Patent ID: 8236026

Claim:
A method for facilitating closure of an opening in a body luminal wall, comprising: positioning an expandable locator having at least one expandable element through the opening to engage the at least one expandable element with an internal surface of the body luminal wall when the at least one expandable element is in an expanded orientation; positioning a clip relative to the expandable locator, the clip comprising a body and one or more tines having free distal ends extending from the body, the body being movable by a force from a planar, first configuration where the tines generally extend toward a central axis into a transverse, pre-deployment second configuration in which the tines are spread open and generally extend in the direction of the central axis; deploying the clip in the transverse, pre-deployment configuration so that the free distal ends penetrate tissue adjacent the opening in the body luminal wall, the clip automatically returning toward the first planar configuration after engaging the tissue to draw the tissue around the opening to facilitate closure thereof; and removing the expandable locator through the opening in the body luminal wall.