Classic Syringe Pump

The classic syringe pump is a microfluidic device that works on a discontinuous principle to deliver small accurate doses of fluids. The device employs its motor’s motion to move the leadscrew, which drives the piston present in the pump cylinder to draw a defined volume of fluid and dispenses it in the same channel using a dosing needle.

A classic syringe pump is a battery-powered pump that employs one or more syringes to administer accurate and precise amounts of fluids in high-impact research environments. This device is used in microfluidics for infusion and withdrawal of fluids.

ConductScience offers the Classic Syringe Pump.

$1,700.00

Description

Specifications
ParameterDescription
Operating modeInjection/Withdrawal
Injection accuracy±<0.35 %
Display5.0 -inch LCD touch screen
Memory functionRecord and save all settings
Every step of the strokeNot less than 0.046μm/step
Repeatability± < 0.05 %
Syringe SpecificationsMinimum 0.5 μL - up to 60 mL
Minimum flow rate0.0001μL/min ( 0.5μL syringe)
Maximum flow rate102 mL/min ( 60mL syringe)
Drive mode1.8° stepper motor + 64 times subdivision
Maximum linear thrust23 kg
Input power100-240VAC, 50-60Hz
Running noise≤64dB
Dimensions29.3 × 20.8 × 17.5cm
Weight5.6kg
Operating temperature4 ℃ ~40 ℃
Storage temperature-10 ℃ ~60 ℃
Working humidity20%~80% (non-condensing)
Storage humidityRelative humidity<95%
Store air pressure70kPa ~110kPa
Regulatory certificationCE
Interface
BNC1 : Other device communication
BNC2 : other device communication
USB Type B : PC communication
RS485 : Communication between pump and pump , import
RS485 : Communication between pump and pump , import
15 -pin D-sub connector: TTL remote start-stop, digital signal I/O
Introduction

A classic syringe pump, also known as a syringe driver, is a battery-powered pump that employs one or more syringes to administer accurate and precise amounts of fluids for high-impact research. The syringe pump delivers microinjections at a constant rate and is used for infusion and withdrawal purposes. A syringe pump consists of a motor, driver, and a reciprocating screw and nut. The nut connects the driver to the syringe’s piston containing the liquid inside it. The drug to be administered is introduced in a syringe, and the syringe pump then pushes it into the subject’s body through a plastic tube. The tube is inserted via a thin needle, which is then removed. The syringe pump is frequently used in chemical and biological research for microinjections. 

The syringe pump was first used in 1978 to deliver desferrioxamine for treating thalassemic children. In 1979, Dr. Patrick Russell used a syringe driver for continuous subcutaneous infusions (CSCI) for the first time in the context of palliative care (Dickman and Schneider, 2016). Subsequently, drug administration using a syringe pump became fundamental for symptom management. By the early 1990s, the syringe pump was universally accepted as “the standard alternative systemic route.”

 

Principle 

The classic syringe pump is a microfluidic device that works on a discontinuous principle to deliver small accurate doses of fluids. The device employs its motor’s motion to move the leadscrew, which drives the piston present in the pump cylinder to draw a defined volume of fluid and dispenses it in the same channel using a dosing needle (Ning et al., 2021). If the experimenter wants to dose a medium out of the vessel into the cuvette, they should position a 3/2-way valve in front of the pump. This valve controls the flow through the inlet and outlet channel. 

The piston moving in the pump cylinder draws the desired fluid. Following this, the valve (by opening or closing) controls the channel that the drawn fluid conveys.  The piston of the syringe driver moves again to dispense the fluid from the pump to the dosing needle. 

The syringe pump also follows the “insulated dosing principle” in applications that require low dosage quantities. According to this principle, the fluid delivered is not entirely drawn into the pump but into the dosing needle. An insulating air cushion is present in the pump cylinder and the inlet channel. In this way, the medium only encounters the dosing tip, minimizing the risk of contamination and helping clean the dosing tip. 

After dispensing the fluid, a valve opens the cleaning channel, and the cleaning fluid is conveyed via a dosing tip. The air cushion prevents the cleaning fluid from entering the syringe pump during the cleaning process. 

 

Flow Rate and Stability of Syringe Pump

When the pump’s motor pushes the piston, the pressure of the microfluidic system increases. The researchers must set the pressure of the chip inlet at the correct valve to reach the desired flowrate within the chip. This pressure required to achieve the desired flow rate is linearly proportional to the chip’s fluidic resistance and directly proportional to the settled flow rate. Ideally, the pressure increase should be immediately achieved. Otherwise, the system will deform, slowing down the pressure increase, ultimately interfering with the establishment of flowrate stability. In a nutshell, flow rate settling time increases linearly with (1) pressure/fluidic resistance (2) the fluidic capacitance of the system. 

The flow rate of an infusion can be calculated by using the formula (Dickman and Schneider, 2016):

 

Rate of infusion = (Volume of infusion line/ Total volume in syringe) x Infusion time(hr.)

The motor’s minimal movement estimates the syringe pump’s flow stability. This minimal movement induces minimal injected volume due to the correlation of piston displacement and volume injected. Minimal injected volume relates directly to the syringe diameter. Therefore, the flow stability is improved at low flow rates by using a syringe with a smaller diameter. 

However, the syringe quality becomes crucial when expected stability is on the 0.1µL/min order of magnitude. Furthermore, the system’s elasticity enables a smoother flow rate and increases its stability but decreases responsiveness. The syringe pump’s stability can be increased by using additional tools. 

 

Types of Syringe Pump

 

Syringe pumps are of two types.

 

  1. Laboratory Syringe Pump: Laboratory syringe drivers deliver accurate fluids volumes in chemical and biomedical research. These pump types are designed for handling small fluid volumes and possess some additional features to help in research.
  2. Medical Infusion Pump: Medical syringe drivers deliver regulated accurate dosage volumes of nutrients, drugs, and blood to the patient. They are mainly used for treatment, research, and in vivo diagnosis. 

 

Apparatus and Equipment

Two types of classic syringe pumps are available at Conduct Science, i.e., for infusion only or both infusion and withdrawal purposes. You can also choose two-channel and four-channel syringe pumps per your experimental and laboratory needs. The high-quality syringe pump with great precision and accuracy with 27cm x 25cm x 12 cm dimensions can exert a linear force of up to 18kg. The flow rate ranges between 0.001ul/min and 138.7ml/min, whereas the syringe size ranges from as low as 0.5ul to 140ml. The automated programmable syringe pump with LED display and control settings on the front is best suited to provide accurate results in your research.

 

 Frequently Asked Questions

See our syringe pump frequently asked questions here.

 

Applications

 

Protein Striping System 

Nash et al. (2010) devised a laboratory-scale protein striping system for patterning narrow lines of biomolecules on nitrocellulose membranes using syringe pumps. The researchers used two syringe drivers for this purpose; one syringe pump to draw biomolecule solution through the needle and a second modified syringe pump to work as a one-dimensional translation stage. The striping procedure they followed is presented below.

  1. Take two syringe pumps. Equip one, i.e., SP1 with a 25µl gas-tight syringe and modify the other, i.e., SP2, by attaching a mechanical gripper’ arm to the device’s moveable backstop using a clamp. 
  2. Take a solution of 1mg/ml rabbit anti-streptavidin IgG in 0.01M PBS (pH 7.3) and load it into PEEK (PolyEtherEtherKetone) tubing using a micropipette. 
  3. To do this, shut off the valve opened to atmospheric pressure, and inject 10µl antibody solution into the PEEK tubing at the needle end. 
  4. Close the valve and remove the pipette tip. 
  5. Attach the dispensing needle to the tubing and slowly pump with syringe pump 1 (SP1) to expel air from the needle. 
  6. Using laboratory tape, secure the nitrocellulose membrane to the z-translation stage at each end. 
  7. Raise this stage such that the nitrocellulose membrane is a few millimeters below the needle tip. 
  8. Following this, position the second modified syringe pump (SP2) in a way to align the needle tip’s range of motion to the desired start and endpoints on the membrane.
  9. Raise the stage to bring the needle in contact with the lab tape at one end of the membrane. 
  10. Trigger SP1 to allow a small fluid volume to accumulate at the tip. 
  11. Wait for a few seconds and then trigger the translation motion of SP2, translating the needle off the tape and onto the membrane. 
  12. Continue running both syringe pumps simultaneously, translating the needle tip across the membrane while concomitantly pumping the antibody solution through the needle orifice. 
  13. When the needle tip touches the tape at the endpoint at the membrane’s distal end, stop dispensing the biomolecule. You will notice multiple lines patterned serially onto the same membrane. 

Microinjection System for Biological Specimens

Sugimoto et al. (2020) designed a microinjection system to support semi-automated injections in small animals. Their system comprised two cameras, a micromanipulator, a syringe pump, and a structural framework operated from a personal computer. The system could inject the same dosage volume in small animals at the same position and depth. They developed a 3D structural framework and universal stage and fixed two video cameras at the top to record the experimental progress. The researchers also used a manipulator to precisely control the injection-needle position. They introduced a syringe pump and a controller in their system to inject precise dosage volume in the subjects consistently. They also added a self-made timer circuit to turn the syringe pump on and off when required. After completing the manufacturing process, they placed the biological subject on the universal stage, adjusted the subject’s position and the camera focus, and adjusted the syringe pump’s needle tip at the point of piercing using the controller. Then according to the fed program, pressed a key to stick the needle and, following this, pressed the “start” button to start the injection. After the infusion was completed, they pressed a key to withdraw the needle and move it away from the subject. In this way, the researchers concluded that this microinjection system developed using a syringe pump can serve a variety of applications in animal/specimen labs. 

 

 Immunoassay for Cancer Biomarker Protein Detection 

Tang et al. (2017) fabricated a 3D printed clear plastic microfluidic device for robust and cost-effective automated protein detection. Their system consisted of three reagent reservoirs, an efficient 3D network for passive mixing, and a transparent detection chamber containing a glass capture antibody array that measures the chemiluminescence using a CCD camera. The researchers built the sandwich-type assays onto the glass arrays using a “multi-labeled detection antibody-polyHRP.” They employed a programmable syringe pump to complete the automated assay and the assay time was 30 minutes. They placed the capture antibody in the detection chamber. They programmed a syringe pump using its touch screen interface to follow a sequence of start and stop fluid flow and control the flow rate during different stages of the assay. They concluded that the device made using a syringe pump could be successfully used to detect prostate cancer biomarker protein (PSA) and platelet factor 4.

 
Strengths and Limitations

Using syringe pumps in biomedical and chemical research brings accuracy and precision to the experiments. It contributes to the accuracy of the experimental results by minimizing operator interference. The syringe pumps are robust, easy to use, and possess minimized pulsation feature. The pressure controlling ability of the device enables the experimenter to handle highly viscous fluids. Moreover, their flow stability makes them the preferred choice for biologists. Modern syringe pumps are programmable with higher accuracy, improved control, and automated fluid delivery. They can be connected to the computers to record the infusion or withdrawal history. 

However, the volume capacity of the syringe pumps is limited by the syringe volume. A potential disadvantage of syringe pumps is that they are not designed to work in humid environments, due to which they cannot be used in incubators. The pumps are kept outside the incubator, and the scientist can aspirate the medium from the chip outlet instead of pushing it into its inlet to overcome this problem(Kurth et al., 2020). Moreover, flow sensors are required to determine the flow rate during the transient period. 

 

Summary
  1. A classic syringe pump is a battery-powered pump that employs one or more syringes to administer accurate and precise amounts of fluids in high-impact research environments.
  2. The syringe pumps are used in microfluidics for infusion and withdrawal of fluids. 
  3. The syringe pump was first used in 1978 to deliver desferrioxamine for treating thalassemic children.
  4. The device works on a discontinuous principle to deliver small accurate doses of fluids and an “insulated dosing principle” to provide low fluid volumes. 
  5. The pump’s flow rate and stability are significant factors determining its efficiency. 
  6. Laboratory syringe pumps are used for research purposes, whereas medical syringe pumps are employed for continuous subcutaneous infusions (CSCI) in palliative care). 

Additional information

Channels

Four, Two

Mode

Infusion Only, Infusion-Withdrawal

Brand

RWD

Product Application

Analytical Instruments, Cell culture studies, Drug Delivery, Microinjection, Single-cell analysis

Volts

110V, 220V

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