protocol for: milling of tissue with ball mills - looking for a automation to isolate "living" bacteria out of (Dec/18/2007 )

we looking for a automation to isolate "living" bacteria out of tissue (mice).

at the moment the protocol is like that:
isolating a lung out of a mouse, store the organ in PBS buffer ( ice cold ), miling the organ with a handheld rotor–stator homogenizer,´
performing diverent dilution stepps, plating out the homogenate on agar plates , incubation of the plates , counting cfu ( next day ).

So we like to use a Ball Mill now insted of the handheld rotor–stator homogenizer because:
- saving of time (cleaning, sterilising, ...)
- reduce errors which is mainly due to different miling intensity
- reduce cross contamination (disposable goods)

http://www1.qiagen.com/Products/Accessorie...issueLyser.aspx
( same as )
http://www.retsch.com/products/milling/ball-mills/mm-400/

but we are not sure if the bacteria survive the procedure, since I found no protocoll so far to use this kind of apparat to isolate living bacteria.

I hope someone has experience in using this kind of apparates or can give me a better protocol.

Try talking to the sales rep and ask for the use of the machine for a trial week, during which you can then run your test experiments.

thx, we will get a presentation of this ball mill next year.

anyway, it would be nice if somebody has experience with this kind of ball mills (from retsch or qiagen) to find
a working protocol.

or someone knows a better method to isolate living bacteria out of mouse tissue (organ) ...

You could also look at much cheaper alternatives, such as the mini bead-beater, with disposable tubes.