Actuator-Control Circuit Based on OTFTs and Flow-Rate Estimation for an All-Organic Fluid Pump

摘要： In this paper, we report the design of an organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) driver circuit for the actuator of an organic fluid pump, which can be integrated in a portable-size fully-organic artificial lung. Compared to traditional pump designs, lightness, compactness and scalability are achieved by adopting a creative pumping mechanism with a completely organic-material-based system concept. The transportable fluid volume is verified to be flexibly adjustable, enabling on-demand controllability and scalability of the pump’s fluid-flow rate. The simulations, based on an accurate surface-potential OTFT compact model, demonstrate that the necessary driving waveforms can be efficiently generated and adjusted to the actuator requirements. At the actuator-driving-circuit frequency of 0.98 Hz, an all-organic fluid pump with 40 cm length and 0.2 cm height is able to achieve a flow rate of 0.847 L/min, which satisfies the requirements for artificial-lung assist systems to a weakened normal lung.