Reparable sonoporation generated by microstreaming.

Reparable sonoporation was observed in Jurkat lymphocytes in suspension exposed to a vibrating Mason horn tuned to 21.4 KHz. The diameter of the horn tip was 400 microm and its transverse displacement amplitude was 7.8 microm. It was found that the shear stress associated with microstreaming surrounding the Mason-horn tip was the primary reason for the cell reparable sonoporation. The threshold shear stress was determined to be 12 +/- 4 Pa for exposure time up to 7 min. It was also found that the shorter the exposure time, the greater the threshold.