An Austin company believes it will change the lives of people who need supplemental oxygen and normally have no choice but to lug around a heavy oxygen tank.

David Shockley of Austin's International Biophysics Corporation makes medical equipment used around the world, but he says his company's latest invention, the LifeChoice, is a labor of love.

Shockley’s grandfather suffered from emphysema.

"He was always scared he'd run out of oxygen, he always wanted to get back to his big machine -- it made the latter part of his life before he passed, difficult," said Shockley.

Shockley and IBC co-founder, Bill Wilkinson, have spent the last four years developing the LifeChoice oxygen concentrator in South Austin.

Battery powered, it takes in air, concentrates the oxygen, and then delivers it directly to the patient.

Plug it in at night, and the machine can run all day. The machine weighs just 5 pounds and can be carried using a purse-like cover.

Dr. Robert Emerson is a pulmonologist with St. David's and is excited about the new technology.

"The new system that's going to have a really unlimited supply of oxygen because it makes its own, and it's really light weight, not so cumbersome, is going to be a real benefit to those people," said Emerson.

Wilkinson says the LifeChoice will simply allow people on oxygen to live their lives.

"You don't see them very often because they don't get out - I think you're going to see a bunch of these," said Wilkinson.

The LifeChoice will go into mass production in August.

It costs about $5,000 but can be fully reimbursed by Medicare and most insurance.