Patent ID: 8177799

Claim:
An apparatus for approximating body vessels, comprising: at least one fastener including: a first fastener portion having an anchoring leg portion; and a second fastener portion having an anchoring leg portion, wherein the first and second fastener portions are operatively associated with one another by an interconnecting feature allowing for selectively fixing the position of the first fastener portion and the second fastener portion with respect to one another; wherein each of the first and second fastener portions have a locking leg portion pivotably connected to the respective anchoring leg portion; wherein each anchoring leg portion is spaced from the respective locking leg portion and collapsible to a biased position in close proximity to the respective locking leg portion; a first member configured and adapted to engage the first fastener portion; a second member configured and adapted to engage the second fastener portion, the first member and the second member being movable with respect to one another to move the first fastener portion and second fastener portion with respect to one another; and an insertion sleeve configured and dimensioned to retain the at least one fastener therein with each locking leg portion in the biased position.