A boundary element technique has been developed to analyze interface cracks in a layered solid. The loading applied on the solid may be tension, compression, shear, or an arbitrary combination of these. Crack surfaces may be open, closed, or partially open and partially closed. In all these cases, energy release rates can always be determined by using this technique. Crack-tip conditions are determined by an iterative procedure so that they themselves are parts of the solutions of a problem. The numerical technique is utilized to analyze subsurface interface cracks in a layered solid. Results are shown for various materials and under various loading conditions.

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A 61-year-old man presented with papillary thyroid cancer in radioiodine-refractory status after high-activity 131I treatments following thyroidectomy. FDG-avid neck and pulmonary metastases but without 131I-uptake were detected. CCDC6-RET fusion was identified from the tumor lesion. He was treated with pralsetinib, a RET inhibitor, followed by another high-activity 131I therapy. Posttherapeutic scan displayed restoration of 131I avidity at those lesions only shown on previous FDG PET/CT. Reduced FDG avidity of those lesions and decreased serum antithyroglobulin antibody titer were also noticed. This case illustrated successfully reinduced 131I avidity in papillary thyroid cancer through redifferentiation with target therapy to suppress tumor RET overexpression.