Introduction of nuclear medicine research in Japan

Abstract

There were many interesting presentations of unique studies at the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine, although there were fewer attendees from Europe than expected. These presentations included research on diseases that are more frequent in Japan and Asia than in Europe, synthesis of original radiopharmaceuticals, and development of imaging devices and methods with novel ideas especially by Japanese manufacturers. In this review, we introduce recent nuclear medicine research conducted in Japan in the five categories of Oncology, Neurology, Cardiology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Technology. It is our hope that this article will encourage the participation of researchers from all over the world, in particular from Europe, in scientific meetings on nuclear medicine held in Japan.

Topics of nuclear medicine research in Europe

“…Last year in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (EJNMMI), we introduced some recent nuclear medicine research conducted in Japan [ 16 ], which was favorably received by the European readers in the main. This year we attempted to present in the Annals of Nuclear Medicine (ANM) some of the fine research work undertaken in Europe during the recent period.…”

From the respective expert viewpoints of the ANM specialty editors

“…To offer our readers a condensed global view of the high-quality research work conducted in the field of nuclear medicine, we have published a mini-review article every year under the joint authorship of the 5–6 associate editors of the Annals of Nuclear Medicine (ANM) since 2016 [1–3]. This is our fourth serial article written by the final group of 5 authors from about 20 associate editors.…”