Origami Robotics in Biomedical Applications: A Paradigm Shift in Design and Innovation

Origami robotics has emerged as a transformative paradigm in biomedical engineering, enabling compact, adaptable, and minimally invasive devices that can perform complex tasks inside the human body. The field integrates principles of origami folding with robotic actuation to address critical challenges in surgery, diagnostics, and therapeutic delivery. The objective of this review is to synthesize recent advances in origami-inspired biomedical systems, highlighting their design principles, fabrication methods, and translational potential. A narrative review approach was adopted, surveying peer-reviewed publications from 2010 to 2025 retrieved from databases such as Scopus, PubMed, and IEEE Xplore using keywords related to origami robotics, biomedical devices, minimally invasive systems, and soft robotics. Across the surveyed literature, origami-based architectures consistently enable extreme miniaturization, enhanced flexibility, and deployable geometries that improve access, localization, and functionality in minimally invasive surgery, targeted drug delivery, diagnostic platforms, and rehabilitation technologies. Key trends include the integration of smart and bioresorbable materials, programmable stiffness, and self-folding mechanisms, alongside persistent challenges in long-term biocompatibility, control precision under physiological uncertainty, and the lack of harmonized performance benchmarks and regulatory pathways. Overall, this review positions origami robotics as a cornerstone of next-generation biomedical device design and argues that future research should focus on advancing bioresponsive materials, adaptive and data-driven control strategies, and regulatory and evaluation frameworks to enable safe and reliable clinical translation.