Master Thesis Usability Evaluation and Modernization Strategy for a Safety-Critical Medical Intern

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Introduction

Leksell GammaPlan is a treatment planning system used with the Leksell Gamma Knife for stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy. Over many years, the software has evolved to support new clinical workflows, technologies and treatment techniques. While this evolution has enabled continuous innovation, parts of the graphical user interface are based on older design paradigms and technologies.

This thesis will investigate how a mature safety-critical expert system can be modernized while maintaining safety, regulatory compliance and support for expert users. The work will combine usability engineering principles with practical product development considerations to develop both short-term and long-term modernization strategies.

Background

As a safety-critical medical device software product, Leksell GammaPlan must support efficient and safe decision-making while minimizing the risk of user error. The software is used by highly trained experts and contains extensive functionality, complex workflows and large amounts of information.

Modernizing such systems presents unique challenges. Improvements must balance usability, safety, information density, regulatory requirements and implementation effort. At the same time, expectations for professional software continue to evolve, creating a need to refresh mature software products without sacrificing the strengths relied upon by expert users.

Beyond improving Leksell GammaPlan itself, this project seeks to explore how safety-critical expert systems can be modernized in a structured and repeatable way. The resulting principles and framework may support future modernization efforts across multiple products and domains.

Problem Statement

Possible research question:

How can a mature safety-critical medical device graphical user interface be incrementally modernized while maintaining compliance, safety and support for expert users?

• Which usability deficiencies can be identified using standard-based expert evaluation methods, and how should they be prioritized?

• How can contemporary user experience principles be introduced into a complex expert system without reducing efficiency or information accessibility?

• Which user interface improvements provide the highest usability benefit for the lowest implementation effort?

• Can a reusable modernization framework be developed for safety-critical expert systems?

The final research focus can be refined together with the student and supervisors.

Output

The project is expected to produce:

• A structured usability assessment of the current graphical user interface based on ISO 9241 dialogue principles and consistency analysis.

• A prioritized list of usability issues and improvement opportunities.

• A low-effort redesign proposal compatible with the current technology stack.

• A long-term modernization concept addressing broader workflow and architectural limitations.

• A rationale for each recommendation based on usability and patient safety considerations.

• A reusable modernization framework for safety-critical expert systems.

To ensure an appropriate scope, the project may focus on a selected workflow or subsystem rather than the entire application.

Who are we looking for?

This project is suitable for students with backgrounds in:

• Human-Computer Interaction

• Interaction Design

• Human Factors Engineering

• Cognitive Science

• User Experience Design

The project is particularly suitable for students interested in usability engineering, safety-critical systems, medical technology, product design and expert-user workflows.

No prior knowledge of Gamma Knife treatment planning is required. Domain experts from Elekta will provide introductions to the clinical workflow, treatment planning concepts and relevant aspects of the software architecture. The student will work closely with experts in usability engineering, software development and clinical applications throughout the project. 

Practicalities

Location: Elekta office, Stockholm

Supervisor: Felix Bayer, [email protected]

Start date: Early 2027