Japan's LSTC and Partners Secure NEDO Grant for 2nm Medical AI Chip Project Targeting 5x GPU Speed
LSTC and four partners received a Japanese NEDO grant to develop a 2nm inference chip-based medical imaging system, aiming for 5x speed and 10x efficiency over GPUs.
On October 20, 2026, the Research Association of Advanced Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC), Hokkaido University, Fujifilm, GE Healthcare Japan, and imec announced that their joint project, "Research and Development of High-Speed, Low-Power Medical Image Processing Systems Using Inference-Specific 2nm Semiconductors," was selected for funding by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The initiative aims to address power consumption and latency barriers in medical AI while creating use cases for advanced semiconductors manufactured in Japan.
The team plans a two-stage approach: first developing and optimizing three core AI systems—CT image reconstruction, organ segmentation, and real-time surgical support—on IBM's "Spyre Accelerator," then migrating them to 2nm inference-specific AI chips. The project targets achieving at least 5x faster image processing and 10x higher energy efficiency compared to current GPUs, with final validation planned at Hokkaido University Hospital.