It's a minimally invasive (keyhole) method of performing a heart bypass. During a TECAB grafting procedure, the surgeon deflates your lungs and makes a number of small cuts between your ribs. Robotic arms, controlled by the surgeon, are used to carry out the surgery.

Can heart bypass surgery be done without opening the chest?

During minimally invasive heart surgery, our surgeons make tiny chest incisions to access your heart through openings between the ribs. This approach is less invasive than traditional open heart surgery, in which surgeons open the chest to access the heart. Benefits include: No opening of the chest or cutting of bones.

How do they open the chest for bypass surgery?

Opening the chest

He or she may cut through your breastbone and spread apart your rib cage. The rib cage is opened to expose all internal organs within your chest cavity (a process called a sternotomy). Your surgeon next cuts through the saclike lining that protects the heart (pericardium) to access the heart itself.