A bioinspired apparatus for modeling peristaltic pumping in biophysical flows

In this study, we present a novel, bioinspired experimental apparatus, its construction, data acquisition methodology, and validation for the study of peristaltic flows. The apparatus consists of a series of stepper motor actuators, which deflect a deformable membrane to produce peristaltic flows. We show that this apparatus design has significant advantages over previous designs that have been used to study peristaltic flows by offering a much wider range of modeling capabilities. Comparisons between the capabilities of our apparatus and previous ones show our apparatus spanning a larger range of wavelengthλ, wave speedc, amplitudeA, and waveform (i.e. the apparatus is not constrained to nondispersive waves or to a sinusoidal shape). This large parameter range makes the apparatus a useful tool for biomimetic experimental modeling, particularly for systems that have complex waveforms, such as peristaltic flows in perivascular vessels, arteries, the cochlea, and the urethra. We provide details on the experimental design and construction for ease of reconstruction to the reader. The apparatus capabilities are validated for a large parameter range by comparing experimental measurements to analytic results from (Ibanezet al2021Phys. Rev. Fluids6103101) for high Reynolds number (Re > 1) and (Jaffrin and Shapiro 1971Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech.33-37) for low Reynolds number (Re < 1) applications. We show that the apparatus is useful for biophysical peristaltic studies and has potential applications in other types of studies.