Behind the Booth Talk: The Lee Company Talks Disc PumpsBehind the Booth Talk: The Lee Company Talks Disc Pumps
Sarah Charette, Technical Marketing Manager Health & Science, The Lee Company gives MD+DI a behind-the-scenes look at its disc pump technology. The Lee Company can be found at Booth 3141, at MD&M West.
February 4, 2025
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MD&M West is always buzzing with innovations. MD+DI spoke with The Lee Company, located at Booth 3141 on the showroom floor about its new micropump and the applications it can be used for. Sarah Charette, Technical Marketing Manager, Health & Science for The Lee Company took MD+DI on a booth tour.
Can you give an overview of the disc pump? What is it, and how does it work?
Charette: Sure. The disc pump is a piezoelectric micropump. It generates pressure and vacuum using a patented design that creates an acoustic standing wave. It operates at 21,000 hertz, making it silent to the human ear and enabling pulsation-free flow.
What are the key benefits of the disc pump compared to traditional pumping technologies?
Charette: Sure. So, it's really small—about the size of a quarter—and it's silent. This makes it ideal for wearables and enables pulsation-free flow with its infinite turndown ratio. You can control very small volumes of fluid or air with great precision and reliability.
What are some of the applications for the disc pump?
Charette: Great question. From a pneumatic standpoint, it's excellent for medical device wearables, like ambulatory blood pressure monitors, compression therapy systems, and patient simulators, where training medical staff in the most realistic fashion is crucial. From a liquid standpoint, when we use an air approach, it's great for microfluidics, on-chip droplet generation, and pipetting.
How does the development kit simplify testing and integration for potential users?
Charette: We sell a development kit that includes electronics and a PC application. Anyone who buys the kit can be up and running within a couple of minutes and start testing our pumps. The kit can also drive a couple of solenoid valves—whether pneumatic valves or our dispensing valves—which allows users to set up a variety of applications quickly and easily without having to source electronics themselves or develop any solenoids.
Can you walk through one of the demonstrations you've set up at your booth?
Charette: Sure. Here, we’re demonstrating on-chip droplet generation. We have three disc pump development kits driving blue liquid, red liquid, and oil through a microfluidic chip, which is behind this setup. We're showing the process through a microscope on this ring, with a strobe light for visual effect. This demonstration highlights the disc pump's ability to provide pulsation-free flow and fine pressure control, which is crucial for laminar flow and droplet generation within the microfluidic chip.
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