【News】CYBERDYNE and Thailand’s Institute of Geriatric Medicine (IGM-DMS) Agree to Promote “Cybernics Medical and Healthcare Innovation” Across ASEAN

CYBERDYNE Inc. (headquartered in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; President and CEO: Yoshiyuki Sankai, hereinafter “CYBERDYNE”) announces that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand (IGM-DMS), to jointly promote “Cybernics Medical and Healthcare Innovation” across ASEAN.

Photo caption (from left):
Front row, left: Mr. Tatsushi Nishioka, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Thailand
Front row, right: Dr. Nutthapong Wongwiwat, Director-General, Department of Medical Services
Back row, center left: Dr. Yoshiyuki Sankai, President and CEO, CYBERDYNE Inc.
Back row, center right: Dr. Bootsakorn Loharjun, Director, Institute of Geriatric Medicine
Back row, just right of center: Dr. Akkarathan Jittanuyanon, Deputy Director-General, Department of Medical Services

Japan is one of the world’s most advanced super-aging societies, and Thailand is experiencing a similarly rapid pace of population aging. In response to this demographic transition, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand has, since 2007, been working continuously in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to address the needs of an aging society. Within this framework, IGM-DMS has been advancing comprehensive initiatives aimed at realizing “Healthy Aging,” encompassing prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Against this backdrop, in August 2025, a delegation from the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand visited CYBERDYNE. Through this visit, a shared recognition was reached that CYBERDYNE’s Cybernics-based technologies—developed, implemented, and validated within Japan’s aging society—have the potential to contribute meaningfully to addressing aging-related challenges in Thailand. As a result, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand agreed to position CYBERDYNE as a strategic partner in promoting “Cybernics Medical and Healthcare Innovation,” leading to the conclusion of this MOU.
Under this MOU, the parties aim to contribute to functional improvement and support for independence among older adults, the extension of healthy life expectancy, the reduction of burdens on medical and caregiving professionals, and the enhancement of the sustainability of social security systems, by leveraging world-leading, innovative Cybernics technologies, together with the scientific and empirical evidence accumulated to date by relevant medical professionals and the CYBERDYNE Group.
In particular, a program for the prevention of functional decline and the improvement of physical function, utilizing the wearable cyborg HAL Lumbar Type, have demonstrated significant improvements in mobility-related physical functions—such as standing, walking and sitting—even with short-term interventions consisting of 10 sessions over five weeks (twice per week) (*). Building on these results obtained in Japan, CYBERDYNE and IGM-DMS will move forward collaboratively with clinical development and human resource development toward social implementation in Thailand.
Furthermore, by positioning initiatives in Thailand as a foundation rather than an endpoint, the parties aim to extend these efforts to other ASEAN countries facing similar aging-related challenges, thereby disseminating a model of “Cybernics Medical and Healthcare Innovation” across the region.
CYBERDYNE will continue to pursue initiatives toward realizing a safe and secure “Techno Peer Support Society,” in which humans and technology coexist, collaborate, and mutually support one another, enhancing independence across generations while also expanding human capabilities and individual value, and addressing a wide range of challenges related to daily life and physical and mental well-being.

(*) Kanagawa Prefecture “Mirai Mibyo” Cohort Study
Saito Y. et al.,
Efficacy of exercise with the hybrid assistive limb lumbar type on physical function in mobility-limited older adults: A 5-week randomized controlled trial.,
Experimental Gerontology, 2024.

This initiative is being promoted with support from the FY2025 Program for the International Deployment of Medical Technologies, administered by the Japan Institute for Health Security (JIHS).