Medical Application of Origami and Soft Robotic Systems
Our lab’s research in origami‐inspired robotics extends into the medical arena through collaborations with the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, including partnerships with the Departments of Cardiology and Plastic Surgery. We also work closely with faculty such as Prof. Jordan Raney (MEAM) and Prof. Flavia Vitale (Penn’s Center for Neuroengineering & Therapeutics). These efforts focus on reconfigurable implants, artificial muscles, and soft actuators for medical devices.
A central goal is to develop origami-inspired soft actuators that function as artificial muscles, leveraging advanced fabrication techniques to enable compact, flexible, and highly robust motion. By incorporating principles such as multistability and bistability from origami, we design actuator systems that can be easily reconfigured yet remain strong enough to perform clinically relevant tasks. Our lab also leads work on mechanical characterization of origami-inspired tubular structures for use as reconfigurable implants, aiming to reduce surgical invasiveness by creating implantable devices (e.g., heart or bile duct stents) that can be adjusted noninvasively.
In parallel, our lab is developing algorithms and interactive design tools for kinematic mechanisms, with the goal of enabling the rapid and affordable creation of customized orthotics and prosthetics. These computational tools are intended to streamline the design process for patient-specific assistive devices, broadening access to personalized care.
MORF in Medical Applications
Our MORF (Magnetic Origami Reprogramming and Folding) System—initially developed for general reconfigurable devices—has proven especially promising for medical stents. Recently, in Penn’s Y-Prize competition, the 2025 winners “Stentix” proposed a magnetically reconfigurable biliary stent based on MORF. By using magnetic forces, this stent can be adjusted in position and diameter from outside the body, helping maintain bile flow without repeat endoscopies.
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