Organ manipulation devices for atraumatically grasping the surface of an
organ and repositioning the organ to allow access to a location on the
organ that would otherwise be substantially inaccessible. Methods of
accessing a beating heart, retracting the heart using an organ
manipulation apparatus, and stabilizing a surgical target area with a
stabilizer. Both the organ manipulator and stabilizer are fixed to a
stationary object which may be a sternal retractor. A system for
performing beating heart coronary artery bypass grafting includes a
sternal retractor, organ manipulator and stabilizer.