USE OF MICROWAVES FOR RAPID FIXATION OF TISSUES INVIVO

Accurate knowledge of the concentration in the central nervous system of neurochemicals undergoing rapid enzymatic destruction or synthesis is sparse because of the difficulty in stopping the rapid reactions wh ile causing only minimal adverse changes in the neurochemistry and str ucture. Microwave heating can be effectively used to rapidly stop enzy me activity in the central nervous system with minimal adverse changes . This rapid inactivation of the enzymes increases the validity of the sample that is taken for analysis of the concentration of the enzyme' s substrate.