Design and Modeling of a Piezoelectric Inkjet Print Head: A miniaturized Piezoelectric Inkjet Printer- Novel method for cell counting

The aim of this project is to realize a miniaturized piezoelectric inkjet printer able to eject a wide range of liquids when actuated by an electronic circuit. The final application is to develop a novel method for cell counting which is inexpensive, portable, having the potential to provide a proper device able to manage the progress of a disease. The research strategy is to count magnetically labeled cells, which have been printed through the inkjet printer, thus have been magnetically separated from unlabelled cells, and compare the results with flow cytometry. This new flow cytometer will be inexpensive since it reduces the initial cost of equipment along with maintenance, transportation, and supply costs in comparison to other similar technologies. The cell counts can be done with an optical microscope. A model of the behaviour of the device has been simulated using a finite element software, Comsol Multiphysics 3.5, by characterizing the deformation of piezo disk through the application of voltages, pressure and velocity at the nozzle during ejection, and shear stress at at the wall of input chamber in order to see if compatible with the survivability of the cells.

Annagiulia Morachioli, Italy. Biomedical Engineer at University of Pisa, studied at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and at University of Texas at El Paso. She has passion for robotics, mechatronics and electronics and loves travelling and photography.