The Toyota Way to Rewire a Brain: Neurotech Wearables for Stroke Survivors | Dr Jumpei Kashiwakura

Dr Jumpei Kashiwakura's path to neurotechnology is anything but typical. From childhood robotics obsession to five years engineering hybrid systems at Toyota, to a stage 4 lymphoma diagnosis at the start of his research career -- every step reshaped what he believes technology is for. In this episode of Inside NeuroTech, host Lucy Jung sits down with the co-founder and CTO of Neubond, an Imperial College London spinout building a wearable wristband that detects the intention to move and stimulates the muscle in response -- promoting neuroplasticity to help stroke survivors regain movement at home. Jumpei and Lucy discuss the question every medical device founder should ask ("is this what patients need, or is it my engineer's ego?"), what Toyota's problem-solving culture taught him about avoiding over-engineering, the patient stories that keep him going, raising a seed round led by Waseda University Ventures, joining the Cambridge NeuroWorks ecosystem, and why the future of neurotech is non-invasive, wearable, and co-designed with the people who use it. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 – Trailer 1:56 – From childhood robotics to Waseda University 3:20 – Five years at Toyota: mass production and kaizen 4:48 – Leaving corporate: "I couldn't wait" 6:03 – A stage 4 lymphoma diagnosis -- and what it changed 10:23 – What stroke survivors teach us about living 14:23 – From prosthetics to neuroplasticity: the Neubond origin story 18:00 – Over-engineering and the engineer's ego 20:48 – What keeps a founder motivated 22:36 – The patient who cuddled her granddaughter again 24:53 – Where neurotechnology is heading 26:30 – From lab to patient: the team it takes 29:47 – Spinning out of Imperial and raising the seed round 33:55 – The real barrier to translating research 37:29 – Cambridge NeuroWorks and the neurotech ecosystem 41:19 – "Disability comes from the environment, not the person" 49:05 – A message to people living with neurological conditions