Biomicrofluidics. 2010 Oct 13;4(4):46501. doi: 10.1063/1.3499939.
This paper presents a simple-to-construct, low dead volume pump capable of generating a wide range of positive and negative pressures for microfluidic applications. The pump generates pressure or vacuum by changing the volume of air confined inside a syringe and is able to generate pressures between -95 and +300 kPa with a resolution as high as 1 Pa. Different from syringe pumps and electrokinetic pumping, which are capable of controlling flow rates only, our pump can be used to generate constant flow rates or constant pressures, which are required for certain applications such as the aspiration of biological cells for biophysical characterization. Compared to syringe pumps, the new pump has almost zero dead volume and does not exhibit pulsatile flows. Additionally, the system does not require electrical power and is cost effective (∼$100). To demonstrate the capabilities of the pump, we used it to aspirate osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1 cells) and to determine Young's modulus of the cells, to generate a concentration gradient, and to produce variable-sized droplets in microchannels using hydrodynamic focusing.
本文提出了一种结构简单、死体积小的泵，可用于微流控应用中产生广泛的正负压。该泵通过改变注射器内封闭空气的体积来产生压力或真空，能够产生-95 至+300 kPa 的压力，分辨率高达 1 Pa。与只能控制流量的注射器泵和电动泵不同，我们的泵可用于产生恒定流量或恒定压力，这对于某些应用（如生物细胞的抽吸以进行生物物理特性表征）是必需的。与注射器泵相比，新型泵几乎没有死体积，且不会产生脉动流。此外，该系统不需要电力，具有成本效益（约 100 美元）。为了展示泵的性能，我们使用它来抽吸成骨细胞（MC3T3-E1 细胞）并测定细胞的杨氏模量，生成浓度梯度，并使用流体动力学聚焦在微通道中产生不同大小的液滴。
