Serum triiodothyronine determination in clinical use.

Two radioimmunassays for the determination of serum triiodothyronine (T3) were developed. The assay of T3 in unextracted serum had several advantages over the assay on extracted serum and was chosen for the routine determination of T3 in serum from 117 patients requiring assessment of their thyroid status. In 53 subjects considered retrospectively not to have thyroid dysfunction nor to have been on steroid contraceptives or therapy, the pooled mean serum T3 concentration was 1-92 (actual range 0-88-2-62) nmol/l.

Dental enamel: detection of surface changes by ultrasound.

Evidence indicates that the tooth surface differs in structure from the enamel immediately beneath it, and particularly that the enamel rod type structure is minimal in the true natural surface. Furthermore, the rod ends appear to disappear with age after the eruption of the tooth. The thickness of the surface layer may be as much as 25 micrometers.

Looking into teeth with ultrasound.

Ultrasound is readily conducted across a boundary when the specific acoustic impedances of the two media are about equal. The specific acoustic impedance of dental enamel is about that of aluminum. A longitudinal sonic pulse, less than 250 nanoseconds in duration, conducted to the tooth through an aluminum rod, has positively detected the enamel-dentin junction as well as the dentin-pulp interface.