An impedance pump is a valveless
pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...
consisting of an
elastic
Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, elastic used in garments or stretchable fabrics.
Elastic may also refer to:
Alternative name
* Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rubber used to hold objects togeth ...
tube
Tube or tubes may refer to:
* ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film
* ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom
* "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show
* Tube (band), a ...
connected on both ends to an inelastic tube. Tapping the end of a tube will cause flow of
liquid
A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, a ...
inside the system.
Very small versions of an impedance pump -- a micro impedance pump -- can be used as a
micropump
Micropumps are devices that can control and manipulate small fluid volumes. Although any kind of small pump is often referred to as micropump, a more accurate definition restricts this term to pumps with functional dimensions in the micrometer ran ...
for
lab-on-a-chip
A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that integrates one or several laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit (commonly called a "chip") of only millimeters to a few square centimeters to achieve automation and high-throughput screening. ...
active
microfluidics
Microfluidics refers to the behavior, precise control, and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small scale (typically sub-millimeter) at which surface forces dominate volumetric forces. It is a multidisciplinary field tha ...
.
[
Rinderknecht, Derek Gresham (2008).
"Development of a microimpedance pump for pulsatile flow transport : Part 1: Flow characteristics of the microimpedance pump. Part 2: A systematic study of steady and pulsatile transport in microscale cavities.".
Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology]
says:
"The micro impedance pump is valveless, bidirectional, and can be constructed simply from a wide range of materials."
"The Impedance Pump"
p. 29 says
"... impedance pumps in a planar format which can easily be prototyped with other microfluidic components within the context of Lab on Chip diagnostics."
Pumps
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