The SoniBeast™* cell disrupter homogenizes both microorganisms and plant and animal tissue using the smashing action of colliding ceramic beads (commonly called beadbeating). It departs from contemporary beadbeater machines by oscillating microtubes at a rate of 20,000 oscilations/min…some 5 to 50 times faster than currently available beadbeater machines!
As expected, cell disruption occurs much faster when beads inside the tubes are moving at extraordinarily high rates. Disruption is completed in a few seconds rather than minutes. Faster disruption times favor higher quality and yields of nucleic acids and proteins because all cells in a tissue sample enter into the protection of the extraction media much quicker. The operation of SoniBeast cell disrupter is simplified… the machine is operated by the push of a single button. There is no required manual clamping of tubes or vials onto the machine and the physical locations of vials remain unchanged from their starting point, thus making the SoniBeast the first high-efficiency bead-mill cell disrupter available for robotic systems.
The SoniBeast’s tray capacity is one to twelve 0.6 ml locking-cap PCR microtubes, each containing up to 100 mg of sample. Closer to the axis of the machine is an inner ring having three positions holding larger 1.5 or 2 ml microvials capable of processing up to 400 mg of tissue. Unlike the outer ring of 0.6 ml microvials, samples in these larger microvials will be lysed under the milder grinding conditions typical of earlier beadbeater protocols.
*Patent pending