Introduction of nuclear medicine research in Japan.

There were many interesting presentations of unique studies at the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine, although there were fewer attendees from Europe than expected. These presentations included research on diseases that are more frequent in Japan and Asia than in Europe, synthesis of original radiopharmaceuticals, and development of imaging devices and methods with novel ideas especially by Japanese manufacturers. In this review, we introduce recent nuclear medicine research conducted in Japan in the five categories of Oncology, Neurology, Cardiology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Technology. It is our hope that this article will encourage the participation of researchers from all over the world, in particular from Europe, in scientific meetings on nuclear medicine held in Japan.
Competing Interests: Compliance with ethical standards Funding This work was supported by the KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Publication of Scientific Research Results (Strengthening international dissemination of information (A); no. 251002) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Conflicts of interest None. Ethical approval This article does not describe any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.