Projects

Environmental Simulation Systems

Toyama Prefectural UniversityImizu City, Toyama prefecture

Installation of an EYE COMPACT EB system in the cleanroom at a university that boasts a fully featured research environment

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  • The EYE COMPACT EB ultra-compact electron beam irradiator installed in the cleanroom.

  • The operation screen is operated via a touch screen, enabling easy condition settings.

  • A daytime view of exterior of the new nine-story university building.

about

Installation date

March, 2020(Installed:February, 2018)

Location

Headquartered in Toyama Prefecture's Imizu City, Toyama Prefectural University is a public university with eight departments in two faculties: the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Nursing. Since its founding in 1990, this engineering University has trained and produced next-generation of leaders in the field of engineering. The Faculty of Engineering, which supports students from enrollment to graduation and employment through small-group learning and comprehensive career education and boasts one of the highest job-finding success rates in the country, is located on the Imizu campus, where students can concentrate on their studies in a quiet, nature-rich environment. In April 2020, the Central Building, a new building on the Imizu Campus offering open labs, the Center for Regional Collaboration, and numerous lecture rooms and laboratories, started operation.

The cleanroom, one of the research facilities further enhanced by the completion of the new building, is a room that cuts out ultraviolet rays and ensures air cleanliness, being free of dust and dirt. An EYE COMPACT EB ultra-compact electron beam irradiator from Iwasaki Electric, introduced in 2018, was also relocated and installed in this cleanroom. In the laboratories belonging to the Faculty of Engineering's Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, we engage in basic research into functional materials for life sciences and health care by utilizing nano-level surface-processing materials technology. We conduct research and development pertaining to (1) antibacterial and bactericidal functional films with dense nano-level protrusions, (2) high-penetration microneedles for cosmetics and film manufacturing, (3) fluorescence-enhanced whole films to shorten incubation times and bacteria/virus detection times for early diagnosis, and (4) antifouling artificial blood vessels that do not adsorb lipids or proteins. The EYE COMPACT EB device is used in basic research in areas (1) and (2). Its effectiveness in killing E. coli bacteria without drugs by breaking the cell membranes of bacteria using nano-level protrusion clusters with ultrafine protrusions on their surface and differences in electric potential, etc., has been confirmed, and we are using it to promote cross-linking reactions in experiments on antibacterial and bactericidal functional films, which are being developed for use in pharmaceuticals and household products. Furthermore, in our research and development of high-penetration microneedles, which incorporates microneedle (ultra-fine needles) technology, it is used with the aim of improving adhesion (bond-hardening) in material foundations. In the field of cosmetics, there are already various products such as hyaluronic acid injection packs, so "microneedle" is a familiar term to women who are interested in beauty, and we are proceeding with our research in the hope that we can make a contribution to medical care in the future by expanding into the pharmaceutical-product field, including adhesive pharmaceuticals.

The "EYE COMPACT EB" device used in these experiments has had wonderful feedback for its compactness, light weight and ability to be moved on wheels, as well as its self-shielding and interlocking safety features, and we look forward to its continued use various research and development projects.

Specification

  • EYE COMPACT EB - 1