As of now, patients with an artificial heart implant waiting for a donor heart have to be hospitalized attached to a large console called “Big Blue” that powers and monitors the artificial heart. This wait for a donor can last from months to over a year. The maker of the Total Artificial Heart, SynCardia Systems Inc., developed the smaller device called the “Freedom.” This new briefcase-sized device only weighs about 14 pounds and can be worn in a backpack or shoulder bag so patients have the option to be mobile. Dr. Michael Hess, director of the VCU Pauley Heart Center, commented that “we will be able to discharge stable patients away from the hospital to await their transplant.” Features included in the portable driver, which monitors, powers and operates the Total Artificial Heart implant, are two onboard lithium-ion batteries and a power adaptor. A clinical trial exam will be conducted to test whether this device is suitable for stable patients for use at home. After surgery, patients will still leave the operating room hooked up to the “Big Blue” driver, but patients who qualify for the clinical study will be given the option to switch to the smaller driver if they are not in intensive care and do not have kidney failure. These patients will be trained before granted the privilege to leave the hospital permanently. The first three patients to be sent home on the smaller driver were recorded in June 2010 from France, Russia and the United States.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/local-education/2010/sep/10/b-hart10-ar-497884/