Table 1.

Surgical and stabilization approaches in the heart.

	Surgical access	Stabilization	Advantages	Limitations	References
Heterotopic heart explantation	• Right cervical or abdominal transplantation of donor heart with circulatory integration	• Stabilization chamber	• Investigating graft and host cell interactions	• Abnormal hemodynamics, low temporal resolution	(66–68)
Micro-endoscopy	• 2–3 mm intercostal incision	• Suction probe	• Reduced motion artifact • Repeat longitudinal imaging	• Reduced lateral and axial resolution due to GRIN lens	(33)
Passive stabilization	• Left thoracotomy	• 3D-printed or machined circular probe with tissue adhesive	• High spatial and temporal resolution • Wide fields of view	• Motion artifact limits visualization of single-cycle dynamics	(69–76)*

^*Matsuura et al. (69) achieved passive stabilization in a rat model by retracting the anterior thoracic wall and placing a suction-assisted stabilization chamber.