Research at the School of Medicine

Research in the School of Medicine is conducted in 12 departments of basic medicine and in 34 departments of clinical medicine. The areas of research in the basic departments are wide ranging, from morphology and function to social medicine; The development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods are currently being studied  in the clinical departments. An example of research in the basic departments is the nervous system. The main method was previously electro-physiological recording of the neuronal action potentials. However, in the current century, a new method of visually recording neuronal activity using dye that is sensitive to membrane potentials was developed. This allows visualization of the neuronal activity within a slice or a block of living brain preparation. The macroscopic observation of the neuronal activity has good temporal and spatial resolution.

An example of research in the clinical departments involves cancer. Despite the advances in diagnosis and treatment, cancer still causes severe morbidity and mortality today. Early diagnosis is very important. At SHOWA Medical University, a new technique for such early diagnosis was developed. It is an endoscopic technique of diagnosing indentation-type early-stage colon cancer, which is said to be "phantom cancer" as it is hardly found. This early cancer, although it is small, rapidly spreads vertically, and thus is the most critical type of early colon cancer.