Piezoelectric pump with flexible venous valves for active cell transmission

The development of organ-on-a-chip systems demands high requirements for adequate micro-pump performance,which needs excellent performance and effective transport of active cells.In this study,we designed a piezoelectric pump with a flexible venous valve inspired by that of humans.Performance test of the proposed pump with deionized water as the transmission medium shows a maximum output flow rate of 14.95 mL/min when the input voltage is 100 V,and the pump can transfer aqueous solutions of glycerol with a viscosity of 10.8 mPa·s.Cell survival rate can reach 97.22%with a yeast cell culture solution as the transmission medium.A computational model of the electric-solid-liquid multi-physical field coupling of the piezoelectric pump with a flexible venous valve is established,and simulation results are consistent with experimental results.The proposed pump can help to construct the circulating organ-on-a-chip system,and the simple structure and portable application can enrich the design of microfluidic systems.In addition,the multi-physical field coupling computational model established for the proposed piezoelectric pump can provide an in-depth study of the characteristics of the flow field,facilitating the optimal design of the micro-pump and providing a reference for the further study of active cell transport in organ-on-a-chip systems.