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On competitive failure modes and the usefulness of a “survival curve point of view”
Author(s) -
Wolbarst Anthony B.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.595241
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , reliability (semiconductor) , homogeneous , point (geometry) , function (biology) , reliability theory , population , survival function , failure rate , mathematics , statistical physics , computer science , statistics , survival analysis , physics , medicine , geometry , power (physics) , environmental health , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , biology
A number of medical phenomena may be discussed in terms of the probability of something “surviving” as a function of time, dose, distance, etc. Employing elementary results of engineering reliability theory, we examine the different shapes of survival curves which can arise when several modes of failure compete for the members of a homogeneous or heterogeneous population. A variety of examples of medical interest illustrate the approach.