Method and apparatus for ultrasonic lysis of biological cells

An apparatus including a sonotrode designed to generate ultrasound of variable power in at least one biological sample containing cells to be lysed, the sample being contained in at least one receptacle suited to that purpose, the sonotrode being in direct contact with the receptacle containing the sample to be lysed without any fluid between surfaces of contact between the sonotrode and receptacle, wherein the sonotrode has an active surface which fits with the shape of the outer surface of all or part of each receptacle containing the sample to be lysed;

• the active surface of the sonotrode in contact with the outer surface of the receptacle is convex in shape.

An ultrasound-based method for lysing cells in a biological sample contained in a receptacle, which uses at least one sonotrode, comprising:

• placing the receptacle in direct contact with a concave or convex active surface of the sonotrode, and
• activating said sonotrode for long enough to lyse the cells in the sample but preserve the DNA and/or RNA molecules released for subsequent operations.

An ultrasound-based method for lysing cells in a biological sample contained in a receptacle, which uses at least one sonotrode, comprising:

• placing the receptacle in direct contact with a concave or convex active surface of the sonotrode, and
• activating said sonotrode for long enough to lyse the cells in the sample but fragment the DNA and/or RNA molecules released for subsequent operations.