Patent ID: 7220268

Claim:
A method for anastomosis of an open end of a graft vessel to a side of a receiving vessel, the method comprising: positioning an anvil within a lumen of a receiving vessel at an anastomosis site of the receiving vessel, wherein the anastomosis site is located at a side of the receiving vessel, manipulating the anvil via a component extending from the anvil to cause a region of a wall of the receiving vessel at the anastomosis site to stretch and to conform to the shape of a portion of the anvil contacting the wall of the receiving vessel, wherein the component extends through the wall of the receiving vessel, joining a graft vessel to the side of the receiving vessel at the anastomosis site, forming an anastomosis opening in the wall of the receiving vessel at the anastomosis site, wherein the anastomosis opening is distinct from an opening used to achieve the introduction of the anvil into the lumen of the receiving vessel, and removing the anvil from the anastomosis site, after the graft vessel has been joined to the side of the receiving vessel and the opening has been formed in the receiving vessels, wherein the receiving vessel is a blood vessel, and wherein the anastomosis opening is formed without requiring interruption of blood flow through the receiving vessel at the anastomosis site.