Yuichiro Hiraiwa
Papers
4
Total Citations
148
H-Index
4
About
Yuichiro Hiraiwa is a pioneering researcher in the field of oral rehabilitation and musculoskeletal diagnostics, with a focused expertise in the biomechanics and therapeutic manipulation of the masticatory muscles. His major contributions center on the development and application of sonographic elastography to objectively quantify masseter muscle stiffness, establishing a novel, non-invasive metric—the Masseter Stiffness Index (MSI)—to guide and evaluate massage therapy. Hiraiwa’s work bridges engineering and clinical practice, notably through the design of an oral rehabilitation robot capable of precisely massaging the masseter and temporal muscles, a robotic experimental approach that has clarified the relationship between muscle hardness and myofascial pain. His most cited studies, including the foundational 2009 paper on optimizing massage pressure (49 citations) and the 2010 work on sonographic features as treatment efficacy indices (48 citations), have collectively garnered over 150 citations, underscoring their impact on pain management and rehabilitation robotics. By demonstrating that muscle hardness can serve as a reliable index for treatment outcomes, Hiraiwa has advanced both diagnostic methodology and therapeutic precision, offering tangible benefits for patients with temporomandibular disorders.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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