The successor to the Therac-6 and Therac-20 RadioTherapy machines would integrate the powerful DEC PDP-11 mini-computer to control all of the Therac-25s functions, including the safety interlocks, for the first time. In two years the 11 machines in service would overdose six people across two countries, killing three of them before they figured out why.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Reports into the Incidents:
An Investigation of the Therac-25 AccidentsMedical Devices: The Therac-25The Therac-25: 30 Years LaterA Usage-Model Based Approach to Test Therac-25Good Computing: A Virtue Approach To Computer Ethics: Chapter 6Links of Potential Interest:
Therac-25The PDP-11 Assembly LanguagePDP-11Digital Equipment CorporationProgrammed Data ProcessorRad (unit)Order of MagnitudeMyelitisCollimatorFatal Dose: Radiation Deaths linked to AECL Computer ErrorsReactor Accidents: The Human FalloutAn Overview on Radiotherapy: From Its History to Its Current Applications in DermatologyIn MedTech History: MammographyThe programmer behind the THERAC-25 Fiasco was never foundAMA: My professor investigated the Therac-25 incidentHow history, principles and standards led to the safety PLC
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Episode Gold Producers:
'r' and Chip Salzenberg.
Episode Silver Producers:
Mitch Biegler, John Whitlow, Kevin Koch, Oliver Steele, Lesley Law Chan, Hafthor and Shane O'Neill.