JLK Targets Japan’s Emergency Room Bottleneck: “Expanding Stroke AI Supply”

[Financial News] As emergency patients in Japan face longer transport times to hospitals, improving the efficiency of emergency stroke care has emerged as a key medical issue. The number of emergency patients is rising amid an aging population, while the time required to hand them over to hospitals is also increasing. As a result, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that reduce the time needed for medical image analysis and patient triage are drawing attention. Interest is also growing in JLK’s stroke AI business as the company targets the Japanese market.
According to Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and other sources on the 15th, the number of ambulance dispatches in Japan reached approximately 7.72 million in 2024, the highest ever recorded. The average time from receiving an emergency call to handing a patient over to hospital medical staff was 44.6 minutes, up 5.1 minutes from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. People aged 65 and older accounted for 63.3% of patients transported by ambulance, adding to the burden on emergency medical services amid population aging.
Stroke is particularly time-sensitive because the time required to triage patients and decide whether treatment or a procedure is needed after imaging directly affects outcomes. This has drawn attention to technology that uses AI to analyze images taken in emergency rooms, identify suspected patients and support clinicians’ decisions.
JLK is pursuing adoption by medical institutions in Japan, focusing on products based on non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT), computed tomography perfusion (CTP) and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) among its stroke imaging AI solutions that have secured regulatory approvals in the country.
The system first screens suspected stroke patients using NCCT and then analyzes cerebral blood flow through CTP and PWI. Rather than limiting its role to interpreting a single image, the lineup is designed to connect the stroke-care process from early patient detection through decisions on treatment and procedures.
JLK is also expanding its sales network by combining direct sales through its local subsidiary with partnerships with specialized distributors that have networks of medical institutions in Japan. Following regulatory approvals, the pace of actual hospital adoption and conversion into sales is expected to be crucial to the company’s future business in Japan.
A JLK official said, "The company plans to support rapid patient detection and treatment and procedure decisions during emergency stroke care, while expanding adoption by medical institutions in Japan."
An official in the medical AI industry added, "In Japan, what matters is not regulatory approval itself but how quickly a solution becomes established in actual hospital care processes. Areas such as emergency stroke care, where reducing treatment time is especially important, have significant potential for greater AI adoption."


[email protected] Kim Kyung-a Reporter