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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

A Cost-effective and Reliable Method to Predict Mechanical Stress in Single-use and Standard Pumps
Published on: August 5, 2015
Living System Adapts Harmonics of Peristaltic Wave for Cost-Efficient Optimization of Pumping Performance
Felix K Bäuerle1, Stefan Karpitschka1, Karen Alim1,2
1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Wavelike patterns driving transport are ubiquitous in life. Peristaltic pumps are a paradigm of efficient mass transport by contraction driven flows-often limited by energetic constraints. We show that a cost-efficient increase in pumping performance can be achieved by modulating the phase difference between harmonics to increase occlusion. In experiments we find a phase difference shift in the living peristalsis model P. polycephalum as dynamic response to forced mass transport. Our findings provide a novel metric for wavelike patterns and demonstrate the crucial role of nonlinearities in life.
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