Tanaka, Yo, Noguchi, Yuji, Yalikun, Yaxiaer, Kamamichi, Norihiro (2017), Earthworm muscle driven bio-micropump, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 242, 1186-1192
Published in 2017/04/01/
(Abstract) Research on fusing microdevices and cellular mechanical functions to construct bio-microactuators has attracted attention because these bio-microactuators use a novel principle that exploits cellular size and capabilities. Compared with biological components available until now, the natural muscle of earthworms is an excellent actuator to drive fluids due to its membranous structure, strong force, short response time, and controllability. Here, the mechanical performance of earthworm muscle as an actuator component was investigated, and a micropump was successfully demonstrated combining the muscle with microchips triggered by a DC power supply. The maximum generated force was about 9.33 mN, and dead time and rise time (response time) were 104±15ms and 245±31ms, respectively. The stroke volume and vertical direction diaphragm displacement were calculated as 9.3μL and 1.2mm, respectively, when a 4mm diameter chamber was used. The directional flow rate using check valves was estimated to be about 5.0μL/min (at 0.3Hz) which is about 3–4 orders higher than that for a similar type of cardiomyocyte pump reported previously. By exploiting the natural earthworm muscle, performance items such as flow rate, force, and response time approached those of conventional pumps including piezoelectric, dielectric material, and IPMC-based pumps. This is the first demonstration to use earthworm muscle as an actuator for a microfluidic system which can be a model to create a sophisticated cell-based actuator.