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Design, Fabrication, and Evaluation of a Biomimetic Soft Peristaltic Pump for Biomedical Applications

Peristaltic pumping can be observed in biological organs which contain hollow tubular cavities, including intestines, esophagus, and ureter [1, 2]. These act as positive displacement pumps where pumping is induced through sequential and periodic expansion and contraction in the tubular cavity [3]. Biomimetic peristaltic pumps are a subset of these pumps that mimic existing biological peristaltic systems closely in respect of size and transport parameters including generated pressure and flow rate. The potential to use soft materials and structures, and provide continuous actuation makes these pumps an appropriate substitute for their biological counterparts in in-vitro experiments. Experiments have been conducted to study the peristaltic rheology of the organs that demonstrate peristaltic actuation [1]. Despite recent advances in soft robotics, current biomimetic peristaltic pumps fail to replicate the pumping performance and self-actuation of biological pumps. Notably, their physical characteristics show limited structural flexibility [1, 4]. This research aims to design and develop a soft peristaltic pneumatic pump for use in biomedical applications, using a biomimetic approach. The contributions of this research include 1) utilizing fully soft materials in pump fabrication, 2) designing multiple identical units which enable the pump to have variable actuation sequences to achieve both forward and backward fluid transport, and 3) a new concept for an adaptable and flexible soft peristaltic pump for use in biological applications which can be tuned to mimic human organ performance (e.g. the ureter, fallopian tube, or esophagus) in an in-vitro environment.