Freedom Driver Allows A Man To Go Home With A Total Artificial Heart

You may have heard of or know of a friend who has an artificial heart. While those things are able to help folks stay alive, the tradeoff is that they’re tethered to a 400lb machine, restricting their mobility. Now a device called the Freedom Driver (video after the jump) might be the answer to that, as it’s a miniaturized version of the traditionally large machine, allowing the user to carry it around in the form of a backpack, giving the user some form of mobility. There are still a few challenges for it, though, most notably the power supply, as it’ll need to be powerful enough to not only maintain the heart function, but liver and kidney function as well. Of course, price is another factor, as it’ll cost $125,000 and an additional $18,000 a year to maintain. Still, it’s a good step forward in terms of technology, though Tony Stark might think he has something better…