Towards Less Invasive Instruments For Cardiac Tissue Stabilizing

Abstract Beating-heart surgery is performed to reduce patient trauma but depending on the intervention requires tissue stabilization through vacuum cardiac tissue stabilizers. Current designs either require open chest sternotomy or display significant residual motion when used minimally invasively. Active motion compensation methods require complex control algorithms and expensive technology. We propose a novel design for a vacuum tissue stabilizer with expandable suction feet enabling a larger stabilized area and increased motion reduction. Its performance is evaluated on a heart phantom using a silicon membrane mimicking cardiac tissue properties. The motion of the membrane is captured using a stereo camera and marker points on the membrane surface. The results are then compared to a state-of-the-art tissue stabilizer. The extended stabilizer is found to stabilize a 110% larger area while achieving similar motion amplitude reduction. Thus, extendable stabilizers seem to be a promising solution for improved cardiac tissue stabilization in less invasive beating-heart surgery.