Embedded platform for automation of medical devices

Embedded systems are becoming of great interest in the medical field. With the reduction of size and increase in processing power, small devices capable of capturing patient data and making control decisions may help in providing patients with better treatments. This paper describes an embedded platform that may be used for the automation of medical devices. A description is given of the hardware and software of this platform. The system may be easily adapted to specific applications with the use of XML based configuration files. At the end a case study of the automation of a heart-lung machine is presented with some preliminary results.