Experimental study and modeling of polydimethylsiloxane peristaltic micropumps

We present here an experimental study of three-valve peristaltic micropumps fabricated using polydimethylsiloxane multilayer soft lithography, along with a simple model representing their behavior. Variations of the generated flow rate with peristaltic cycle frequencies, design parameters, actuation pressures, and fluid viscosities are analyzed experimentally for a set of ten micropumps. The largest flow rates are obtained for particular "optimal" basic parameters (actuation pressures and cycle frequencies) that depend on design features. A single-valve model, based on nonlinear equivalent electrical circuits, is numerically and analytically solved in relevant cases, leading to qualitative and quantitative agreements with experiments. From this theoretical study, useful predictive rules are deduced for pump design. The maximum flow rate we could achieve is 7.5 mu L/min, one order-of-magnitude improvement compared to the highest level reported for this particular type of micropump. The design of the actuation system-including both internal and external micropump elements-was found crucial to achieving high flow rates. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.