Mechanism of disintegration of biological cells in ultrasonic cavitation.

On the basis of elastic waves released by imploding cavitation bubbles, a mechanism for biological cell disintegration in high intensity ultrasound has been proposed. Comparison of this mechanism with the published results on yeast cells shows many points of agreement suggesting that yeast cell disintegration in ultrasonic cavitation occurs by shear stresses developed by viscous dissipative eddies arising from shock waves.