Microflow

When every drop counts: new calibration capabilities for micro-flow volumes

Microfluidics deals essentially with the behaviour of fluids and gases in extremely small volumes and is used in biotechnology as well as medical and sensor technologies. In the medical field, systems of this type serve primarily for the continuous administration of insulin, hormones or anaesthetics. Medicine pumps are able to administer highly effective medications directly into the body. In order to ensure patient safety, METAS has developed the metrological infrastructure for the calibration of micro-flow volumes.

In METAS’s existing measurement facilities, the Flow Laboratory calibrates medicine pumps, syringe pumps and flow sensors with the following characteristics::

5 nL/min to 400 mL/min flow rate with a measurement uncertainty from 0.7% to 0.07%
Liquids with different viscosity.

Pulsating flow

Because drug delivery systems often generate a pulsating rather than constant flow due to motor or pump controls, the measurement facilities were expanded accordingly; METAS can now characterize the time response of pulsating flows with the following characteristics:

50 nL/min to 400 mL/min flow rate with a measurement uncertainty of 0.2% to 3%; in the instantaneous flow rate
Transient flow rate changes within 1 s;
Variable flow rate profiles.

METAS is a partner in the Metrology for Drug Delivery research project and offers its services to industry partners and customers.