Humans and Devices in Medical Contexts

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiv

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2. Introduction and Theoretical Reflections

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Introduction

      • Susanne Brucksch, Kaori Sasaki

      Pages 3-20

   3. Theoretical Reflections on Medical Devices and the Sociocultural Context in the Locale of Japan

      • Susanne Brucksch, Kevin Wiggert

      Pages 21-51

3. Experiences with Radiation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 53-53

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   2. Knowledge and Culture Behind the Dosimetry System: Japanese Scientists, Radioactive Disasters and the Technologies for Measuring Radioactivity in the Twentieth Century

      • Maika Nakao

      Pages 55-83

   3. Monitoring Disaster: 3.11, Radiation Measurement and Public Health in Fukushima

      • Shi Lin Loh

      Pages 85-109

4. Patient Safety, End-of-life and High-tech Medicine

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111

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   2. Standardized Brain-Death Diagnostic Procedure: The Japanese Controversy of the 1980s and 1990s

      • Kaori Sasaki

      Pages 113-141

   3. Medical Technology, Terminal Care and Criminal Law: Court Cases from Japan

      • Yuji Shiroshita

      Pages 143-166

   4. The Role of Incident-Reporting Systems in Improving Patient Safety in Japanese Hospitals: A Comparative Perspective

      • Naonori Kodate, Ken’ichiro Taneda, Akiyo Yumoto, Yoshiko Sugiyama

      Pages 167-196

5. Innovation and Diffusion of Medical Devices

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197

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   2. The Postwar Medtech Industry in Japan: A Business History Perspective

      • Pierre-Yves Donzé

      Pages 199-223

   3. Close Collaboration Between Medical Professionals and Engineers in Medical-Device Innovation: The Commons for Medicine and Engineering Japan Liaison Platform

      • Kazuo Tanishita

      Pages 225-251

6. Engineering and Evaluating Medical Technology

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 253-253

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   2. Empowering Patients in Interactive Unity with Machines: Engineering the HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) Robotic Rehabilitation System

      • Patrick Grüneberg

      Pages 255-280

   3. Innovative Technology, Clinical Trials and the Subjective Evaluation of Patients: The Cyborg-type Robot HAL and the Treatment of Functional Regeneration in Patients with Rare Incurable Neuromuscular Diseases in Japan

      • Takashi Nakajima

      Pages 281-310

7. Conclusions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 311-311

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   2. Conclusions on Socio-Technical Settings in Medical Contexts from the Locale of Japan

      • Susanne Brucksch

      Pages 313-324

This book explores the ways in which socio-technical settings in medical contexts find varying articulations in a specific locale. Focusing on Japan, it consists of nine case studies on topics concerning: experiences with radiation in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Fukushima; patient security, end-of-life and high-tech medicine in hospitals; innovation and diffusion of medical technology; and the engineering and evaluating of novel devices in clinical trials. The individual chapters situate humans and devices in medical settings in their given semantic, pragmatic, institutional and historical context. A highly interdisciplinary approach offers deep insights beyond the manifold findings of each case study, thereby enriching academic discussions on socio-technical settings in medical contexts amongst affiliated disciplines. This volume will be of broad interest to scholars, practitioners, policy makers and students from various disciplines, including Science and Technology Studies (STS), medical humanities, social sciences, ethics and law, business and innovation studies, as well as biomedical engineering, medicine and public health.

• medicine
• technology and society
• Japan
• human-machine relationships
• medical devices
• clinical practices
• engineering
• innovation

“By comparing the use of medical devices between Japan and various other countries, this book underscores that even global technologies are not universal. This prompts the question how the differences traced best be used as sources of intellectual as well as practical inspiration.” (Annemarie Mol, co-editor of On Other Terms: Interfering in Social Science English)




“Technology in medicine in Japan is a fascinating subject. From the triumph of hi-tech and reliable devices to the disaster of the nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japanese medical technology has attracted the attention of scholars in humanities and social sciences, and this work marks a solid starting point. Brucksch and Sasaki have collected twelve absorbing chapters and opened the door to many disciplines as philosophy, history, and economics, as well as medicine and engineering.” (Akihito Suzuki, Professor of History, Keio University, Japan)




“This book is an important contribution to the interdisciplinary study of innovation, diffusion and evaluation of high-tech medicine, including citizen’s experiences with radiation. The focus on Japan illustrates the relevancy and richness of an approach that accounts for the socio-historical, cultural and political situatedness of the relationship between humans and medical devices. The fascinating case studies of the Japanese locale remind us of the importance of breaking with a universalist perspective that only addresses European and North-American perspectives and taking their socio-cultural contexts for granted.” (Nelly Oudshoorn, Professor Emerita of Technology Dynamics and Healthcare, University of Twente, the Netherlands)




“A remarkable collection of well researched essays from several disciplinary standpoints about how the use of technology is shaped by culture, beliefs, politics, organizational interests and other social factors inthe medical field in Japan, e.g. radiation measurement and the controversies about brain death, patient safety, as well as robots.” (John Campbell, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Michigan, US)

• German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo, Japan

  Susanne Brucksch

• Center for Medical Education, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan

  Kaori Sasaki

Dr Susanne Brucksch is a principal researcher at the German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo. Her research covers topics of innovation in medical technologies, Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Japanese Studies.




Dr Kaori Sasaki is a professor at Sapporo Medical University. As a sociologist, her main interest lies on the shaping of bio-politics on humanity alongside cultural (identity) politics. She conducts research regarding the utilisation of electronic health records in Japan and in the UK.

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