The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) and Japan-based Olympus Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in the development of innovative endoscopy and laparoscopy technologies, promoting translation of innovative research to clinical practice.

Under the MoU, CU Medicine and Olympus will establish a joint research centre in Hong Kong, with the aim of developing innovative endoscopic and laparoscopic devices for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, promoting clinical translation and technology transfer, as well as encouraging education and training in flexible endoscopy and laparoscopic surgery.

CU Medicine has partnered with Olympus since the 1980s in clinical research and translation of innovative endoscopic and laparoscopic devices developed by the company. Over the past four decades, the Faculty has achieved tremendous success with its innovative research in endoscopy, which has had widespread clinical impact, including Hong Kong’s first endoscopic submucosal dissection for treatment of early gastrointestinal cancer, in 2004; the city’s first oral endoscopic myotomy for treatment of achalasia, in 2010; and the world’s first colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection using a flexible robotic endoscopic system, in 2020.

To train medical professionals, CU Medicine started holding the International Workshops on Therapeutic Endoscopy in 1984 with valuable support from Olympus, and it is now one of the most renowned live endoscopy educational conferences, with more than 800 delegates typically joining from around the globe.

Image caption- Professor Philip Chiu (left in the front row), Associate Dean (External Affairs) of CU Medicine and Director of CUHK's InnoHK Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Center and Hironobu Kawano, Corporate Officer and Endoscopic Solutions Division Head of Olympus Corporation signed the MoU, witnessed by Professor Francis Chan (left at the back row), Dean of CU Medicine and Akio Mitomo, Head of Medical Business of Olympus Asia Pacific.