Low-Cost Peristaltic Pump for Laboratory Applications

Abstract

Peristaltic pumps are electronically operated devices to achieve peristaltic movement that produces a positive displacement of fluid in a sterile and clean environment. The peristaltic movement, also present in our body for the transport of fluids between organs, consists in the successive contraction of empty muscle structures that force the fluid to move on, hence the positive displacement. The pump housing consists of a fixed wall, an elastic tube, which basically replaces the empty muscle structures we discussed, placed between it and a mobile wall that together achieves an occlusion/contraction on it. The occlusions can be made in two ways, which also results in the classification of peristaltic pumps according to the mode of operation: circular and linear peristaltic pumps. The application presented in this paper is based on the design of a circular peristaltic blood pump used in dialysis machines at the laboratory level. The system will make a self-calibration of the pumping speed, will constantly monitor the pressure level that extracts the fluid for good monitoring of the factors that can overcome the whole process.