text: The sample suspended in a suitable medium is placed in a hermetically closed metabolic chamber. The mitochondria are brought into defined “states” by the sequential addition of substrates or inhibitors. Since the mitochondria consume oxygen, the oxygen concentration drops. This change of oxygen concentration is recorded by an oxygen sensor in the chamber. From the rate of the oxygen decline (taking into account correction for oxygen diffusion) the respiratory rate of the mitochondria can be computed.