Chen Ming-Cheng, Lake John R, Heyde Keith C, Ruder Warren C
Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University.
J Vis Exp. 2018 Aug 30(138):57532. doi: 10.3791/57532.
Microfluidics has become a critical tool in research across the biological, chemical, and physical sciences. One important component of microfluidic experimentation is a stable fluid handling system capable of accurately providing an inlet flow rate or inlet pressure. Here, we have developed a syringe pump system capable of controlling and regulating the inlet fluid pressure delivered to a microfluidic device. This system was designed using low-cost materials and additive manufacturing principles, leveraging three-dimensional (3D) printing of thermoplastic materials and off-the-shelf components whenever possible. This system is composed of three main components: a syringe pump, a pressure transducer, and a programmable microcontroller. Within this paper, we detail a set of protocols for fabricating, assembling, and programming this syringe pump system. Furthermore, we have included representative results that demonstrate high-fidelity, feedback control of inlet pressure using this system. We expect this protocol will allow researchers to fabricate low-cost syringe pump systems, lowering the entry barrier for the use of microfluidics in biomedical, chemical, and materials research.
微流控技术已成为生物、化学和物理科学研究中的关键工具。微流控实验的一个重要组成部分是一个稳定的流体处理系统，该系统能够精确地提供入口流速或入口压力。在此，我们开发了一种能够控制和调节输送到微流控装置的入口流体压力的注射泵系统。该系统采用低成本材料和增材制造原理设计，尽可能利用热塑性材料的三维（3D）打印和现成组件。该系统由三个主要部件组成：一个注射泵、一个压力传感器和一个可编程微控制器。在本文中，我们详细介绍了一套用于制造、组装和编程此注射泵系统的协议。此外，我们还给出了具有代表性的结果，展示了使用该系统对入口压力进行高保真反馈控制的情况。我们预计该协议将使研究人员能够制造低成本的注射泵系统，降低在生物医学、化学和材料研究中使用微流控技术的入门门槛。
