field.

超音波で心疾患を診断する際の、妥当な診断条件を特定するための基礎的な研究を行っていました。世界中で心疾患の症例数が増加しており、診断手法の確立が求められています。心臓は高速に動いているため、MRIやX線CTよりも時間的な分解能に優れる超音波による診断が適していると言われています。しかし、ただ高速化するだけでは診断領域の広さや、計測の正確さを犠牲にしてしまいます。これらを可能な限り犠牲にせずに、心疾患の診断を実施するための適切な条件を探すことが目的でした。

I was conducting basic research to identify valid diagnostic conditions for diagnosing cardiac disease with ultrasound. As the number of cardiac disease cases is increasing worldwide, there is a need to establish diagnostic methods. Since the heart is moving at high speed, diagnosis by ultrasound could be more suitable than MRI or X-ray CT because of its superior temporal resolution. However, simply increasing the speed sacrifices the size of the diagnostic area and the accuracy of the measurements. The objective was to find the appropriate conditions for diagnosis of cardiac diseases without sacrificing these as much as possible.

医工学研究科の特徴・特色は、一点目として、他の研究科ではできない踏み込んだ体験ができる点を挙げます。座学に収まらない、体験に基づいた実践的な学習の機会が授業に多く組み込まれていた印象でした。自分の手を動かし、自分の頭で考え、自分の言葉で議論する機会が多く、刺激的でした。二点目として、生徒の意欲の高さを挙げます。生徒数は多くはありませんでしたが、医工学に興味を持つ生徒が高い密度で集まっており、切磋琢磨できるチャンスがあります。

As features of the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, first, I point out that I was able to have in-depth experiences that are not available in other graduate schools. I had the impression that there were many opportunities in the classes for practical learning based on experience, not just classroom learning. I found it stimulating to have many opportunities to work with my hands, think with my head, and discuss in my own words. Secondly, the high level of motivation of the students. Although the number of students was not large, there was a high density of students who were interested in medical engineering, and there were opportunities for friendly competition.

2017年度修了：融合計算医工学研究分野

Graduated at FY2017: Integrated Biomedical Simulation

福島県福島市出身、学部は東北大学　工学部　機械知能航空工学科に在籍し、博士課程においては、東北大学大学院　医工学研究科　融合計算医工学研究分野に在籍しておりました。現在は、愛知県瀬戸市にある朝日インテック株式会社において、脳血管カテーテル手術に用いられるカテーテルの開発業務に従事しております。

I was born in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, and enrolled in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering, Tohoku University as an undergraduate, and in the Laboratory of Integrated Biomedical Simulation, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University as a doctoral student. Currently, I am engaged in the development of catheters for cerebrovascular catheterization at Asahi Intec Corporation in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture.

高校生の頃には獣医を目指していた経緯もあり、元々体の仕組みや医療に対して興味を有しておりました。獣医を目指すことは諦め工学部に進学はしたものの、周囲の友人のように車や飛行機、ロボットといったものにはそれほど興味を持つことが出来ませんでした。しかし、それから医工学研究科を知り、そこでなら改めて人の体の診断や治療に役立つための勉強が出来ると思い、医工学研究科に進学をすることに致しました。

When I was a high school student, I wanted to become a veterinarian, so I was originally interested in the mechanisms of the body and medicine. I gave up becoming a veterinarian and went on to study engineering, but I was not as interested in cars, airplanes, and robots as my friends around me. However, when I found out about the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, I thought that I would be able to study something that would be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of the human body, so I decided to enter the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering.

融合計算医工学研究分野の早瀬教授のもとで、脳動脈瘤の壁面性状を特定できる血行力学パラメータに関する研究を行っておりました。簡単に説明すると、動脈瘤の成長を予測出来る指標を特定することを目標に、瘤内に流れる血流の情報をコンピューター上で流体力学的に解析を行っておりました。その計算結果と実際の血管壁の性状との相関を調べることで、血管壁と血行力学の関係について研究を行っておりました。

Under the supervision of Professor Hayase in the Laboratory of Integrated Biomedical Simulation, I was conducting research on hemodynamic parameters that can identify the wall properties of cerebral aneurysms. To explain briefly, we analyzed the information of blood flow in the aneurysm by computer fluid dynamics to identify the index that can predict the growth of the aneurysm. By examining the correlation between the calculation results and the actual vessel wall properties, we studied the relationship between the vessel wall and hemodynamics.

機械系では学ぶことが難しい生物学的な講義を受けられることや、他分野(主に医学系)の教授、および学生と交流が出来ることが最も大きな特徴であると考えられます。医療機器開発に携わる現在の立場から改めて振り返ってみても、大学を離れれば滅多に出来ないような経験や、構築することの難しい人脈があったことを実感します。将来医療に携わりたいと考えている人にとって、非常に大きな財産を掴める機会を与えてくれていると思います。

The most significant features of the program are that we can take biological lectures, which are difficult to learn in the mechanical field, and interact with professors and students from other fields (mainly medical science). Looking back from my current job involved in medical device development, I realize that I had experiences that I would rarely have had as well as human networks that would have been difficult to build, once I had left the university. I believe that the program has given the opportunity to acquire a great asset for those who want to be involved in the medical field in the future.