Technology is kind of like paper. You can only fold a piece of paper in half so many times; likewise, there’s a limit to how small technology can get—unless you combine the two ideas. Engineers at Brigham Young University have devised origami-inspired surgical tools that unfold and expand inside the body. The team described their methods this week in the journal Mechanical Sciences.
“The whole concept is to make smaller and smaller incisions,” mechanical engineer Larry Howell said in a press statement. “To that end, we’re creating devices that can be inserted into a tiny incision and then deployed inside the body to carry out a specific surgical function.”
via Mental Floss
