Table 1 of Gooding, Mol Vis 2018; 24:690-699.


Table 1. Classic common homogenization methods.

Method References Principle Volume Cell types Comments Equipment cost
Ottawa Sand [6]; patent by DuPont for sand milling US 2855156 A Sand milling and grinding ml Mammalian tissues Particulates may carry through; messy Negligible
Thomas or Potter-Elvehjem [3] Shearing by motorized pestle ml Mammalian tissues Slow, one sample at a time; heating Homogenizers $100-$200; Motor, $thousands
Aminco-French pressure cells [7] High shear by passing through a narrow orifice 50+ ml Even suspensions of dilute bacteria Complicated, expensive, large volumes, susceptible to clogging and fouling, one sample at a time $tens of thousands
Stomacher [8] Kneading 100+ ml to liters Detaching bacteria from biofilms, plant matter, pathologic tissue One large sample at a time, slow $thousands
Waring blender [1] Chopping with high speed rotating blades 30 ml to liters Mammalian tissues One sample at a time, large volume, heating 200
Freeze-thawing or freeze-crush, also called cryo-impacting [9,10] Pulverization; shattering on freeze planes < 1 gram per sample Mammalian tissues Good for multiple and small samples; slow, tedious; requires much dry ice or LN2; difficult to keep the samples dry; difficult recovery of crushed tissues; risk of spillage; messy negligible
Bead-beating [11,12] Tissues are squashed and pulverized between much more massive and hard beads < 1 gram per sample Mammalian tissues Multiple beads can be damaged in colliding with each other fracturing the beads often glass, zirconium, or silica. Ceramic and stainless steel are more durable. Temperature climbs rapidly with bead beating up to 10 °C per minute $thousands
Sonication Weaver, C.E. US patent: US2163650
-1939 Ultrasound generates microcavitation bubbles that explode in tissues dispersing them < 1 gram per sample Mammalian tissues efficient, but slow; one or few samples at a time; cross contamination, oxidation; heating a major problem $thousands
Double ended syringe needles (micro-emulsifying needles)   High shear by passing through a narrow orifice < 1 gram per sample Only suspensions of cells Sclera will not pass through an 18 gauge needle. Clogging and fouling, slow, difficult, but manual 100
Centrifugation through successively smaller holes [13] High shear by passing through a narrow orifice < 1 gram per sample Soft tissues (brain, liver); suspensions cultured cells; blood cells. Prone to clogs $Negligible
The Willems polytron with a rotor-stator and similar devices US patents 2789800 A, 2541221 A Chopping with high speed rotating blades 1-10 grams per sample Mammalian tissues Very efficient, difficult to clean $Thousands
Dissolved Nitrogen gas decompression
Aka the Parr Bomb [14,15]. Dissolved N2 produces gas bubbles on rapid decompression that explode in tissues dispersing them < 1 gram per sample Mammalian tissues Efficient; difficult to clean; Slow $Thousands
Dounce [1,2] High shear by passing between a glass pestle and a glass cylinder <10 grams Soft tissues difficult to clean; Slow; messy; manual 100