Therac-25
Sign in to saveThe Therac-25 was a computer-controlled radiation therapy machine produced by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) in 1982 after the Therac-6 (neptune) and Therac-20 units (the earlier units had been produced in partnership with of France).
Article
14 sectionsContents
- History
- Design
- Problem description
- Radiation overexposure incidents
- Kennestone Regional Oncology Center, 1985
- Ontario Cancer Foundation, 1985
- Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, 1985
- East Texas Cancer Center, Tyler, March 1986
- East Texas Cancer Center, Tyler, April 1986
- Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, 1987
- Root causes
- See also
- References
- Further reading
The Therac-25 was a computer-controlled radiation therapy machine produced by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) in 1982 after the Therac-6 (neptune) and Therac-20 units (the earlier units had been produced in partnership with of France).
The Therac-25 was involved in at least six accidents between 1985 and 1987, in which some patients were given massive overdoses of radiation. Because of concurrent programming errors (also known as race conditions), it sometimes gave its patients radiation doses that were hundreds of times greater than normal, resulting in death or serious injury. These accidents highlighted the dangers of software control of safety-critical systems.