Wallace, D.
and Kuhn, D.
(2001),
Failure Modes in Medical Device Software: an Analysis of 15 Years of Recall Data, International Journal of Reliability, Quality and Safety Engineering, [online], https://doi.org/10.1142/S021853930100058X, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=917180
(Accessed October 7, 2024)
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Failure Modes in Medical Device Software: an Analysis of 15 Years of Recall Data
Published
Author(s)
Dolores R. Wallace,
Abstract
Most complex systems today contain software, and systems failures activated by software faults can provide lessons for software development practices and software quality assurance. This paper presents an analysis of software-related failures of medical devices that caused no death or injury but led to recalls by the manufacturers. The analysis categorizes the failures by their symptoms and faults, and discusses methods of preventing and detecting faults in each category. The nature of the faults provides lessons about the value of generally accepted quality practices for prevention and detection methods applied prior to system release. It also provides some insight into the need for formal requirements specification and for improved testing of complex hardware-software systems.Citation
International Journal of Reliability, Quality and Safety Engineering
Volume
8
Issue
4
Pub Type
Journals
Download Paper
Keywords
assurance, detection, failures, fault, fault model, medical device, prevention, software quality
Citation
Issues
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Created December 4, 2001, Updated October 12, 2021