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Abstract

A surgical apparatus is described for performing cardiac surgery on the coronary organs of a patient. It has a contacting means capable of providing a mechanical load on at least a portion of said coronary organ, a positioning means which allows the setting of either or both the contacting means and coronary organ in a large number of positions or orientations within a surgical workspace. The apparatus also has a manipulation means serving as a single point control to position and orient the contacting means onto the coronary organ tissue. An adjustment means serves to bias the range of at least one motion degree of freedom of the surgical apparatus within a the limits of a restricted range that is less than the full range of motion of that degree of freedom of motion that would be otherwise achievable when the bias is not present or overridden. This achieves the placement of the contacting means within the surgical workspace, with or without the simultaneous manipulation, retraction, or stabilization of coronary organ tissue also within the workspace. Any of the motion degrees of freedom of the surgical apparatus can be 'biased'. All motion degrees of freedom of the surgical apparatus are linked, whether biased or unbiased, through the manipulation means which the surgeon utilizes to set the contacting means or coronary organ tissue.

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