Finite Element Analysis of Wirelessly Interrogated Implantable Bio-MEMS Don W. Dissanayake a,b , Said F. Al-Sarawi a,b , Tien-Fu Lu c and Derek Abbott a,b,d a Centre for High Performance Integrated Technologies and Systems (CHiPTec), University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia b School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia c School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia d Centre of Biomedical Engineering (CBME), University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia ABSTRACT Wirelessly interrogated bio-MEMS devices are becoming more popular due to many challenges, such as improving the diagnosis, monitoring, and patient wellbeing. The authors present here a passive, low power and small area device, which can be interrogated wirelessly using a uniquely coded signal for a secure and reliable operation. The proposed new approach relies on converting the interrogating coded signal to surface acoustic wave that is then correlated with an embedded code. The suggested method is implemented to operate a micropump, which consist of a specially designed corrugated microdiaphragm to modulate the fluid flow in microchannels. Finite Element Analysis of the micropump operation is presented and a performance was analysed. Design parameters of the diaphragm design were finetuned for optimal performance and different polymer based materials were used in various parts of the micropump to allow for better flexibility and high reliability. Keywords: ANSYS, Diaphragm, Diffuser, Electrostatic, FEM, Micropump, Nozzle, SAW device 1. INTRODUCTION Bio-MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) devices are increasingly been developed for drug delivery and biomedical related applications. Conventional drug delivery methods such as oral tablets or injections are not effective to deliver the drug effectively within their therapeutic range as there is a sharp initial increase in drug concentration, followed by a fast decrease to a level below the therapeutic range. 1 In general, it is known that most of the drugs are effective if delivered within a specific range of concentration between the maximum and minimum desired levels. Above the maximum range, the drugs are toxic and below that range, they have no therapeutic effectiveness. 2 In applications that require high precision in delivering drugs or any other fluid, micropumps are a desired component of Bio-MEMS and microfluidic devices. 3 1.1 Microfluidic devices and Micropumps Vast variety of micropumps are being designed and developed by various researchers in the past. 3, 4 However, for micropumps that are targeted for use as in-vivo applications, wireless and batteryless operation is highly desired. In these low-powered micropumps, the functionality of the diaphragm and the flow resistant modules are equally important since these components determine the fluid flow characteristics of the device. Additionally, microdimensions and material properties are of great importance in the design of such a diaphragm in order to achieve the optimal performance. Further author information: (Send correspondence to Don W. Dissanayake) Don W. Dissanayake: E-mail: don.dissanayake@adelaide.edu.au Biomedical Applications of Micro- and Nanoengineering IV and Complex Systems, edited by Dan V. Nicolau, Guy Metcalfe Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7270, 727004 · © 2008 SPIE · CCC code: 1605-7422/08/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.814074 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7270 727004-1 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 11/13/2012 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms