I'm wondering if you can tell me what hardware I need for this project
Basically, I need to understand what hardware I would need to buy in order to build a feedback loop where the blood pressure (measured from a rat) would be ‘outputted’ and able to control a motor that either sucked air out or pushed air into a sealed box that has half of the rodent inside. We have a simple version of this box designed where I can use a vacuum to suck air out of the box which ‘pulls’ the blood into the lower half of the rat (this is what the sealed box allows). The blood pressure is then reduced. I would like to now advance this by being able to say “I want to reduce blood pressure by exactly 10mmHg” – so the blood pressure would then precisely control how strong the motor is turned on….
My best guess based on your description (but I think you'll know this part better than I can guess):
- air pressure sensor such as the BMP280 (which type depends on the sensitivity you need and the actual pressure levels - the BMP280 may or may not fit the bill).
- controllable air pump - possibly two, one to blow and one to suck. Strength and capacity depending on your project.
- over pressure and under pressure valves (to prevent your rig from blowing out resp. sucking the life out of the poor rat).
- a controller, e.g. an Arduino or maybe a more direct link between pressure sensor and pump.
- wiring, power supply, some communication device to set the desired pressure (can be as simple as some push buttons or a dial and an LCD screen up to a full fledged computer).
Instead of a controllable pump you can also use a pump and pressure valve (should be able to do this for both over and under pressure), then set the pressure that way.
I hear the scamper of little feet.....
OMG, it's P.E.T.A. !!!!