A comparison of heat production and cavitational intensity in several ultrasonic cell disruptors

High power ultrasonic equipment is now commonplace in biological, chemical and pharmaceutical laboratories. These devices are being used for a variety of purposes including emulsification, dispersion, extraction and cell disruption. The average researcher has little basis for comparing the relative energy output of various ultrasonic probes at different power settings and he has neither the interest nor the time to determine their relative heat production. This research was designed to prepare a series of relative power indices and temperature profiles for several ultrasonic cell disruptors. Even though there are variations among equipment bearing the same model number it was considered worthwhile to make available relative cavitational and temperature data.