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A micropump with spiral-type magnetic micromachine was fabricated. When a rotating magnetic field was applied, the machine rotated and pumped a surrounding liquid. We experimentally examined the basic properties of this pump. We found that the pressure and the flow rate could be controlled by the rotating frequency, and this pump could work under wide range kinematic viscosity. In addition, we proposed a disposable pump system using the machine. When a plate installed a fluid channel and the machine was set on a stage for generating a rotating magnetic field, the machine worked as the pump.

A micropump with a spiral-type magnetic micromachine was fabricated. The magnetic micromachine was composed of a permanent magnet and a spiral coil. When a rotating magnetic field was applied, the machine rotated and produced a thrust force in a liquid. However, the machine remained still and pumped the liquid at the point of equilibrium between the thrust force and a force created by the field gradient. We experimentally examined the basic properties of the pump, such as the flow rate and pressure. As a result, we found that the latter two properties can be controlled by adjusting the frequency of the rotating magnetic field. The pump was able to produce a maximum pressure of 116 Pa and a flow rate of several ml/min.

In this paper, a micropump with spiral-type magnetic micromachine was fabricated and the flow rate of the pump was then experimentally evaluated. The pump system proposed in this work is suitable for the micro-fluid devices because they can control the very small flow rate quantitatively and the flow rate was independent of the viscosity of the fluid.

Micropumps are studied for applications to /spl mu/TAS (micro total analysis system) systems for automatic medication, and so on. The principals of the micropumps are using piezoelectric materials, SMA (shape memory alloy), etc. In this study, we propose a micropump using a magnetic micromachine. As the magnetic micromachines work wirelessly, we can obtain a wireless micropump that is suitable for the miniaturization. In previous studies, we examined the basic properties of the pump, and we found that the produced pressure could be controlled by the frequency of the applied rotational magnetic field. In this study, we examined the properties of the pump such as the pressure and the flow rate. In addition, we proposed a disposable pump system using the magnetic micromachine.