A square, thin, transparent pouch is held up and stretched by two pairs of hands wearing purple laboratory gloves. The pouch appears pink against a bright orange background and seems made of a material similar to cellophane or cling wrap. In the middle of the pouch, roughly along a diagonal, there are five pairs of chambers that hold a slightly opaque liquid, while the rest of the pouch appears flat and empty. The five pairs of chambers appear to be folding up and down like mountain and valley folds in Origami. The chambers have sealed margins but are connected to each other at the folds by small unsealed openings through which the liquid passes. The top left and bottom right chambers are each connected to an injection needle with a tube closed by a plastic on/off clamp allowing to fill liquid into the chambers.

See more objects with the tag science, experimental materials, origami, medical equipment.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
0	Work on this object ended.
2018	Work on this object began.
2019	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Origami Membrane for 3D Organ Engineering, 2018-ongoing

It was designed by Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Donald Ingber. It is dated 2018-ongoing. Its medium is flat, semi-folded and fully folded models in lightbox, photograph, video. It is a part of the department.

Scientists at the Wyss Institute are developing an origami-based system for engineered organs. The inflatable origami structure is made of membranes filled with hydrogels that contain organ cells. When the membranes’ panels are inflated with gel, the device collapses into a folded structure without damaging the biological material inside. The team is testing this with kidney cells, for use outside the body as a portable dialysis device.

It is credited Courtesy of Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University.

Sculptura Chair
enameled and woven wrought iron wire, enameled wrought iron.
Gift in honor of Lee L. Woodard, Sadie Greenman Woodard, their sons and their....
1994-11-2

Sidewall, Node
lithograph from linocut.
Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program....
1996-32-10

The photo of the man in the lab coat shows him holding a glass slide to which a grey or blue translucent bandage is attached. The bandage is in turn holding up a pig's heart, many times its weight. The bandage is.made with secretions from a slug. As a defense mechanism, slugs secrete an exceedingly sticky substance several times stronger than Super Glue. Surgeons use bandages like this in places where stitches would be contraindicated.

Sea Slug Bandages, 2017-ongoing
sealed bandage models, photograph.
Courtesy of the Mooney Lab, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired....
NATURE.045

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/4wUs82/
Accession Number NATURE.054
Object ID 2318798879