Historadiography

Historadiography is a technique formerly utilized in the fields of histology and cellular biology to provide semiquantitative information regarding the density of a tissue sample. It is usually synonymous with microradiography. This is achieved by layering a ground section of mineralized tissue (such as bone) with photographic emulsion on a glass slide and exposing the sample to a beam of X-rays. After developing the emulsion, the resulting radiograph can be viewed with a microscope. A side-by-side comparison with a slide containing radiographs of various substances of known mass can provide a rough mass estimate, and therefore a rough approximation of the concentration of calcium salts in the sample.