Traction-type heart stabilizer for off-pump coronary bypass grafting

We designed a stabilizer to assist us in performing coronary artery bypass grafting on the beating heart. The stabilizer consists of a U-shaped holed platform, an articulating arm, and a clamp for attachment to an ordinary sternal retractor. The target coronary artery is dissected, then two elastic sutures, 15-20mm apart, are wrapped around it, proximal and distal to the anastomotic site. These sutures for traction are passed through holes in the U-shaped platform and tied. This traction immobilizes the target area of the coronary artery. The stabilizer described herein provides good exposure and steady immobilization to enable anastmosis to be more easily performed in the beating heart.