Freedom Driver backpack machine lets a man mobile on artificial heart

Charles Okeke, 43, has been with an artificial heart for the most part of the last two years. He was living normally, but was confined to the hospital room where he remained tethered to a 400-lb machine that kept the heat pumping, but now with a backpack dubbed the Freedom Driver, Okeke has that bulky machine on his back and can move about with all the ‘freedom’. But besides the hefty $125,000 cost and $18,000/year maintenance costs, the machine power supply is a concern, would the miniature replica machine be powerful enough to power the heart so that the lungs and kidneys function. Would Okeke trust the Freedom Driver on his journey further?

Via: CBSNews/CNet/Gizmodo