LinuxPlanet: My Penguin, The Doctor

"Many people in the Linux community know that its an operating system built to handle the most mission-critical of jobs. In fact, Linux is so stable, it can handle the most mission-critical job of all: managing the human heart.

"About the size of a small suitcase, the Merlin Patient Care System, contains a motherboard, a medical grade power supply, a thermal chart recorder, and a telemetry wand head. The machine is used to program St. Jude Medical's implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and pace-makers.

"The machine uses a current Linux kernel with enhancements to speed up the boot time..."

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