Research & Development
Technology Awards
Sysmex Receives “Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Prize” and Two Other Prizes at “Kinki Local Commendation for Inventions” in 2023
* Sysmex Corporation received this prize in NEDO projects in relation to a patent granted to a joint invention made with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, the Nagoya City University, and the National Center for Global Health and Medicine.
The Local Commendation for Inventions Award is a historical commendation which has been around since 1921 for publicly honoring engineers, researchers, and developers who created excellent and practical inventions and designs, for the purpose of contributing to improvement of science and technology and promotion of regional industries through encouragement and growth of inventions in local regions.
For details, please see the press releases by the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation.
List of winners of Kinki Local Commendation for Inventions in 2023 (available only in Japanese)
| 1 | Special award: Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Prize |
| Title of awarded invention: Novel Hepatic Fibrosis Testing Method (Japanese Patent No. 5031928) | |
| Description of the invention: This invention relates to a hepatic fibrosis testing method for determining a degree of progress of fibrosis of a liver (hepatic fibrosis) through a blood test. This invention stands on a discovery that progress of hepatic fibrosis leads to increase of a glycosylation isomer resulting from a slight structural modification in a sugar chain on a protein M2BP in blood. This invention uses WFA lectin that specifically binds to the modified sugar chain, whereby the degree of progress of hepatic fibrosis is ascertained. In a standard method of hepatic fibrosis testing, patient’s abdomen is pierced with a biopsy needle and a part of the liver is collected, which accompanies high invasiveness, high testing cost, and the like. This invention makes it possible to ascertain the degree of progress of hepatic fibrosis easily and inexpensively, through a blood test with reduced invasiveness. Consequently, this invention is applicable not only to patients who are suffering from subjective symptoms but also to a wide variety of subjects who are not suffering from subjective symptoms. Through this invention, early therapies for cirrhosis and liver cancers are facilitated, and it is expected to lead to reduction of medical expenses. |
|
| 2 | Encouragement Prize for Invention |
| 1) Title of awarded invention: Specimen Analyzer (Japanese Patent No. 4994920) |
|
|
Description of the invention:
This invention enables tests on body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid, pleural effusion, and ascites for which a more complicated pretreatment has been required than for blood tests with a specimen analyzer used for blood tests in a hospital on a daily basis. The specimen analyzer of this invention performs, upon selection of a body fluid measurement mode, a measurement operation based on characteristics of the body fluid in a fully automated manner without any complicated pretreatment. Consequently, it has become possible to swiftly perform highly urgent body fluid tests involving human lives regardless of the skills of the operator. |
|
| 2) Title of awarded invention: D-Dimer Measuring Reagent (Japanese Patent No. 5709425) |
|
| Description of the invention: This invention relates to a measuring reagent for measuring a D-dimer concentration. In this invention, two types of specific antibodies are used to enable highly accurate measurement of D-dimer concentration at a lower level on which a diagnosis of thrombosis depends. Thus, this invention contributes to accurate determination of early-stage or mild thrombosis. |
|
|
|
| History of Kinki Local Commendations for Innovation Awards Received by Sysmex (Past Five Years) |
| · 2022 Kinki Local Commendation for Inventions |
| “Chairman’s Prize from the Hyogo Institute of Invention and Innovation”: Blood Coagulation Measurement Apparatus Using LED Light Source |
| “Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Specimen Processing Apparatus |
| ・2021 Kinki Local Commendations for Inventions |
| “Chairman's Prize from the Hyogo Institute of Invention and Innovation”: Prothrombin time measuring reagent |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Malaria-infected red blood cell detection method |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Cell imaging apparatus |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Analyzer having abnormality monitoring function |
| ・2020 Kinki Local Commendations for Inventions
|
| “Special Award: Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize”: Measuring method of hematopoietic stem cell
|
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Sample Analyzer
|
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Sample processing device |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Smear preparation device |
| ・2019 Kinki Local Commendations for Inventions |
| “Special Award: Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize”: Urine Sample Analyzer Useful in Early-Stage Detection of Disease |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: FDP Measurement Reagents for Testing Blood Coagulation and Fibrinolysis Functions |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Sample Processing System |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Sampling Analyzer |
| ・2018 Kinki Local Commendations for Inventions |
| “Special Award: Commissioner of Japan Patent Office Award”: Method for Accurately and Simply Classifying and Counting Leukocytes |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Urinalysis Testing System for Increasing Testing Efficiency |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Hematology Analyzer Containing a Compact Photodetector |
| “The Encouragement Prize for Invention”: Cuvette for Enhancing the Specimen Agitation Function |
- Information contained in the technology awards is current as of the date of the announcement,
but may be subject to change without prior notice.