[Determination of Li, Na, K, Mg and Ca with a mechanised flame photometric micro-method. Mechanised micro-method ("injection method") of flame photometry (atomic absorption--atomic emission) for the determination of serum electrolytes and trace elements (Fe, Cu, Zn); Part I. (author's transl)].

By introduction of the analysis solution in measured quantities in atomic absorption and atomic emission spectrometry, the quantity sensitivity of these methods can be increased by an order of magnitude, while the concentration sensitivity remains unchanged. The required volume of sample (serum) is thereby considerably reduced. Using this method, the serum electrolytes and certain trace elements can be determined simply and quickly in only a few microlitres of serum. The automation of this micro-sample application ("injection method") largely abolishes individual errors, and markedly shortens the time for the analysis of large series of samples. The first part of this paper describes the determination of serum electrolytes and lithium, using only 5--20 microliters of serum.