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In vitro thyroid function tests

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Clinical Nuclear Medicine

Abstract

Immunoassays of circulating thyroid hormones and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in serum are the major in vitro methods for assessing the thyroid status of a patient. Since their inception in the 1960s, immunoassays in a variety of forms have gained widespread usage in both nuclear medicine and clinical biochemistry. Four main attributes account for their successful application in diagnostic services, these being their sensitivity, specificity, precision and convenience. The first three are inherent consequences of the fundamental properties of the interactions between antibodies and their antigens which, as explained later, form the basis of immunoassay systems.

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Marshall, N.J., Sheldrake, A., Prentice, M.G. (1991). In vitro thyroid function tests. In: Maisey, M.N., Britton, K.E., Gilday, D.L. (eds) Clinical Nuclear Medicine. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3358-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3358-4_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-27900-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3358-4

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