Original article published in Newsweek on September 1st, 2023. Written by the Worldfolio
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO

Advancing innovation: ATOX’s cross-sector
endeavors in medicine and infrastructure

How ATOX leverages its radioactive expertise to shape the future of nuclear medicine and bridge maintenance.
ables cost reduction compared
to conventional devices, as wellas high quality brain imaging andspace saving. We hope to contribute to the development oftesting systems as Alzheimer’s
disease drugs are approved,” sayspresident Mr. Toshikazu Yaguchi.
Meanwhile, ATOX has become
the Japanese distributor of Belgian firm IRE ELiT’s 68Ge/68Ga
generator for PET imaging. The
company has supplied this leadToshikazu Yaguchi,
ing-edge technology to Hokkaido
President, Atox Co., Ltd.
University, as part of a joint effort
to develop a revolutionary newand Technology. In addition to im- way to detect prostate cancer.
proving the accuracy of tests for“The traditional method of diagbrain tumors and epilepsy, Vrain nosis in Japan involves taking samwill be useful for cognitive diagno- ples directly from 20 to 30 different
sis, and will enable imaging
parts of the prostate, which canof abnormal proteinsbe painful,” Mr. Yaguchi
and the progress
explains. “However,of their accumulathe introduction
tion in Alzheimer’sof imaging using
disease, in whicha generator handled
the accumulation
by ATOX reduces theof a protein called
need for direct sample
amyloid-β is believed
collection and eases
to be involved in dispatient suffering.”
ease progression.
Beyond medicine,“Vrain is characATOX is collaborating
terized by its small
with Tokyo University
size and high perforon developing state-ofmance in the form ofthe-art bridge-maintea helmet, which en- 68Ge/68Ga generator nance technology.

“We have over 1,700
employees now, andI think it’s reallythrough their dedicationand commitment tothis field that we’vebeen able to expand
while also achieving therecognition we have.”

With the advent and developmentof the nuclear age in Japan, ATOX
entered into various business areas such as radiation control, decontamination, and maintenance,and now operates at all nuclear
power plants in Japan.
After the Great East Japan
Earthquake in 2011, the business environment in the nuclear
industry changed dramatically,and ATOX entered the medical
business by utilizing the radiation
technology it had cultivated.
In the field of nuclear medicine,
ATOX developed the world’s first
helmet-type positron emission tomography (PET) system, “Vrain”,
in collaboration with the National
Institutes for Quantum Science

The non-destructive inspection
technique conventionally used forbridge maintenance and management is ultrasonic measurement.
However, this method makes it difficult to visualize concrete thicker
than 300mm. “To address thisissue, ATOX developed an inspection system with a portable X-ray
generator and a high-performancedetector to visualize incomplete
grout filling and PC steel fractures,” Mr. Yaguchi reveals.

Visualization of concrete structure
by Linear Accelerator“We expect that this system
will be well suited for the maintenance of other structures, including older structures, and welook forward to making a broad
contribution to the field of social
infrastructure maintenance.”

www.atox.co.jp