An investigation of the Therac-25 accidents
Leveson, N.G.
Turner, C.S.
Dept. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., Washington Univ., Seattle, WA;
This paper appears in: Computer
Publication Date: Jul 1993
Volume: 26,
Issue: 7
On page(s): 18-41
ISSN: 0018-9162
References Cited: 10
CODEN: CPTRB4
INSPEC Accession Number: 4514854
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/MC.1993.274940
Current Version Published: 2002-08-06
Abstract
Between June 1985 and January 1987, the Therac-25 medical electron
accelerator was involved in six massive radiation overdoses. As a
result, several people died and others were seriously injured. A
detailed investigation of the factors involved in the software-related
overdoses and attempts by users, manufacturers, and government agencies
to deal with the accidents is presented. The authors demonstrate the
complex nature of accidents and the need to investigate all aspects of
system development and operation in order to prevent future accidents.
The authors also present some lessons learned in terms of system
engineering, software engineering, and government regulation of
safety-critical systems containing software components
Index
Terms
Available to subscribers and IEEE members.
References
Available to subscribers and IEEE members.
Citing Documents
Available to subscribers and IEEE members.
Cart
