EPISODE · Mar 23, 2021 · 53 MIN
39: Therac-25
from Causality · host The Engineered Network
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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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.
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39: Therac-25
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