Design and characterisation of micro-diaphragm for low power drug delivery applications

Micro-fabricated diaphragms can be used to provide pumping action in microvalve and microfluidic applications. In this paper, a design for a micro-diaphragm that features low power and small area is presented. The diaphragm is actuated using a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) device that is interrogated from an RF signal to provide secure actuation operation. The micropump is targeted for in vivo nano-scale drug delivery and similar applications. For low power micropump operation, it is important to design the diaphragm with a higher flexibility while maintaining the stability. Analysis is carried out using ANSYS simulation tools with different design methods and materials. Results achieved from analytical and Finite Element Modeling (FEM) methods are compared and discussed to decide on optimal dimensions for the diaphragm.Don W. Dissanayake, Said F. Al-Sarawi, Tien-Fu Lu, Derek Abbot