3D Printed Electromagnetic Micropump for Implantable Drug Delivery

Abstract

Over the past few years, implantable drug delivery system has become a prevailing approach for drug administration. The compact dimension and precisely controlled flow rate enable possibilities for drug manipulation on a space-constrained area. The main challenge of implantable drug delivery systems is a reliable implementation of a low power actuation device and a micropump with an accurate flow rate [70].

This thesis introduces an electromagnetic micropump for drug delivery applications. It consists of an electromagnetic actuator and a PDMS-made micropump body with a diffuser-nozzle structure. An electromagnet and a permanent magnet compose the electromagnetic actuator. The generated electromagnetic field is calculated by using Biot-Savart Law and measured by the magnetometer. The microfluidics channel depth, neck width, divergence angle and length of the planar valve and the chamber diameter are decided by the diffuser stability map. The proposed diffuser-nozzle structure allows a valveless unidirectional flow. More importantly, simulations on the micropump performance are carried out, we present a proper compromise between the device miniaturization and the continuous flow rate for implantable drug delivery applications. Finally, we successfully fabricated and characterized the electromagnetic micropump prototype. Under very low actuation power, the compact electromagnetic micropump can produce a precise flow rate suitable for microdosing applications, leading to the potential of implantable therapies.