Development of valve-less tube type micropump with PZT actuator

The medical devices such as a micropump to extract blood through a tube have a structure which needle and pump part are mutually separated. Therefore, it is not easy to make smaller than the conventional pump. In this research, we aim to develop the pump combined with a tube as a final purpose. In this study, ring type PZT elements are mounted on the surface of the silicone tube, and the stationary waves are generated in the tube by the vibration of those PZT on the tube verified by changing the AC voltage. The waves generated by the collision of large and small stationary waves are synthesized, and then the wave becomes a progressive wave with an elliptic motion in the tube. The flow function demonstrated by the tube type micropump was evaluated and the flow velocities were increased 2.78% and decreased 1.79%. On the other hand, we have a technique to produce a titanium microtube by using RF magnetron sputtering deposition technique. A Titanium micro tube with the size of a female mosquito's labium (60 mu m external and 25 mu m internal diameter) was produced by the sputter deposition method. In order to deposit PZT thin film on the titanium micro tube, the thin film process is used. The thin film deposition conditions of the PZT thin film are investigated and the characteristic of the PZT thin films are evaluated.