A Magnetorheological Duckbill Valve Micropump for Drug Delivery Applications

In this study, we propose a duckbill valve microfluidic pump that relies on an electromagnetic actuation mechanism. An FEA/CFD-based approach was adopted for the design of the device due to the coupled electromagnetic–solid–fluid interactions in the device. The simulation methodology was confirmed with the previously published data in the literature to ensure the accuracy of the simulations. The proposed optimum duckbill valve micropump can pump 2.45 µL of fluid during the first 1 s, including both contraction and expansion phases, almost 16.67% more than the basic model. In addition, the model can pump a maximum volume of 0.26 µL of fluid at the end of the contraction phase (at 0.5 s) when the magnetic flux density is at maximum (0.027 T). The use of a duckbill valve in the model also reduces the backflow by almost 7.5 times more than the model without any valve. The proposed device could potentially be used in a broad range of applications, such as an insulin dosing system for Type 1 diabetic patients, artificial organs to transport blood, organ-on-chip applications, and so on.