Infusion micropumps

Figure 9.3 An illustration of the IPMC infusion micropump (Reproduced with permission from Vohnout, S., Kim, S.-M., Park, l.-S. and Banister, M., IPMC-assisted miniature disposable infusion pumps with embedded computer control. Proceedings of the SPIE conference 2007. Copyright (2007) SPIE).

In this chapter, we have described an IPMC-driven infusion micropump for recent biomedical applications. Even though the applieations of IPMCs for biomedical fields require more trials and development methods, IPMCs are still attractive materials due to their electromechanical and mechanoelectric properties. A systematic design method of an IPMC-driven micropump was introduced. In order to properly estimate the deformed shapes of IPMC diaphragms, the equivalent bimorph beam model for IPMC actuators was conveniently used, in conjunction with the finite element method. 

FIGURE 3.7 Diagram of the microfabricated electroosmotic pumping system. (1) Open-channel electroosmotic pump, (2) micropump inlet reservoir, (3) micropump outlet reservoir, (4) double-T sample injection element, (5) channel for sample infusion or separation, (6) sample inlet reservoir, (7) sample waste reservoir, (8) channels for sample inlet, (9) channels for sample outlet, (10) ESI emitter to a MS detector. The inset shows an expanded view of the micropump outlet reservoir (3) containing the porous glass disk [115]. Reprinted with permission from the American Chemical Society. 

Of course, the solubilities of AY, BX, and BY have to be considerably larger than that of AX. As is shown in Fig. 1, the double-infusion crystallizer consists of a thermostated (filled with oil) Pyrex vessel containing the saturated solution and eventually some seed crystals mounted on a stirrer. The solutions AY and BX are introduced through glass capillary tubes by means of a micropump t... 

A 2-month-old girl with bronchopneumonia was given a micropump intravenous injection of 4 ml Reduning in 50 ml of 10% dextrose. After about 1 hour she developed oozing and swelling at the puncture site and the local site was dark red with a 1-cm bubble. The infusion was stopped and the skin healed without scars after local wound care for 2 weeks. 

---