Low-cost, programmable infusion pump with bolus mode for in-vivo imaging

Abstract

Syringe pumps are routinely used in biomedical imaging laboratories for delivering contrast agents and either infusing or injecting a precise amount of liquids. Commercial syringe pumps that are developed by specialized companies are expensive and only have standard functions, which often do not meet the requirements of individual experiments. In this paper, we demonstrate an open-source single syringe pump with the possibility of adapting to the needs of a researcher. The device that was designed, is controlled by an Arduino Leonardo, along with the stepper motor driver. For sending commands and receiving the current plunger position, a C# software was developed with serial communication via USB. Additionally, the 3D models were made in a universal way, which allows for the use of any syringe size. An example of the application of the syringe pump for biomedical applications was demonstrated using electron resonance imaging (ERI). The single syringe pump tests were demonstrated by simulating the filling of a particular volume inside the resonator. This example reflects the clearance process after an intravascular (I.V) drug administration in the murine model. The experiments were performed on an ERI TM 600 tomograph. The results confirmed that the designed syringe pump allowed for controlling the infusion speed and injected volume. Moreover, we present a user-friendly and opensource graphical interface that is a low-cost alternative for commercial devices.

Open-source 3-D printable autoinjector: Design, testing, and regulatory limitations

“…The use of such printers for making biomedical equipment is now well established [45][46][47]. It is perhaps most mature for developing biomedical scientific tools such as microscopes for long-term live cell imaging [48][49][50], quartz crystal microbalances [51,52], syringe pumps [53][54][55][56][57] to full…”

Ender3 3D printer kit transformed into open, programmable syringe pump set

“…Non syringe-based DIY pump designs, such as peristaltic [18] , [19] , [20] and manually operated pumps [21] , [22] have also been demonstrated. Open source (syringe) pumps have found many applications, for example in hydrogel printing and bioprinting [23] , [24] , in vivo imaging [25] , printing of TLC layers [26] and blood plasma separation [27] .…”