Abstract: A cheap, small, convenient, reliable, and durable lab-on-a-chip is needed for various scenarios in practical applications. The authors hope to use the chip only after plugging in a mobile phone. An ideal micropump design is obtained by simplifying the micropump theory, reducing the micropump to 1 mm (oscillator pump, O-pump), the external device (actuator) to 5 mm, and the power to 10 mW. This system costs≈$10 and can work in harsh fluid environments (such as animal cell culture) for an extended period (a few months of testing). An MP3 player drives two O-pumps by a programmable playlist. The O-pump is a permanent magnet positive sphere in an open fluid space, which is not easy to block and rolls freely without wear. Only controlled by the magnetic field, the O-pump avoids interference from the current, electric field, and chemical activity. The fluid is driven by a vibrating motion, in open or sealed channels, with no unique materials and no other equipment. The debris, bubbles, and fibers in the blood viscosity fluid do not affect the pump's function. The system can be applied in different scenarios, such as the automatic cultivation of stem cells or point-of-care devices.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23683-y