Levitation Droplet Injection System
Problem statement
Acoustic levitation is utilized in the pharmaceutical industry to facilitate more effective x-ray spectroscopy for drug testing [1]. The fluid droplets to be tested will need an effective way to be injected/removed from the levitation field without interfering with the levitation field itself. There is no current way to inject a known amount of fluid easily and automatically, which is detrimental to the repeatability of tests and the speed at which they can be performed.
To address this issue we propose an automated and user-friendly injector arm with the ability to move precisely in three dimensions as well as inject a known, precise amount of fluid. This should increase the efficiency of acoustic levitation related research while also keeping the variables such as position and fluid volume more controlled. This can be achieved by using a piezoelectric nozzle which can put out a precise amount of fluid consistently paired with a robotic arm that has an interactable interface.
Better and more efficient research would be a boost to Argonne’s levitation program, which could extend to the whole pharmaceutical industry as well as the consumers that could benefit from drug research via acoustic levitation [2]. Faster and cheaper drug production could make a meaningful difference in public health.
Developing an effective levitation injection system is essential for standardizing and expediting research in ways that manual fluid injection cannot achieve.
Team members
Alex Icalina – admin
Beau Bernards – facilitator
Christian Rhodes – communicator
Andrew Krish – accountant
Client
Kamlesh Suthar
Argone National Laboratory