28-Jan-17 Japan's government will recommend hospitals for inbound medical tourists, starting with 28 facilities scattered across the country. Dubbed "international hospitals," these will be communicated to governments and medical institutions overseas via Japan's diplomatic missions. Japan issued about 950 official medical visas in 2015 - a 13-fold increase in four years. [image: Nikkei Asian Review]

19-Jan-17 Researchers at Osaka University are aiming to take the institution's regenerative medicine and medical equipment to the world. The university's Global Center for Medical Engineering and Informatics is teaming up with Asian countries where there is insufficient equipment. The center has produced a prototype of a small laparoscopy system that can be operated with one hand. [image: Osaka University]

12-Jan-17 Samsung Electronics will develop 'wearable healthcare devices' as its new business for the future instead of the robots that LG and other rivals are paying attention to. "The roles of home robots recently introduced by home appliance companies can be realized by adding artificial intelligence to existing devices such as smartphones, TVs and IoT refrigerators,” said a representative. [image: Business Korea]

11-Jan-17 In 2016 only three mHealth apps obtained medical device authorization in Korea - and one of them was the National Health Insurance Service’s. In contrast, the USFDA authorized 36 digital healthcare devices in 2016. Regulations on cloud services and time-consuming approval of innovative devices are also hindering the growth of the Korean smart healthcare industry. [image: Business Korea]

15-Dec-16 A number of changes that are afoot in Japan as the country seeks to enhance its medical tourism footprint by helping patients further afield. The government announced a push towards medical commercialisation in 2010, and this prompted Japanese companies and hospitals to open 19 medical services in 13 countries since then. [image: Aizawa Healthcare International Ltd]