蠕动泵就是在两个转辊子之间的一段泵管形成“枕”形流体。“枕”的体积取决于泵管的内径和转子的几何特征。流量取决于泵头的转速与“枕”的尺寸、转子每转一圈产生的“枕”的个数这三项参数之乘积。“枕”的尺寸一般为常量（泵送粘性特别大的流体时除外）。
Peristaltic pump is a section of pump pipe between two rollers to form "pillow" fluid. The volume of the "pillow" depends on the inner diameter of the pump pipe and the geometric characteristics of the rotor. The flow rate depends on the product of the rotational speed of the pump head and the size of the "pillow" and the number of "pillows" produced by each revolution of the rotor. The size of the "pillow" is generally constant (except when pumping particularly viscous fluids).
拿转子直径相同的泵相比较，产生较大“枕”体积的泵，其转子每转一圈所输送的流体体积也较大，但产生的脉动度也较大。这与膜阀的情形相似。而产生较小“枕”体积的泵，其转子每转一圈所输送的流体体积也较小；而且，快速、连续地形成的小“枕”使流体的流动较为平稳。这与齿轮泵的工作方式相似。
Compared with the pump with the same rotor diameter, the pump with larger "pillow" volume will deliver larger volume of fluid per revolution, but the pulsation will also be larger. This is similar to the case of membrane valves. For the pump with small pillow volume, the volume of fluid delivered by each revolution of its rotor is also small; moreover, the small pillow formed rapidly and continuously makes the fluid flow more stable. This is similar to the way gear pumps work.