A MEMS-based valveless impedance pump utilizing electromagnetic actuation

This study presents a planar valveless impedance-based micro pump for biomedical applications. The micro pump comprises four major components, namely a lower glass substrate containing a copper micro coil, a microchannel, an upper glass cover plate and a PDMS diaphragm with a magnet mounted on its upper surface. When a current is passed through the micro coil, an electromagnetic force is established between the coil and the magnet. The resulting deflection of the PDMS diaphragm creates an acoustic impedance mismatch within the microchannel, which results in a net flow. The performance of the micro pump is characterized both experimentally and numerically using Ansoft/Maxwell3D FEA software. The results show that the mechanical integrity of the micro pump is assured provided that the diaphragm deflection does not exceed 110 νm. This deflection is obtained by supplying the micro coil with an input current of 0.6 A, and results in a flow rate of 7.2 ml min-1 when the PDMS membrane is driven by an actuating frequency of 200 Hz.