I read that with syringe pumps, the microspheres that I am using may settle down overtime in the syringe. I require flow rates in the range from 0.1 ul/min to around 10 ul/min for my studies.
I am new to this field. Please suggest which is a better option for this - Pressure pumps by companies such as Elveflow, Fluigent , Dolomite or Syringe Pumps by Harvard Apparatus. Our budget is around 2000 USD.
Your assistance will be appreciated.
More information is needed.
Do you require steady flow over many hours or simply a brief on-off flow lasting for seconds or minutes each time? What is the total volume of solution to be pumped through the system over time? How much fluid is available? What is the fluid (as some types of pumping systems may not be chemically compatible with your proposed application). Computer controlled pressure pumps, which are expensive, often have the highest performance, but sometimes a quality syringe pump with pulse dampener added can be acquired at a fraction of the cost of a new one and be suitable. All of these operating parameters should be considered when selecting the appropriate type of system. Without more information, no constructive recommendations can be made
Yes need more information, We have purchase micro-pipette with different nozzles for various sizes of drops or continuous micro flow..
One of the fluid is a microsphere suspension in PBS, and sample is spiked protein sample and serum/whole blood in some cases. Sample and reagent volume will be 10-20 ul each. Reagent in rare cases could be up to 50 ul as well. Sample will be pumped for around 10-20 minutes (steady flow) in most cases, with longest period being around 30 minutes.
Sounds like your need would be for a system capable of delivering a maximum of ~ 1.5 ml total volume (50 ul/min for 30 minutes) within a range of 0.1 to 10.0 ul/min. Check some of the popular syringe pump specs and you should find something that meets these requirements. The closest syringe capacity size would be a 1 ml syringe (they do not have 1.5 ml versions so a 2 ml or larger might be needed, but that would rule out some of the 0.1 ul/min models). There are companies besides Harvard Apparatus who sell programmable models for less than $1,000 USD so you should shop-around. Buying a used model should also be an option which could save you money. *A pulse dampener can be added to any model to further reduce the pulsations from the drive unit too.
Regarding possible settling of the microspheres. This would of course depend on their actual diameter, density, quantity, properties of the solution placed in and how long they sit in the solution undisturbed. You could run some basic experiments to determine if this will be a problem in advance. If they do settle out during the time it takes to deliver them, then a syringe pump may not be the best delivery device (BTW: using a conventional pump would also have the same problem too).
A pressure controller is more "flexible" because you can easily adapt the pressurization bottle to your application and place for instance a magnetic stirrer if you would like to improve microspheres mixing. On the other hand a syringe pump is very useful if you do not care with the generated pressure but only with the flow rate which is perfectly well controlled without calibration - via a scale or flowmeter - since it is a volumetric pump.
Maybe you can check also the use of VIT-FIT syringe pump from LAMBDA Laboratory Instruments. It is true the price of the syringe pump it is not under 1000 euros but also the advantages and robustness of the pump seems to justify the price. In fact on their webpage www.syringepump.info/publications/ you can find a lot of papers related with the use of the pump on microfluidics. As you can see some of the papers are from researchers from the ETH in Zurich, which seem to have a very good results using these pumps. In fact you can use all kind of syringes with this pump and also I think the pulsation free operation, that it is possible to find on this pump, is very welcome for your specific application. The flow rates they mention is 0.4 nl/min with a 5 ml syringe the minimum and maximum 110 ml/min (6.6 l/h) with a 150 ml syringe, but also you can find to kinds of pumps with a Maximum force of 300 N (reducible by a switch to 80 N) on the VIT-FIT and on VIT-FIT HP pump about 600 N (reducible by a switch to 160 N). I hope this would help you also.
Hi Deborah, Thank you for your detailed answer.
We were considering purchasing NE-1010 model from New Era Pumps (http://www.syringepump.com/NE-1000.php). But we will check the specification and availability of this pump as well.
When designing a system with a budget, it is sometimes important to consider whether the key component can be easily integrated with the rest of the system and further extended to allow system expansion.
A case in point is the pressure controller made by PreciGenome. Besides multiple channel pressure control with GUI or scripting, it offers digital input/out and serial port for complicated system integration.
For example, we build a multiple sample delivery system like this one: https://www.precigenome.com/multi-sample-delivery
If you enjoy the flexibility of a custom-built system, but don't have all the time to develop it from scratch, this may be a good option for you.
Dear Rohan,
The best system will depend on your application. To help you to choose the best option, you can have a look at this article: https://www.elveflow.com/microfluidic-reviews/microfluidic-flow-control/how-to-choose-right-microfluidic-flow-control-system/.
I hope it helps!
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