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Athena claims that competing products with active cooling pose a problem for critical care environments such as intensive care units (ICUs) and operating rooms because they can contribute to "viral and bacterial pollution." As hospitals migrate to electronic patient file systems, the demand for computing devices in critical care areas increases. The T2117FM is already being used in several hospitals, according to the company.

Athena lists the following key features and specifications for the T2117FM:

• Processor -- VIA Eden, 733 MHz or 1 GHz
  
• Memory -- 128 to 512 MB of DDR SDRAM
  
• Display:
  • 17-inch "zero pixel defect" TFT
    
  • maximum resolution, 1280 x 1024
• Storage:
  • CompactFlash socket
    
  • DiskOnModule socket, 40- and 44-pin
    
  • 2.5-inch IDE HDD (optional)
• I/O ports:
  • 10/100 Ethernet, PXE LAN boot
    
  • 4 USB 2.0
    
  • 2 serial
    
  • PS/2 keyboard and mouse
    
  • AC97 audio, mic in, line out
• Expansion -- mini-PCI slot
  
• Options:
  • wireless LAN -- mini-PCI or USB
    
  • internal Smartcard reader
• Power adapter -- 12 VDC @ 5A

The T2117FM ships with a "special medical keyboard" with integrated touchpad. Athena says the device supports VESA mounting standards, making it relatively easy to mount to most hospital equipment carts, as shown in the photo to the right of the list of specs, above.

In addition to Windows CE and XP Embedded, the T2117FM can also be supplied with Linux, according to the company.

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