Jun Suzuki1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery 2, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan; 2JOVS AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. JOVS Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: jovs@amepc.org
This interview can be cited as: Suzuki J, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of JPHE: Dr. Jun Suzuki. J Vis Surg. 2024. https://jovs.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-jovs-dr-jun-suzuki.
Expert introduction
Dr. Jun Suzuki (Figure 1) graduated from Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine in 2006 and received his PhD in 2023.
Dr. Suzuki is an active member of The Japanese Association for Chest Surgery, the Japanese Association of Thoracic Surgery, the Japan Surgical Society, the Japan Lung Cancer Society, Japanese Society of Endoscopic Surgery, the Japanese Respiratory Society, the Japan Society for Respiratory Endoscopy, the Japanese Uniportal VATS Interest Group, Japan Robotic Surgery Society, the Japan Society for Pneumothorax Cystic Lung Diseases, and a member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Dr. Suzuki is a board-certified surgeon of the Japan Surgical Society, the Japan Association for Chest Surgery, the Japan Society for Respiratory Endoscopy, and the Japan Respiratory Society.
His research includes ongoing studies in Minimally Invasive Surgery, especially Uniportal VATS, Reduced port RATS and Pulmonary Segmentectomy. He also conducts research on diagnostic imaging and preoperative simulation.
Figure 1 Dr. Jun Suzuki
Interview
JOVS: What drove you into the field of thoracic surgery
Dr. Suzuki: I was born in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, and I enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at Yamagata University, a local national university. During my fifth and sixth years, I had the opportunity to experience various procedures in thoracic surgery and to handle the thoracoscope. This internship inspired me to become a thoracic surgeon.
JOVS: Could you share some of the most challenging aspects of your research in minimally invasive thoracic surgery? How did you approach and handle these challenges?
Dr. Suzuki: Although this might slightly deviate from the question, one of the challenges we thoracic surgeons face when performing minimally invasive surgery is the presence of adhesions within the thoracic cavity. It is well known that adhesions can prolong surgery time and increase blood loss due to the need for dissection. Therefore, predicting the presence of adhesions preoperatively is crucial for surgical planning. Various methods for predicting adhesions have been reported, and we have conducted case studies using Four-Dimensional Computed Tomography (4DCT) to predict adhesions. Our findings were published in General Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in 2019 (1). Since then, we have continued to accumulate cases and reported a method for predicting the extent of adhesions using 4DCT (2). Although we have not yet achieved 100% accuracy in predicting adhesions, we are continuing our research.
JOVS: Uniportal robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (URATS) has recently been reported in the pursuit of minimally invasive procedures. Could you share the promise that URATS bring to thoracic surgery?
Dr. Suzuki: There is a saying, “Less is more.” Considering that thoracoscopic surgery has evolved from multi-port to uniportal surgery and is now widely practiced, it is expected that robot-assisted surgeries will also adopt the uniportal approach. However, since the current surgical robots are not originally designed for uniportal use, it will likely take some time before this approach becomes widespread.
JOVS: From your team’s research on dual-portal RATS (DRATS), findings showed that DRATS is safe and feasible for anatomical lung resection (3). Moving forward, what do you think should be the next steps to bridge the transition to URATS?
Dr. Suzuki: As previously mentioned, the current surgical robots are not designed for performing uniportal surgery. While it might be possible to complete a surgery using these robots, generalizing their use and maintaining consistent quality across different cases is very challenging. I believe that the platform of the current robots themselves needs to evolve, and the development of single-port robots will become necessary. For the time being, these robots can only be used for a limited range of cases.
JOVS:Could you share some of your ongoing/upcoming projects that you are involved in? What research or technical gaps in minimally invasive thoracic surgery do you hope to address with these projects?
Dr. Suzuki: I am considering various projects. One of them involves the preoperative assessment of adhesions using 4DCT, which I previously reported on. The earlier report (2) was based on a manual evaluation; however, I believe it is possible to develop a predictive model for adhesions by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
JOVS: As an active member of various professional organizations, could you share what is your biggest takeaway from your involvement in these organizations? How have this involvement enriched your research journey?
Dr. Suzuki: This question cannot be answered in just a few words. The biggest takeaways include various aspects such as knowledge, skills, and information. However, the most important takeaway is the connections with people. These connections with various individuals enrich the research journey in different contexts.
JOVS: How has your experience been as the Editorial Board Member of JOVS?
Dr. Suzuki: It goes without saying that this is an exceptionally special and valuable experience. I feel fortunate to be able to read the papers of outstanding researchers from around the world and to have the opportunity to present my own research in such a prestigious journal.
JOVS: As the Editorial Board Member, what do you hope to achieve with JOVS?
Dr. Suzuki: I would like to deepen my understanding of minimally invasive surgery and share my insights with others. Additionally, I aim to study the excellent research conducted by scholars around the world through JOVS.
Reference
- Suzuki J, Oizumi H, Watarai H, et al. The preoperative assessment of subpleural lung cancer movement to distinguish thoracic wall adhesion or invasion using four-dimensional computed-tomography. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2019;67(12):1097-1099.
- Suzuki J, Shiono S, Suzuki K, et al. The preoperative assessment of thoracic wall adhesions using four-dimensional computed tomography. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2023;71(8):464-471.
- Watanabe H, Ebana H, Kanauchi N, et al. Dual-portal robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (DRATS) as a reduced port RATS: early experiences in three institutions in Japan. J Thorac Dis. 2023;15(12):6475-6482.