Patent attributes
Method and apparatus for dissecting tissue along a vessel include a cannula having a tubular body and at least one lumen extending the length of the body to receive an endoscope in the lumen with a viewing end disposed near the distal end of the body that is covered by a transparent, tissue-separating tapered tip. Endoscopic viewing through the tip is enhanced by tapering the inner walls thereof to a cusp adjacent the distal end of the tip in order to reduce visual distortion. Alternatively, a removable or deflectable tip exposes a dissection probe that is manipulatable along a vessel and past lateral branching vessels at the distal end of the cannula as visualized by the endoscope through the transparent tip. Tissue overlaying an artery, for example, the superior epigastric artery, is bluntly dissected to establish an elongated working cavity of bluntly-dissected tissue. Lateral arterial branches are doubly occluded and then severed to isolate the artery, a section of which is transected and anastomosed to the coronary artery to revascularize the coronary artery.
