When Chuck Hoette toured Alaska, it wasn't just the view that took his breath away. He said he had trouble taking three or four steps, and lost his breath.

Tests revealed Hoette had three blocked heart arteries. But he 'bypassed' traditional surgery in favor of something called TECAB offered at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

"TECAB or totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass, is done completely in a closed chest manner," said Dr. Dudhir Srivastava.

A few small incisions in the torso provide access for robotically-guided instruments.

"These tips of these instruments, they have human wrist-like motion and so, as the surgeon moves the hand, that motion is exactly transmitted," said Srivastava.

The surgery is done on a beating heart. For long-lasting success, a chest artery is used instead of leg veins.

“About 85 percent of them are open at the end of 15 to 20 years, and many of them, of course, much longer," said the doctor.

The most dramatic difference is recovery time. Open heart patients require months of rest and rehab, while TECAB patients are back in action in a week.

"The recovery is practically immediate. Patients go home just with some Tylenol for pain," said Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam, a cardiothoracic surgeon.

It's something that Hoette feels pretty good about, too.

"I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly the recovery has been from this procedure," he said.

It's a visible benefit of a nearly invisible bypass surgery.

This procedure is currently limited in its availability, but the doctor is actively teaching other heart surgeons how to do this less-invasive surgery.