Smart Pressure Driven Microfluidic Pump

Precise control of flow rate has always been a critical process for most microfluidic applications and research experiments in various fields such as biochemistry, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. In this project, we conceptualized and developed a smart pressure driven pump capable of transporting microfluids at a stable minimum flow rate as low as 0, 1µl/min while providing a user friendly usage experience. With the achieved high-precision control of the liquid flow and the submillisecond response time, our DIY smart pump largely competes with its industrial alternatives at a fraction of the cost (250€ vs 1850€).

Smart Pump : Controlling flow rate has always been a critical process for most microfluidic applications and research experiments. In this project, we conceptualized and developed a pressure driven pump to deliver flow and provide the best control of the fluids at a microfluidic scale.

• For a full description of the project, please read the project documentation included in the repository:

  https://github.com/Yaccoub/smart_pump/blob/main/documentation/Smart_Pump_Lab_Work_documentation.pdf

• To submit bug reports and feature suggestions, or track changes:

  https://github.com/Yaccoub/smart_pump/issues

Getting Started

With the achieved high-precision control of the liquid flow and the subseconds response time, our pump system can largely compete with industrial alternatives at a fraction of the cost. As shown in the droplet experiments (see documentation), our device system can be a viable alternative to costly industrial pressure driven pumps for most of the research application

These instructions will guide through the project for development and testing purposes.

Clone this repo to your local machine using:

git clone https://github.com/Yaccoub/smart_pump.git

• The folder naming in this project follows the pattern:

  hardware --> housing and pcb data

  software --> simulations, microcontroller and GUI

  documentation --> documentation of the project

Prerequisites

This project requires the following modules:

• Matlab Release 2020a (https://de.mathworks.com/products/matlab.html)
• Arduino IDE 1.8.15 (https://www.arduino.cc/en/software)

Versioning

We use Git for versioning. For the versions available, see the tags on this repository.

Authors

• Alaeddine Yacoub - [email protected] -
• Daniel Kühbacher - [email protected] -
• Oumaima Zneidi - [email protected] -

License

This project is licensed under the TranslaTUM - Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research