Studies on the Sm-Co magnet as a dental material.

The Sm-Co magnet has superior and convenient magnetic properties as compared with conventional ones used hitherto in prosthesis, and even very small pieces can provide the force necessary in dentistry. Also, the magnet has high corrosion resistance and is innocuous to tissues. Therefore, it can be used as a dental material, overcoming the limitations in past applications.

Pd-Co dental casting ferromagnetic alloys.

Three kinds of Pd-Co alloys have been newly developed. Their magnetic and physical properties and corrosion resistances have been examined. As a result, it was found that they are available as the dental casting ferromagnetic alloy which can be used in combination with Sm-Co magnets, overcoming such problems as non-castability and brittleness.

Effects of static magnetic fields on diffusion in solutions.

Static magnetic fields affect the diffusion of biological particles in solutions through the Lorentz force and Maxwell stress. These effects were analyzed theoretically to estimate the threshold field strength for these effects. Our results show that the Lorentz force suppresses the diffusion of charged particles such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl-, and plasma proteins. However, the threshold is so high, i.e., more than 10(4) T, that the Lorentz force does not affect the ion diffusion at typical field strengths (a few Tesla at most). Since the threshold of gradient fields for producing a change in ion diffusion through the Maxwell stress is more than 10(5) T2/m for paramagnetic molecules (FeCl3, O2) and plasma proteins, their diffusion would be unaffected by typical gradient fields (100 T2/m at most) and even by high gradient fields (less than 10(5) T2/m) used in magnetic separation techniques. In contrast, movement of deoxygenated erythrocytes and FeCl3 colloids (more than 10(3) molecules) is influenced by the usual gradient fields due to a volume effect.

Design of a magnetic field generator for experiments on magnetic effects in cell cultures.

A magnetic field generator constructed of rare earth-cobalt magnets is proposed for examining the biological effects of static magnetic fields (less than 1 T) on tissue cultures. Important quantities of a magnetic field from a biological-effects viewpoint, ie, its strength and the product of strength and gradient, are analysed. A practical procedure for designing the generator with optimum parameters is given. Also, parameters are determined which will yield a sinusoidal spatial field distribution.

Sectional prostheses connected by samarium-cobalt magnets.

Large acquired defects with undercuts can be restored with sectional prostheses. Sections of the prosthesis can be connected with small Sm-Co magnet pairs. The advantages of Sm-Co magnets are that (1) sections of prostheses can be connected by magnets less than 1 cm in size, (2) they can be embedded in thin sections of acrylic resin, (3) they are easy to place, (4) insertion is easy (magnetic attraction enhances), (5) hollow obturators can be used, and (6) tissue undercuts can be used for additional retention of prostheses.