日本医疗奇迹有待走出实验室

    日本有22%以上的人口年龄在65岁或以上，其他发达国家也有很多步其后尘。在这种情况下，企业界发现，在每年总值超过1亿美元的保健技术市场中，远程监控类产品要比消费电子产品的胜算更大。关注这个日益壮大的市场的同时，丸红株式会社（Marubeni）等大型商社开始进军穿戴式健康监控仪这类设备的市场领域。就连汽车部件制造商都开始看中医疗领域的市场潜力，认为它前景可期，有望接替日本在全球市场规模大幅缩水的汽车部件产品的地位。

    总部位于名古屋的朝日INTECC株式会社（Asahi Intecc）已经从一家汽车线缆制造商转型成为当代外科领域先进技术供应导管导线的全球领军企业。这类不锈钢线缆和导管的生产至今已经填补了这家公司原有汽车部件业务90%的业绩，它的医疗设备目前已经行销于85个国家。社长宫田昌彦在一次采访中告诉医疗科技资讯网站Medtechinsider.com： “人们问我，为什么朝日会选择循环器官、脑神经（应用）这类挑战度最高的领域，可是不冒一定风险的话就没法造出革新性的设备。”

    这种迎着风险而上的意识在日本十分难得。尽管朝日的故事并没有什么过人之处，但有迹象显示，想要更有成效地发掘、利用日本本土的创新人才，光有政府的政策还不够。日本一位顶尖科学家早前曾经以政府名义进行过若干尝试，但最近却以灾难性的结果告终，而他本人也黯然辞职。由于一没预算，二没权限，中村佑辅教授还没做满一年就辞去了职位。他指责相关政府部门各自为政，一盘散沙。“日本没有人从整体上考虑过国家的医疗服务，”中村有一次接受《读卖新闻》采访时说。如今，他在美国芝加哥大学（the University of Chicago）担任教授一职。“日本正在迅速地落后于其他国家。”（财富中文网）

    译者：薄锦

    With over 22% of Japan's population already aged 65 or older, and much of the developed world following suit, businesses are finding remote monitoring gadgets, among others, are a better bet than consumer electronics in a care technology market worth well over a billion dollars annually. With an eye on this growing market, large trading firms such as Marubeni are stepping in to market devices such as wearable health monitors. Even car parts manufacturers are choosing the medical field as a promising alternative to Japan's incredibly shrinking market for its vehicle part products.

    Nagoya-based Asahi Intecc has transformed itself from manufacturing wiring for cars into a global leader in catheters and guide wires used in today's advanced surgery techniques. Such stainless steel wires and catheters now make up 90% of the former auto parts business, with the firm currently distributing its medical devices to 85 countries. "People ask me why Asahi chose the most challenging areas such as circulatory organ and cranial nerve [applications], but innovative devices cannot be created without taking risks," company President Masahiko Miyata told Medtechinsider.com in an interview.

    Such risk-taking in Japan is rare. And while the Asahi story is not exceptional, there are indications it will take more than government polices to productively tap Japan's innovation genius. Previous attempts led by one of the country's leading scientists on behalf of the state ended in disaster recently with his resignation. Given no budget or authority, Prof. Yusuke Nakamura resigned from his post after less than a year. He blamed the intractability of various turf-defending ministries. "Nobody in Japan is thinking about the nation's medical services comprehensively," says Nakamura, who is currently a professor at the University of Chicago, in an interview with the Yomiuri newspaper. "Japan is quickly falling behind other countries."