Oriceps: Origami-Inspired Forceps

Abstract

This paper presents the conceptualization and modeling of a compliant forceps design, which we have called Oriceps, as an example of origami-inspired design that has application in a variety of settings including robotic surgeries. Current robotic forceps often use traditional mechanisms with parts that are difficult to clean, wear quickly, and are challenging to fabricate due to their complexity and small size. The Oriceps design is based on the spherical kinematic configurations of several action origami models, and can be fabricated by cutting and folding flat material. This design concept has potential implementation as surgical forceps because it would require fewer parts, be easier to sterilize, and be potentially suitable for both macro and micro scales. The folded and planar characteristics of this design could be amenable to application of smart materials resulting in smaller scale, greater tool flexibility, integrated actuation, and an adaptability to a variety of tool functions. The suitability of shape-memory materials for use in Oriceps is discussed.

FEM-Based Mechanics Modeling of Bio-Inspired Compliant Mechanisms for Medical Applications

“…According to the law of mass balance, the volume of incompressible geometry should remain constant, even at large displacements. To achieve plausible simulation results, we have formulated the inequality in (6) to make the sum V (N inc ) of the volume errors smaller than a prescribed value V,tol .…”

“…product of N inc and V,1 . In this paper, we have employed the Matlab function solve to determine the minimum N inc that satisfies (6). Algorithm 1 shows the implemented algorithm of the proposed incremental-load method.…”

“…For instance, the snake-like continuum robots get their biological inspiration from the flexible snake spines [4], [5]. Other examples include compliant medical forceps inspired by flytrap [6] and adaptive gripper inspired by fin-ray effect [7]. Fig.…”

A Review of Thickness-Accommodation Techniques in Origami-Inspired Engineering

“…Connections between origami artists advanced the complexity and realism of the art, but more significantly, there arose connections between origami and mathematics, sciences, and engineering, which have led to the adoption of origami structures and mechanisms in a wide range of technical fields [2][3][4][5]. Structures and mechanisms, both adapted and inspired from origami, have found applications as diverse as acoustics [6][7][8], active structures [9], air bags [10][11][12][13], batteries [14][15][16][17], deployable shelters [18][19][20][21][22][23], DNA [24][25][26][27][28], energy absorption [29][30][31][32], foldcore sandwich panels [33][34][35][36], medical devices [37][38][39][40][41][42], MEMS devices [43][44][45][46][47]…”

Inverted L-Arm Gripper Compliant Mechanism

“…Compliant designs include a superelastic NiTi wrist [5], an asymmetric wrist [6], and a virtual center compliant MIS tool [7]. Compliant end-effector designs include an endoscopic suturing device [8], a statically balanced surgical grasper [9], a forcelimiting scalpel [10], and the origami-inspired compliant forceps, the Oriceps [11].…”