Micro-incineration or microincineration is a technique to determine the manner and distribution of

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

elements in

biological cells The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word meaning ...

biological tissues In biology, tissue is an assembly of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same embryonic origin that together carry out a specific function. Tissues occupy a biological organizational level between cells and a complete organ ...

and organs. Slide preparation of tissues can be used. Examples include

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

(Ca), potassium (K), sodium (Na),

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

(Mg), iron (Fe), and silicon (Si). The

organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...

is vaporised by heating. The nature and position of the mineral ash is determined microscopically. Aqueous or

cryo-EM Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a transmission electron microscopy technique applied to samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An ...

fixed tissue materials can also be examined under transmission and scanning

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

(TEM & SEM). The ashing procedure produces cellular

oxidised Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

-residues rich in Na₂O, CaO, MgO, Fe₂O₃, SiO₂, Ca(PO₄)₂, Mg(PO₄)₂, etc., which are detected by X-ray

microanalysis Microanalysis is the chemical identification and quantitative analysis of very small amounts of chemical substances (generally less than 10 mg or 1 ml) or very small surfaces of material (generally less than 1 cm2). One of the pioneer ...

with 2-4 times sensitivity gained after incineration of sample, due to increased mineral concentration and reduced nonspecific background radiation.

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http://jcb.rupress.org/content/39/1/55.full.pdf Biochemistry Biophysics {{biochemistry-stub