Patent ID: 7942891

Claim:
A blood vessel harvesting cannula having outer walls defining a central bore therewithin, a proximal terminus, a distal terminus and a longitudinal axis, said cannula being comprised of: a harvesting head, a tubular control segment and a control handle; a main vessel alignment slot penetrating through a portion of the outer walls of the harvesting head and tubular control segment, said slot beginning at the distal terminus of said cannula and ending within the outer wall of the tubular control segment adjacent a distal terminus thereof, said main vessel alignment slot communicating with the central bore of the harvesting cannula; at least one branch vessel capture notch located between a portion of the outer walls of the cannula comprising the distal terminus of the tubular control segment and a superior portion of the harvesting head adjacent thereto, wherein the at least one branch vessel capture notch is circumferentially aligned relative to the longitudinal axis of the cannula and communicates with the central bore thereof and wherein the branch vessel capture notch is lateral to and communicates with the main vessel alignment slot, and wherein the at least one branch vessel capture notch includes therewithin a means for severing of branch vessels from a vessel to be harvested and a two section magazine within which a plurality of surgical clips are contained so as to provide a heatless means of hemostasis, the two section magazine including a space between said two sections so as to provide a pathway through which a severing means can be extended so as to severe a branch vessel captured within said branch vessel capture notch, said plurality of surgical clips providing a means of hemostasis of said branch vessels adjacent to and on either side of severance of the branch vessel provided by said severing means; and a main vessel retention means for retaining a vessel to be harvested within the central bore of the harvesting head.