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…”

Complete
Story