Surgical instruments for stabilizing the beating heart during coronary artery bypass graft surgery

A device for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart, comprising:

• a stable platform
• circular pedestal means selectively secured to the platform;
• shaft means including handle means at a proximal end thereof and a contact member at a distal end thereof, said handle means being adapted to lock the contact member in a selected orientation relative to the beating heart;
• and
• shaft support means supporting the shaft means in a selected orientation and having arcuate clamping means contacting the circular pedestal means, said arcuate clamping means being moveable to detachably lock the shaft support means to the circular pedestal means while the shaft means simultaneously is being locked to the shaft support means.

A device for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart, comprising:

• a stable platform;
• mounting means selectively secured to the platform;
• first adjusting means detachably secured to the mounting means;
• second adjusting means having at a distal end thereof a contact member for engagement with the beating heart;
• said second adjusting means being supported by the first adjusting means for translation and rotation about several degrees of freedom of movement relative to the first adjusting means and the mounting means, to enable selective engagement of the contact member with the beating heart;
• second mounting means selectively secured to the platform;
• auxiliary base means detachably secured to the second mounting means;
• and
• deformable support means secured at a proximal end thereof to the auxiliary base means for maneuverable supporting at a distal end thereof an auxiliary surgical instrument.

A device for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart, comprising:

• a stable platform;
• heart contacting means shaped to engage the surface of the beating heart to stabilize the heart;
• shaft means for maneuverably supporting and locking the heart contacting means in selective engagement with the beating heart surface, said shaft means having distal and proximal ends and including ball/socket means tiltably securing the heart contacting means to the distal end of the shaft means and a first mechanism integral with the proximal end of the shaft means for locking the heart contacting means in the selective engagement;
• and
• second adjusting means for maneuverably supporting and locking the first adjusting means thereto, and including means for detachably securing the first adjusting means to the platform.

A stabilizing device for enabling a surgical procedure on a beating heart, comprising:

• a shaft member having a proximal end and a distal end;
• a stabilizing member operably attached to said distal end, said stabilizing member having a common base portion and first and second contact members extending in a parallel orientation from said base portion, said first and second contact members each having a contact surface adapted to frictionally engage the surface of the beating heart;
• and
• said base portion, said first contact member, and said second contact member being formed from a unitary piece of stainless steel sheet material.

A stabilizing device for enabling a surgical procedure on a beating heart, comprising:

• a shaft member having a proximal end and a distal end, said distal end having a ball socket fixed thereto, said ball socket having a plurality of slots;
• a stabilizing member having at least one contact member adapted to engage the surface of the beating heart;
• said stabilizing member having a post extending therefrom, said post having a ball-shaped member attached to a proximal end thereof and said ball-shaped member being sized to fit within said ball socket;
• said ball-shaped member being operably engaged within said ball socket such that said stabilizing member is tiltable relative to said shaft to achieve a plurality of desired orientations, at least one of said orientations placing said post within one of said plurality of slots.

A device for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart, comprising:

• a stable platform having a pedestal means selectively secured thereto;
• shaft means including handle means at a proximal end thereof and a contact member at a distal end thereof, said handle means being adapted to lock the contact member in a selected orientation relative to the heart;
• and
• shaft support means supporting the shaft means in a selected orientation and having arcuate clamping means contacting the pedestal means, said arcuate clamping means being moveable to detachably lock the shaft support means to the pedestal means while the shaft means simultaneously is being locked to the shaft support means.