New project aims to create AI medical image-processing system in Japan

Japan’s Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC) and other entities said Tuesday they will jointly develop an artificial intelligence-based medical image-processing system.

The project members, also including Hokkaido University and Fujifilm, aim to realize the real-time image processing required at medical sites with the use of advanced semiconductors, all while reducing power consumption.

Fujifilm will mainly work on developing the AI used for imaging tests and ultrasound examinations at medical institutions. Hokkaido University is in charge of AI design and evaluation. The LSTC, whose members include chipmaker Rapidus, will design the semiconductors needed for the project.

The system is expected to use semiconductors with a circuit line width of 2 nanometers from Rapidus, which aims to mass-produce the cutting-edge chips.

Such semiconductors would enable image-processing speeds more than five times faster than conventional graphics processing units while boasting over 10 times the energy efficiency.

“We want to make use of cutting-edge semiconductors to develop technologies that are helpful at medical sites,” LSTC Chairman Tetsuro Higashi, also chair of Rapidus, said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.