1. Thoracoscopic Cardiomyoplasty: a Canine Feasibility Study
Yukihiro Kaneko, MD, Masahiko Ezure, MD, Hirotaka Inaba, MD, Keiichi Tambara, MD, Tadasu Kohno, MD, Akira Furuse, MD 
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 
Volume 63, Issue 2, Pages (February 1997)
DOI: /S (96)

2. Fig. 1
Intraoperative view through the thoracoscope. Excellent visualization of incised pericardium, the heart, and the stitches is obtained.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /S (96) )

3. Fig. 2
Our thoracoscopic cardiomyoplasty method. (A) The latissimus dorsi muscle flap is made, the pericardium is incised, and several sutures are stitched in the pericardium. (B) The sutures retrieved from the thoracic cavity are stitched to the muscle flap wrapped around a heart model, and the edges of the muscle flap are stitched together. (C) The muscle flap is introduced into the left thoracic cavity with all sutures kept loosened. (D) All sutures are tied under thoracoscopy.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /S (96) )

4. Fig. 3
The thread retriever consists of a 16-gauge needle containing a metal wire, the tip of which splits into three hooked branches. To pick up a thread, the device punctures the thoracic cavity at the desired point with the branches contained in the needle. The thread to be retrieved is passed through the extended branches and retrieved from the thoracic cavity by removal of the device.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /S (96) )