Apparatus for modeling peristaltic pumping in biophysical flows

In this study, we present a novel 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 wavelength λ, wave speed c, amplitude A, and wave shapes (i.e., the apparatus is not constrained to nondispersive waves or to a sinusoidal shape). 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 Ibanez et al. [1] for high Reynolds number (Re > 1), and Jaffrin and Shapiro [2] 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.