Micropumps - past, progress and future prospects

If a high and on-going research dynamics is taken as a rejuvenating factor rnicrofluidics can still be regarded as a truly young discipline, although some microfluidic devices definitely can not be considered as "youngsters" any more. In a time of 30 years of ISFETOLOGY it may be worth to take a look at these devices in order to examine, whether they had-and still have-the potential to stimulate the imagination and creativity of researchers in a similar way as the Ion Sensitive Fieldeffect Transistor did since its invention in 1970. The area of micropumps is definitely one of those "long runners". Starting in the mid 1970s a steadily growing and astonishing diversity of micropump principles, technical concepts and applications has emerged in this area. Until today MEMS science is delivering a constant flow of novel modelling approaches, microstructured materials, actuation principles, fabrication technologies and applications, that are readily taken and transferred into micropump research. Among the potential applications especially the combination of biochemical sensing and microfluidics has provided a substantial stimulus for micropump research and development in the past and will do so in the future. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.