In Fast-Aging Japan, Senior Care Is a High-Tech Pursuit

Startups are putting new innovations to work in Japan's senior-care market, with the potential of products gaining a global reach in the next few years, reports the Wall Street Journal . Japan's government aims to control healthcare costs as the senior population grows, by using technology to improve seniors' quality of life while reducing caregivers' burden. Entrepreneur Atsushi Nakanishi has reworked his DFree (diaper-free) device for helping users self-monitor their bladders as an assistive product for caregivers in more than 150 nursing communities. Another innovator, Tatsuya Takahashi, formed a partnership with the Sompo Holdings insurance firm to equip about 100 nursing communities with monitoring devices that stream data to nurses' stations, including Doppler radar readings of heartbeat and respiration. Cardiologist Masahiko Hara has devised a virtual reality system for stroke rehabilitation in which seniors wearing special goggles catch balls or move objects that appear to pop up in front of them. Out of 92 Japanese startups seeking a valuation of $1 billion or more, 25 are concentrating on healthcare.