Patent ID: 8585722

Claim:
A method to be completed in a vascular environment, comprising: harvesting a conduit; loading the conduit onto a device wherein the device includes: a handle; and two or more legs operable to move in response to a force being applied to the handle, wherein each of the legs includes a respective tip and an outwardly curved portion, wherein the curved portions collectively form a bell shape and the tips are disposed distally of the bell shape, and wherein the legs are operable to extend radially outward from an axis about which the tips are disposed and to contract radially inward toward the axis in order to expand and compress an end of the conduit when the end of the conduit is loaded on the tips; positioning the tips of the device in a hole of an aorta; and extending the tips such that at least a portion of the tips engage a wall of the aorta, wherein the end of the conduit forms a lip on an outer surface of the aorta around the hole.