Toshiba to introduce carbon ion radiotherapy system in Malaysia

July 26 (ANI)

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Malaysian counterpart, Mohd Anjib Tun Abdul Razak in Malaysia.

The MoU covers two phases: an initial evaluation of the feasibility of the overall project followed by a study of the design concept.

It was signed within the framework of medical infrastructure package export strategy that the Japanese government is promoting in a public-private partnership.

Toshiba is a recognized leader in carbon ion radiotherapy.

In Japan, it has installed a cutting-edge system in the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) and is also working on a similar system for the Kanagawa Cancer center in Yokohama.

Carbon ion radiotherapy is a process that accelerates carbon ions to 70% the speed of light and directs them to the cancerous cells.

Due to its efficiency in destroying cancers, patients have to endure fewer exposures.

Moreover, as the depth of the energy peak can be controlled, it prevents the healthy cells around the target site from being exposed to the radiations.

"Carbon ion radiotherapy is a powerful tool in the battle against cancer, and we look forward to the opportunity to introduce our state-of-the-art system technologies to Malaysia", said Yasuharu Igarashi, Corporate Executive Vice President of Toshiba.

1MDB aims to create a sustainable Malaysian economy by investing in high impact projects in four core sectors: real estate, energy, tourism and agriculture.

"This project dovetails with our mandate to bring new sources to growth to the country," said Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, Managing Director and CEO of 1MDB.

He further stated, "It offers us the potential to expand into another of our key target sectors via medical tourism, while breaking new ground in treatment of cancer for the Malaysian public."

As Malaysia continues to progress economically, there is an increasing interest in high-tech medical services, both in the domestic sector and to promote increase in medical tourism, which is expected to become a 200 million dollars market in the country this year.

Toshiba and 1MDB had signed a comprehensive MoU in October 2012 to investigate areas of possible collaboration in social infrastructure.

The two companies will continue to explore potential areas of cooperation that will contribute to Malaysia's economic development.