Kaori did her undergraduate work looking at deployable structures in nature (things that fold away, such as a leaf in a bud), and her masters degree in medical equipment. While studying stents she visited a Japanese art exhibition and saw an origami fir cone, modelled to open and close. Inspired by this Kaori developed an original origami pattern to create a new type of “stent”.

A stent is a medical device used to open blocked sites in the human body, ranging from blood vessels to the oesophagus. Traditionally they are like wire netting, opened manually by pulling a metal lever. There are two major disadvantages: there are holes in the structure and opening it manually is obviously difficult and potentially harmful.

The new stent is made from shape memory alloy, which means it expands when it senses body temperature and no longer has to be opened manually. It also has no gaps, unlike a traditional stent. Kaori has spent the last 3 years developing this device at Oxford, doing a PhD.

Describe the advantages over existing solutions

• Does not allow materials to pass through the structure, making it more effective.
• The first stent design to have no holes.
• Opens automatically in the body by sensing body temperature.
• The first stent not to require manual opening.

Successes

• This is a revolutionary improvement of a common piece of medical equipment, resulting in an anticipated market of $2bn.
• Kaori holds an international patent for the stents, supported by ISIS Innovation.
• Selected as a finalist for the Oxford Business Idea Competition 2002.