Microfluidic Delivery of High Viscosity Liquids Using Piezoelectric Micropumps for Subcutaneous Drug Infusion Applications

Nivedha Surendran; Claudia Patricia Durasiewicz; Thalia Hoffmann; Axel Wille; Agnes Beate Bussmann; Martin Richter

doi:10.1109/OJEMB.2024.3355692

Microfluidic Delivery of High Viscosity Liquids Using Piezoelectric Micropumps for Subcutaneous Drug Infusion Applications

IEEE Open J Eng Med Biol. 2024 Jan 18:5:21-31. doi: 10.1109/OJEMB.2024.3355692. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Nivedha Surendran¹, Claudia Patricia Durasiewicz^{1

2}, Thalia Hoffmann¹, Axel Wille¹, Agnes Beate Bussmann¹, Martin Richter¹

Affiliations

¹ Fraunhofer EMFT Institute for Electronic Microsystems and Solid-State Technologies 80686 Munich Germany.
² Fraunhofer IMTE Research Institute for Individualized and Cell-based Medical Engineering 23562 Lübeck Germany.

Abstract

Goal: Auto-injectors for self-administration of drugs are usually refrigerated. If not warmed up prior to the injection, ejection of the total drug volume is not guaranteed, as their spring and plunger mechanism cannot adjust for a change in viscosity of the drug. Here, we develop piezoelectric micro diaphragm pump that allows these modifications possible while investigating the effectiveness of this alternative dosing method. Methods: The dosing of highly viscous liquid of 25 mPa·s is made possible using application-specific micropump design. By comparing the analytical with experimental results, the practicality of the concept is verified. Results: Using a powerful piezoelectric stack actuator, the micropump achieves high fluid pressures of up to (368 ± 17) kPa. In order to assess the influence of viscosity, we characterize the fluidic performance of the designed micropump through 27G gauge needle for various water-glycerin mixtures. We find maximum flow rates of 2 mL/min for viscosities of up to 25 mPa·s. Conclusions: The developed micro diaphragm pump enables the development of smart auto-injectors with flow rate regulation to achieve drug delivery for high viscosity drugs through 27G needles.

Keywords: 27G needle; auto-injectors; high viscous mixtures; micropumps; piezoelectric stack actuator.

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by the Moore4Medical project, which has received funding from the Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership Joint Undertaking (ECSEL JU) in collaboration with the European Union's H2020 Framework Program under Grant H2020/2014–2020, and in part by the National Authorities, under Grant H2020-ECSEL-2019-IA-876190 www.moore4medical.eu.