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The status display lied and the beam killed a patient
A radiation machine in a cancer clinic reported a safe seven rads while delivering ten thousand - how did the Therac-20 display expose them?
The status display lied and the beam killed a patient
In this episode, we present the documented timeline of the Therac-20 software failures and the clinical events they produced, showing how operators, manufacturer assumptions, and a single program intersected with patient care. What sequence of design choices and fast keystrokes created a lethal gap between screen and body?
Period: 1985-1987
Device: Therac-20 linear accelerator
Manufacturer: Atomic…
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