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39: Therac-25
Causality

39: Therac-25

Mar 23 2021 • 59m

Show Notes

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 Accidents
‎Medical Devices: The Therac-25
The Therac-25: 30 Years Later
A Usage-Model Based Approach to Test Therac-25
Good Computing: A Virtue Approach To Computer Ethics: Chapter 6

Links of Potential Interest:

Therac-25
The PDP-11 Assembly Language
PDP-11
Digital Equipment Corporation
Programmed Data Processor
Rad (unit)
Order of Magnitude
Myelitis
Collimator
Fatal Dose: Radiation Deaths linked to AECL Computer Errors
Reactor Accidents: The Human Fallout
An Overview on Radiotherapy: From Its History to Its Current Applications in Dermatology
In MedTech History: Mammography
The programmer behind the THERAC-25 Fiasco was never found
AMA: My professor investigated the Therac-25 incident
How history, principles and standards led to the safety PLC

Support Causality on PatreonEpisode 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.
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