Fermenter Add-In's

I am transferring an oatmeal chocolate stout to a secondary and the recipe I am going off of calls for the addition of a vanilla bean to the secondary fermenter. Has anyone done this before? I'm curious about if I need to sanitize it to avoid any contamination as well as how to best extract the flavor.

The container the beans came in suggested splitting it open when used in sauces, so I'm wondering if this would be the best method for me to use.

Any suggestions?

Many people have used it. I have seen a million threads on it but never read them. So I searched and found this:

It is advised to soak it for a day or more in vodka. This sanatizes as well as pulls out the flavors that ARE NOT WATER SOLUABLE.

Hope this helps! If you need more info there are a million threads on it