Self-powered infusion microfluidic pump for ex vivo drug delivery

In this work, we present a new iSIMPLE concept (infusion Self-powered Imbibing Microfluidic Pump by Liquid Encapsulation), which requires no external power for activation nor liquid manipulation, it is easy to use while its fabrication method is extremely simple, inexpensive and suited for mass replication. The pump consists of a working liquid, which is - after finger activation - absorbed in a porous material (e.g. filter paper). The air expelled from the porous material increases the pressure in the downstream outlet channel and propels the outlet liquid (i.e. the sample) through the channel or ejects it. Here we investigated the influence of different filter papers on the iSIMPLE flow rates, achieving a wide range from 30 down to 0.07 μL/min. We also demonstrated the versatility of the iSIMPLE in terms of the liquid volume that can be manipulated (from 0.5 μL up to 150 μL) and the working pressure reaching 64 kPa, unprecedented high for a self-powered microfluidics pump. In addition, using a 34 G microneedle mounted on the iSIMPLE, we successfully injected liquids with different viscosities (from 0.93 up to 55.88 cP) both into an agarose matrix and a skin-like biological ex vivo substrate (i.e. chicken breast tissue). This work validated the compatibility of the iSIMPLE with drug delivery in a controlled way into a skin-like matrix, envisioning a whole new scenario for intradermal injections using self-contained skin patch. In addition, due to the extreme flexibility of the design and manufacturing, the iSIMPLE concept offers enormous opportunities for completely autonomous, portable and cost effective LOC devices.