A method for planning minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) for a patient includes obtaining acquisition data from a medical imaging system, and generating a 3D model of the coronary arteries and one or more cardiac chambers of interest. One or more anatomical landmarks are identified on the 3D model, and saved views of the 3D model are registered on an interventional system. One or more of the registered saved views are visualized with the interventional system.