Micropump technology has emerged as a critical research area for the biological analysis, electronic component liquid cooling, medicine, space exploration, thermal management, etc. The pumping mechanism of the micropump will depend on their targeted applications. Mainly, three types of actuating mechanism based micropumps have been reported: (I) mechanical displacement, (II) electro-kinetic, and (III) magneto-kinetic. In present study, a mechanical displacement principle has been adopted. Peristalsis mechanism based pumps are called as peristaltic pumps. These peristaltic pumps often consist of rotating rollers to squeeze the flexible tube containing a fluid. The squeezing action of the peristaltic pump has been created by various means such as motor driven rollers, magnetic balls, Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuation, and Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT). In the present study, a geared DC-motor driven roller/cam was used to squeeze the silicone tube to obtain the pumping action. The aim of this work is to design and develop a peristaltic micropump suitable for drug delivery application. In particular, development of an insulin delivery pump for diabetic people. While designing a micropump for drug delivery or insulin delivery application, one has to consider the following important aspects.
- Compactness and light weight to facilitate ease of wearing.
- Low energy consumption, as the system is battery operated and the battery should last till the entire insulin in the source cartridge is dispensed.
- Ease of programmability of flow rate and volume.
- User friendly operation, to provide ease of loading and unloading of the catheter and insulin cartridge without contaminating the drug.
- The pump should generate enough pressure to pump the drug against the blood pressure.
- Fail-safe operation—in case of motor failure the pump should block the flow of fluid positively.
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