Watch | Man runs marathon weeks after heart surgery

Recently, surgeons have been performing a heart surgery that, unlike traditional methods, is minimally invasive. This surgery reduces pain and recovery time for patients. In minimally invasive surgery, the surgeons must stop the heart temporarily to divert the blood flow from your heart. If you previously have had heart surgery or a heart disease, you are not a candidate for the minimally invasive technique. The two types of minimally invasive heart surgeries are robot-assisted heart surgery, and thoracoscopic surgery. In robot-assisted heart surgery the surgeon's actions are duplicated by robotic arms. Your surgeon will work from a remote console during the surgery and view your heart in a high definition 3D monitor. The advantages from a minimally invasive heart surgery include less blood loss, lower risk of infection, reduced trauma and pain, quicker recovery time and less time spent in the hospital, and smaller scars. The risks include bleeding, stroke and wound infection,