????世界上第一款可以承受消毒處理的柔性有機晶體管；只要攝下面部畫像便可測定脈搏的移動應用；不光能照出人體骨架、還能照出人體內癌變組織的X光機?！@些僅僅是日本目前正在開發(fā)的技術中的一小部分。眼下，這個國家已經圍繞著國人傲視全球的長壽記錄發(fā)展出了一個行業(yè)。那我們?yōu)槭裁礇]有在醫(yī)療器械或其他醫(yī)療相關產品上看到更多的“日本制造”字樣呢？

????據(jù)某些權威人士表示，原因就出在所謂的“死亡谷綜合癥”（Death Valley Syndrome）上?；蛘哒f，日本的創(chuàng)新，在研發(fā)階段還活力四射、前景可期，卻很少能夠跨過科研與商業(yè)化之間的那道坎兒。就如一位不愿透露姓名的官方人員所形容的，日本“精于技術，但不懂經營”。“日本高水平的基礎研究和卓越的技術被過于嚴苛的管制、縱向一體化的管理捆住了手腳。科研人員和制造商之間的代溝在很多時候都阻礙了杰出的研發(fā)成果投入到實踐的進程，也就是所謂的‘死亡谷’難題?！?/p>

????日本研制的藥物融入了若干最高水平的創(chuàng)新成果、專業(yè)精神以及隨處可見的關懷心，外界目前普遍認為它尚未得到充分開發(fā)。結果導致日本在藥物及醫(yī)療器械領域出現(xiàn)了貿易逆差。日本去年的藥物進口總值比出口總值高出了1萬億日元。這正是安倍晉三帶領的新任政府班子希望立刻解決的問題。

????今年2月，東京政府宣布計劃設立“健康醫(yī)療戰(zhàn)略室”，職責是將日本某些十分優(yōu)秀、但日漸式微的科研成果帶入市場。這個研究室的宗旨是樹立日本在醫(yī)療技術及保健服務領域的世界領先地位。這位新任的日本首相對于這個板塊的潛在實力充滿了信心，將這一政策納為他所說的“安倍經濟學”（Abenomics）政策計劃“三支箭”中的一支，意圖重振日本疲軟的經濟。剛剛在上月設立了健康醫(yī)療戰(zhàn)略室的日本內閣官房長官菅義偉稱，安倍政府計劃“將醫(yī)療板塊、藥品、醫(yī)療設備及器械產業(yè)打造成日本的戰(zhàn)略性產業(yè)，日后成為日本經濟復興的重要支柱?！?/p>

????此外，放開了管制的地區(qū)，譬如延伸至東京周邊多個城市的大片海岸，已被指定為開發(fā)特區(qū)，專門用來幫助科研創(chuàng)新成果走出實驗室，把它們交到私營企業(yè)的手中。特區(qū)內的實驗室和企業(yè)機構可以享受稅務減免和政府基金支持。官方人士表示，日本其他地區(qū)在醫(yī)療測試方面施行的嚴格管制條款在這里也會變得更加寬松。

????截至目前，放開管制的地區(qū)已經令一種先進的外科手術模擬器的開發(fā)成為了可能。這種模擬器能讓缺乏經驗的醫(yī)生接受虛擬環(huán)境下的模擬手術訓練，而不用拿人體來做“小白鼠”。其他一些企業(yè)則聯(lián)合開發(fā)了一組小型的家用超聲波套件。目前，研發(fā)項目所在地橫濱已經不再列入禁止家用超聲波設備的管制地區(qū)名單，因此超聲波在家庭中的臨床應用開始變得可能。

????醫(yī)療政策室的一位干事中垣英明表示，日本的醫(yī)療技術也會大力進行海外宣傳?！敖】甸L壽領域存在著一個巨大的市場。我們之前關注的一直是國內市場，但是如今我們也要開始把重心放在海外市場上?！彼€補充說，他所在的委員會應該會在今年夏季時拿出具體的相關政策方案。

????The world's first sterilizable, flexible organic transistor; mobile apps that can measure your pulse just by imaging your face; X-ray machines that capture not just bone but cancer tissue, too. These are just a few of the technologies being developed in Japan now, where an industry has grown around the world-beating longevity of the country's people. So why don't we see "Made in Japan" stamped more often on medical instruments or other products in the medical field?

????The answer, according to some pundits, is the so-called Death Valley Syndrome. In other words, Japanese innovation, full of vitality and promise at the R&D level, rarely makes it across the perilous divide between research and commercialization. Japan is "good at technology but poor in business" as one official who declined to be named puts it. "Its high levels of basic research and superior technology are hampered by too-strict regulations, vertically integrated administration. And the gap between researchers and manufacturers is, in many cases, preventing brilliant R&D results from being put into practical use -- the 'Death Valley' problem."

????Practicing some of the highest levels of innovation, professionalism, and care seen anywhere, Japanese medicine so far has been famously under-exploited. As a result, Japan's imports of medicines and medical equipment trounces exports. The country's medicine imports exceeded exports by about 1 trillion yen last year. That is something the newly elected government, led by Shinzo Abe, means to fix immediately.

????In February, Tokyo announced that it would establish an Office for Health Care and Medical Strategy charged with getting some of Japan's exceptional but languishing R&D efforts to market. The office aims to establish Japan as the most advanced in medical technologies and health care services in the world. The P.M., so sure of the potential strength of the sector, has made it one of the "three arrows" of his so-called Abenomics policy plan to revive Japan's flagging economy. The government aims to "develop the medical sector, pharmaceutical products, and medical devices and equipment as strategic industries that will form a key pillar for Japan's economic revitalization," says chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga who launched the health care office last month.

????In addition, deregulated areas, such as a large stretch of coast that straddles Tokyo's neighboring cities, have been designated special zones dedicated to getting innovation out of the labs and into the hands of private companies. Tax breaks and government funds are available to labs and firms in the region. Strict regulations that apply elsewhere in Japan on medical trials are looser here, say officials

????So far the deregulated zone has made it possible to develop an advanced surgery simulator that allows inexperienced doctors to perform simulated surgery training, virtually, without the need for human guinea pigs. Other companies have jointly developed an ultrasound kit miniaturized for home use. Clinical trails at home were made possible because the site, Yokohama, now falls outside Japan's regulated zone that would ban home use.

????Japanese medical technology is also to be aggressively marketed abroad, says Hideaki Nakagaki, a director general of the Office of Health Care Policy. "There is a huge market here for health, longevity. We were looking at the domestic market, but now we will be focusing on overseas sales, too." His committee should have concrete policies on this subject by summer, he adds.