Patent ID: 8403953

Claim:
A method, for use with a subject's body, vagina, vaginal formix, uterus, and uterine artery, the method comprising: engaging the vaginal formix with a formix-engaging structure, by inserting the structure into the vagina; inserting a rod into the subject's body; guiding the rod such that a distal end of the rod passes through vaginal tissue at a first vaginal site until the distal end of the rod is at a first extrauterine site outside of the uterine artery, but in a vicinity of a portion of the uterine artery that supplies a uterine fibroid; maintaining the distal end of the rod at the extrauterina site, by supporting the rod with the fornix-engaging structure; and while maintaining the distal end of the rod at the extrauterina site, compressing the uterine artery using a uterine artery compression device disposed on the distal end of the rod to occlude blood flow to a uterine fibroid.